How long to scribe a scroll?

[Shin Okada]

Are there any problem on playing as written? Random treasure table produces a scroll with multiple spells with multiple spells of different spell level and or caster level. So why not allow PCs to create simular items?

 

[Infiniti2000]

Are there any problem on playing as written? Random treasure table produces a scroll with multiple spells with multiple spells of different spell level and or caster level. So why not allow PCs to create simular items?

No rules balance issues. However, there are flavor issues. Allowing a PC to create a scroll with a 1000 spells on it makes it kind of silly for him to unfurl the scroll and read spell #875 (finding it first, of course) as quickly as he would if he had just one scroll of one spell on him. I think a reasonable limit should be imposed, or perhaps just say that you create 1000gp of scrolls per day, not 1000gp per unit cost of one scroll. You achieve the same thing mechanics-wise (for the most part) and eliminate some of the silliness.

Overall, though, this whole thing will have little impact on the game, particularly as it reaches higher levels and the PC's have more time to create scrolls. This issue is only pertinent for very fast-paced games with little time for PC item-making.

 

[frankthedm]

1 foot long per spell on scroll means the longer scrolls are at a HUGE risk on a moist battlefield.

And unfurling such a long scroll will likely fall under DM's limits on reasonable free actions.

 

[Jdvn1]

Allowing a PC to create a scroll with a 1000 spells on it makes it kind of silly for him to unfurl the scroll and read spell #875 (finding it first, of course) as quickly as he would if he had just one scroll of one spell on him.

Why, they'd be alphabetized of course.

And possibly folded up so I could access each flip-book style.

 

[dcollins]

Biggest treasure scroll in the DMG is 6 spells, so I use that as a limit.

 

[cmanos]

I use 6 as a maximum for number of spells on a scroll, anything else wpuld get a little unwieldy to roll out.

Hmm... you could always make a Scroll-o-Dex.......

 

[azhrei_fje]

In addition, having multiple spells on a single scroll is a real pain when the character who was just teleported/gated/shifted away has the only scroll with teleport/gate/plane shift on it. Of course, it's on there 6 TIMES, but there's only one scroll.

I've hinted to my players that they're better off spreading the same spell across multiple scrolls. But I limit a scroll with multiple spells on it to 1000 gp. Makes things easy to track.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I've hinted to my players that they're better off spreading the same spell across multiple scrolls. But I limit a scroll with multiple spells on it to 1000 gp. Makes things easy to track.

But, if they make one spell per scroll, they can go above 1000gp, right? I hate to think the best spell you could put on a scroll were a 4th level spell at 10th caster level.

 

[Falling Icicle]

Our group just divides the time down if the item being created is less than 1000 gp. For crafting a "day" is considered 8 hours of work, or 480 minutes. So every 1000g = 480 minutes of crafting time. So a scroll of a 1st level spell (market price 25g) takes 12 minutes to create (which makes perfect sense). This makes the crafting of trivial items both realistic and fair.

 

[azhrei_fje]

But, if they make one spell per scroll, they can go above 1000gp, right? I hate to think the best spell you could put on a scroll were a 4th level spell at 10th caster level.

Heh-heh, now that would be amusing. Well, to me, but not to the PCs.

The limit is only for scrolls with multiple spells. As you point out, spells of higher than 4th level simply have to be on their own scrolls (well, 4th level if you're figuring some classes; even lower for other classes). Which means that a scroll that costs 1,005 gp takes two days to make (well, the closest you can get is 1,150 gp, but you know what I mean).

I did this specifically to allow low-level characters to "stock up" on low-level spells. As they become higher level, they won't want the low level scrolls as much any more (low level silence? low level prayer? not likely). And then we're back to the standard time requirement.