D&D 5E What If Everyone Could Use Scrolls? (House rule)

[Charlaquin]

I agree, but only if someone in the party decides to play a Thief (it's not a popular choice in our gaming group, but there's a first time for everything.)

Well, I mean, if nobody plays a Thief then obviously it’s a moot point.

I'd probably give them Advantage, as you mentioned, in the case of someone choosing Thief.

Yeah, seems like a simple, functional fix.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

Does the Thief rogue get some ability to use magic items they normally can't? It's so rare in 5e, would this take away one of their niche abilities?

That's a ribbon feature, the real reason people play Thief is for Fast Hands utilizing magic items as a bonus action and for 4 attunement slots. I can't imagine anyone actually caring if this feature is "given away", if anything it buffs the Thief Rogue the most from being able to access this ability at low levels when they are the best in the game at using scrolls.

Just to be safe you could give the Thief some other ribbon bonus to compensate, like Advantage on the Arcana check for scrolls.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm allowing something similar in my homebrew, but you do need some training. If you're a fighter who has one of their careers in magician or priest then you can use arcane or divine scrolls. Spellcasters are better at it in that they don't have to roll when using spell scrolls that are on their spell list and of a level they can cast but if your fighter has a career in magician and they find a scroll of fireball, they might have a good chance of throwing a fireball at their enemies.

 

[Li Shenron]

Why Am I Doing This?

• I want spell scrolls to be more useful.
• I want spell scrolls to be more interesting (if the player wants).

I think it's fine. There won't be much abuse if you control how many scrolls they can acquire, just don't make them craft their own.

 

[Clint_L]

Will players want to distribute valuable spell scrolls to characters who have a high likelihood of whiffing on them and wasting the spell entirely? Like, would giving barbarians the potential to use a spell scroll on a lucky roll result in anyone ever attempting it?

Unless the campaign is designed so that spell scrolls are widely, cheaply available, I don't think it matters much to make them usable by anyone who can pass an arcana check. So I doubt it affects balance much, though I'd be interested to learn how it works out in practice.

 

[John R Davis]

We have always done this in 5th ed. If it's written in a language you can understand then you can use it.
Of course not all wizards are so free with their thoughts and power so they don't often write in common.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

IMO, the DC should be tied to multiple options, depending on who scribed the scroll.

A Cleric scroll of cure wounds shouldn't require Arcana (Int). I would expect Religion (Wis). Likewise, a Bard scroll of that spell might require Performance (Cha).

 

[kigmatzomat]

Will players want to distribute valuable spell scrolls to characters who have a high likelihood of whiffing on them and wasting the spell entirely? Like, would giving barbarians the potential to use a spell scroll on a lucky roll result in anyone ever attempting it?.

The barbarian will wind up carrying low level spells the other casters know and don't need a scroll (or won't prep but the barbarian would like it cast on them) or that can't be cast on other people or that might be handy when the barbarian is by himself.

E.g. Longstrider, Expeditious Retreat, Blur and Mirror Image. Longstrider is the only one that can be cast on another person and I imagine most casters are like "you can already run fast enough, if anything I'll cast this on myself".

And then any healing/remove curse/neutralizes poison scrolls will likely be shared around to the people least likely to be afflicted. Barbarians are notoriously difficult to poison.

 

[SlyFlourish]

in my games I give out single use magic items which have more flavor than a scroll but can cast a single spell one time. I took this idea from Cyphers in Numenera.

Here’s more about it:

Relics: Single-use D&D 5E Magic Items

Compared to previous versions of D&D and other fantasty RPGs, D&D 5th edition is stingy with the magic items. According to the Dungeon Master's Guide, a PC should receive roughly one permanent magic i...

slyflourish.com

These have been great additions to my game. They can be really powerful but won’t break the game because they can only be used once.

 

[overgeeked]

in my games I give out single use magic items which have more flavor than a scroll but can cast a single spell one time. I took this idea from Cyphers in Numenera.

Here’s more about it:

Relics: Single-use D&D 5E Magic Items

Compared to previous versions of D&D and other fantasty RPGs, D&D 5th edition is stingy with the magic items. According to the Dungeon Master's Guide, a PC should receive roughly one permanent magic i...

slyflourish.com

These have been great additions to my game. They can be really powerful but won’t break the game because they can only be used once.

Same. Ever since I saw the idea in Numenera I stole it so fast. It’s a great addition to most games.