Is there a spell that can be used to take photographs?

[Olaf the Stout]

We're about to start a new D&D 3.5E campaign in which I'm going to play a Wizard with a thirst for knowledge and information of all sorts.

One thing that I'd like to be able to do is record a lot of information as I explore various places and encounter various monsters, animals, glyphs, etc. so that I can pass the information along to others.

The easiest way I can think of doing this is a spell that would basically replicate a photograph. So it may draw the item onto a piece of paper, or something similar.

Is there any spell out there that does something similar to what I'm after?

If not, what level spell do you think something like that would be?

 

[Yora]

I'm not aware of any such spells, but I think it probably would be a transmutation spell of 1st level. If it has a somewhat decent "resolution", it's too complex for a 1st level spell, but it basically only transforms the surface coloration of a sheet of paper. The amount of material affected is actually very small.
Resolution is really what would make all the difference. A simple sketch could easily be made with a fabricate spell, but that would require the caster to make a Craft (painting) check, that wouldn't be much better than anything the character could draw by hand. Something that looks like it's painted by an expert painter with very fine brushes and all the time in the world to complete it should be within the power of a first level spell. If you want the quality of a 21th century professional photograph printed on commercial photo paper, 3rd or even 4th level might be more appropriate, though.

Another possibility to would be making a perfect snapshot as a memory, which would make for a cool 1st level psionic power.

 

[the Jester]

I'm not aware of an official version, but here's my 3.5 version of what you're after. For the record, I've had a version of this in my game since 2e.

PAINT MEMORY
Illusion (Figment)
Level: Sor/Wiz 1, Brd 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Close (25’+5’/2 levels)
Effect: Visual figment up to 10’ on a side
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a silent image of something you’ve seen in perfect detail as you saw it (even if you hadn’t noticed some details). Thus you can use this spell to try to identify someone you only caught a fleeting glimpse of, read a message later if you only caught a glimpse of it, etc.

Material component: a small paintbrush.

 

[SkidAce]

I'm not aware of an official version, but here's my 3.5 version of what you're after. For the record, I've had a version of this in my game since 2e.

PAINT MEMORY
Illusion (Figment)
Level: Sor/Wiz 1, Brd 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Close (25’+5’/2 levels)
Effect: Visual figment up to 10’ on a side
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a silent image of something you’ve seen in perfect detail as you saw it (even if you hadn’t noticed some details). Thus you can use this spell to try to identify someone you only caught a fleeting glimpse of, read a message later if you only caught a glimpse of it, etc.

Material component: a small paintbrush.

Yoink.

 

[Mistwell]

Arcana Evolved had a spell for this, I believe.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Arcana Evolved had a spell for this, I believe.

Cool, I've got the book at home. I'll look it up. Do you know what it's called?

I'm not aware of an official version, but here's my 3.5 version of what you're after. For the record, I've had a version of this in my game since 2e.

PAINT MEMORY
Illusion (Figment)
Level: Sor/Wiz 1, Brd 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Close (25’+5’/2 levels)
Effect: Visual figment up to 10’ on a side
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates a silent image of something you’ve seen in perfect detail as you saw it (even if you hadn’t noticed some details). Thus you can use this spell to try to identify someone you only caught a fleeting glimpse of, read a message later if you only caught a glimpse of it, etc.

Material component: a small paintbrush.

That sounds interesting. How do you recall the image so you can look at it? Can only you see the image?

 

[Mistwell]

You know I took a quick glance and didn't see it right away. I might be thinking of the magic item from Complete Book of Eldritch Might called Image Crystal, which is a cheap magic item that allows you to place a perfect photographic-level picture in it.

 

[the Jester]

That sounds interesting. How do you recall the image so you can look at it? Can only you see the image?

Sorry, the formatting didn't carry over- silent image should be italicized; basically, it's a specific variant of that spell.

So say you bust into a room trying to catch a villain, who has a compromising letter open. He snatches it up and escapes, but even though you only got a glimpse of it, you can use paint memory to recreate what you saw in order to examine it in detail. In this case, you could read whatever part of the document was visible to you, even if just for a moment, assuming that there weren't other conditions preventing it (e.g. it was written in Dwarven and you can't read that tongue, it was too dark or too far away, etc).

 

[NuSair]

I'll have to go upstairs and dig in my notes, but I made a spell for painting.

It came out a conversation about using the various stone shape spells to create statues and I was of the opinion that a person unskilled in sculpture wouldn't have that good of command or spacial awareness to make a very good statue (3 of the people in my group are artist, and two make a living as artist). So, I said that when you create something with a spell, that if you wanted anything better than a very crude representation of what you were creating, that you need skill in making that item.

Then again, in my campaign, most races masterwork pieces are limited to +1, while Elves can obtain +2, while the true craftsmen Dwarves can obtain a +3 masterwork.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

This will be the signature spell of Griswold, the gnomish tourist.