Scrolls in hand

[Dracazar]

To read a scroll do you need an hand free?

The real question is, may you have a scroll in each hand and use one of them without dropping the other? And a scroll and a shield?

Thanks

 

[Li Shenron]

Generally speaking, it makes very sense if you need one hand at least (unless you have a stand or an ally holding it for you).

A demanding DM may even require two hands, but I think that one is fair enough.

I see no reason to disallow holding two scrolls or a scroll and a shield.

If you want, you can also scribe more spells on the same scroll.

 

[Infiniti2000]

To read a scroll do you need an hand free?

To my knowledge, nothing explicitly states you have to be holding the scroll in your hand, but you have to be reading from it. So, technically you could place it on the ground or have a comrade hold it up or whatever. If you can't see it, though, you'll obviously have to hold it in hand. Then, depending on the spells, you may need to supply the final verbal and somatic components: "All that’s left to do is perform the finishing parts of the spellcasting (the final gestures, words, and so on)." If you have to supply the "final gestures" and one hand is holding the scroll, you'll need another hand free to complete the spell.

 

[Cabral]

Well, if arcane spell failure doesn't apply, it's likely that the gestures aren't so complex that you can't complete them while holding an item. I would suggest that anything you could hold and still point (with your finger) should be okay.

 

[irdeggman]

From the SRD:

SCROLLS
A scroll is a spell (or collection of spells) that has been stored in written form. A spell on a scroll can be used only once. The writing vanishes from the scroll when the spell is activated. Using a scroll is basically like casting a spell.
Physical Description: A scroll is a heavy sheet of fine vellum or high-quality paper. An area about 8 1/2 inches wide and 11 inches long is sufficient to hold one spell. The sheet is reinforced at the top and bottom with strips of leather slightly longer than the sheet is wide. A scroll holding more than one spell has the same width (about 8 1/2 inches) but is an extra foot or so long for each extra spell. Scrolls that hold three or more spells are usually fitted with reinforcing rods at each end rather than simple strips of leather. A scroll has AC 9, 1 hit point, hardness 0, and a break DC of 8.
To protect it from wrinkling or tearing, a scroll is rolled up from both ends to form a double cylinder. (This also helps the user unroll the scroll quickly.) The scroll is placed in a tube of ivory, jade, leather, metal, or wood. Most scroll cases are inscribed with magic symbols which often identify the owner or the spells stored on the scrolls inside. The symbols often hide magic traps.
Activation: To activate a scroll, a spellcaster must read the spell written on it. Doing so involves several steps and conditions.
Decipher the Writing: The writing on a scroll must be deciphered before a character can use it or know exactly what spell it contains. This requires a read magic spell or a successful Spellcraft check (DC 20 + spell level).
Deciphering a scroll to determine its contents does not activate its magic unless it is a specially prepared cursed scroll. A character can decipher the writing on a scroll in advance so that he or she can proceed directly to the next step when the time comes to use the scroll.
Activate the Spell: Activating a scroll requires reading the spell from the scroll. The character must be able to see and read the writing on the scroll. Activating a scroll spell requires no material components or focus. (The creator of the scroll provided these when scribing the scroll.) Note that some spells are effective only when cast on an item or items. In such a case, the scroll user must provide the item when activating the spell. Activating a scroll spell is subject to disruption just as casting a normally prepared spell would be. Using a scroll is like casting a spell for purposes of arcane spell failure chance.
To have any chance of activating a scroll spell, the scroll user must meet the following requirements.
• The spell must be of the correct type (arcane or divine). Arcane spellcasters (wizards, sorcerers, and bards) can only use scrolls containing arcane spells, and divine spellcasters (clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers) can only use scrolls containing divine spells. (The type of scroll a character creates is also determined by his or her class.)
• The user must have the spell on his or her class list.
• The user must have the requisite ability score.
If the user meets all the requirements noted above, and her caster level is at least equal to the spell’s caster level, she can automatically activate the spell without a check. If she meets all three requirements but her own caster level is lower than the scroll spell’s caster level, then she has to make a caster level check (DC = scroll’s caster level + 1) to cast the spell successfully. If she fails, she must make a DC 5 Wisdom check to avoid a mishap (see Scroll Mishaps, below). A natural roll of 1 always fails, whatever the modifiers.
Determine Effect: A spell successfully activated from a scroll works exactly like a spell prepared and cast the normal way. Assume the scroll spell’s caster level is always the minimum level required to cast the spell for the character who scribed the scroll (usually twice the spell’s level, minus 1), unless the caster specifically desires otherwise.
The writing for an activated spell disappears from the scroll.

I think the description of how the scroll is rolled up, combined with the requirement that the caster must be able to read the scroll and then the reference to it being subject to the normal rules for ASF would seem to combine for the fact that the caster needs to hold the scroll open to read it and (IMO) can take a very brief respite to finish the hand gestures (those final ones referenced) at the end of reading the spell. But in order to read the scroll it must be maintained open. Now if there is a stand around then no problem, if the caster has a buckler - no problem since he can hold things in that hand. Heavy shields on the other hand or a weapon would restrict the caster from having his hands free to hold ande then gesture, again unless there is a stand of some sort.