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<blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 6611185" data-attributes="member: 23484">Looking at the &quot;Spell Scroll&quot; guidelines (p. 60 of 61, of the DM DnD Basic Rules; the free download), we are told:&quot;A spell scroll bears magical words of a single spell, written in a mystical cipher.&quot; It then outlines the Int (Arcana) roll to decipher it if you cannot normally cast the spell.From this I infer:1. it's not in any language per se, but something (a cipher) Wizards and those trained in Arcana can know.2. the type of spell is identifiable with less than a full action, and does not require casting the spell to find out.3. All spellcasters can read the mystical cipher for spells they are able to cast. Arcana takes you beyond what you already know.4. A failed arcana check *does* consume the magic (that's also spelled out on p. 60), which I take to be too much time trying to decipher the cipher. (...and I just now see the etymology of the word &quot;decipher&quot;.)5. the cipher is not tied to class (it's not like Druidic or Thieve's cant) but but to the magic -- the cipher is the same for spells in different spell lists.&nbsp; And, pulling things from elsewhere:6. cantrips can be scribed onto scrolls but not into spell books. Weird. Hope this helps?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Kobold Stew, post: 6611185, member: 23484"] Looking at the "Spell Scroll" guidelines (p. 60 of 61, of the DM DnD Basic Rules; the free download), we are told: "A spell scroll bears magical words of a single spell, written in a mystical cipher." It then outlines the Int (Arcana) roll to decipher it if you cannot normally cast the spell. From this I infer: 1. it's not in any language per se, but something (a cipher) Wizards and those trained in Arcana can know. 2. the type of spell is identifiable with less than a full action, and does not require casting the spell to find out. 3. All spellcasters can read the mystical cipher for spells they are able to cast. Arcana takes you beyond what you already know. 4. A failed arcana check *does* consume the magic (that's also spelled out on p. 60), which I take to be too much time trying to decipher the cipher. (...and I just now see the etymology of the word "decipher".) 5. the cipher is not tied to class (it's not like Druidic or Thieve's cant) but but to the magic -- the cipher is the same for spells in different spell lists. And, pulling things from elsewhere: 6. cantrips can be scribed onto scrolls but not into spell books. Weird. Hope this helps? [/QUOTE]

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