D&D 5E (2014) Scrolls in 5e; loving this!

[Snoring Rock]

Hm. In that case, a scroll scribed as gifts or as items traded or bartered, knowing they will be used by non-casting folk, would be made as "scrolls". Then scrolls made for personal use may be "spell scrolls". Which in my opinion would have less value on the market. Assuming such a market would exist.

 

[DMCF]

Hm. In that case, a scroll scribed as gifts or as items traded or bartered, knowing they will be used by non-casting folk, would be made as "scrolls". Then scrolls made for personal use may be "spell scrolls". Which in my opinion would have less value on the market. Assuming such a market would exist.

Make it so Scrolls use simplified wording to trigger. The magic is masked and casters can't copy them into spell books. Then Spell Scrolls are the only ones a caster can cast into their spell book.

You can also allow Spell Scrolls to contain magic at higher than base levels or have a rule that only Spell Scrolls can cast at a higher level provided the caster burns an appropriate spell slot.

Now Scrolls are easier to use but not as strong. Each caster class will have a set of scrolls it values higher than others. Non-class-casters will simply be willing to buy any regular Scroll.

This has a secondary affect of allowing everyone to feel like certain scrolls are suited to them so there is less table drama.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=78325]Snoring Rock[/MENTION]

If it's more variety to scrolls that you're looking to adapt for your 5e game, you don't have to look hard. The Basic D&D Rules Cyclopedia had all kinds of scrolls in it:

Scrolls of Communication: what's written on one appears on the other.
Scroll of Creation: draw an object on the scroll to create it for 24 hours.
Cursed Scroll: you get fubarred!
Scroll of Equipment: six item names on this scroll, say on to summon that item.
Scroll of Illumination: light it on fire to make a reusable super-torch.
Treasure Map: possibly mundane, possibly only readable with comprehend languages.
Scroll of Mapping: records a map of the dungeon as you walk. probably has another name already in 5e.
Scroll of Portals: allows you to invoke a passwall type effect.
Scroll of Questioning: allows you to ask 3 questions of an inanimate object and it will answer.
Scroll of Seeing: acts as your personal portrait artist / court room illustrator.
Scroll of Shelter: if hung from the wall, the room depicted on it may be entered.
Scroll of Spell Catching: can be used to counter a spell and steal it onto the scroll.
Scroll of Trapping: create a trap. boom.
Scroll of Truth: ask a question of a creature and its true answer appears written on the scroll, regardless of what it says.

I can see why several of these weren't included in 5e - either due to design reasons, or because they've since been subsumed by spells - but still plenty of ideas for you to adapt!

 

[jayoungr]

Then scrolls made for personal use may be "spell scrolls". Which in my opinion would have less value on the market. Assuming such a market would exist.

Or they might have more value on the market but a more restricted buyer base--like those treasures that say they would fetch a high price from a collector of antiquities but not be of much interest to the casual buyer.

This is especially true if only Spell Scrolls can be copied into spellbooks--a distinction I will probably make in my own campaign, if anyone besides the wizard shows interest in scrolls.

 

[Scorpio616]

In my own campaign, scrolls anyone can cast are called Layman's Scrolls. Protection scrolls being the most common, but spells can also be inscribed in this manner though they are somewhat unusual since the materials are even tougher to get. Beneficial abjurations and such being the most often seen