Scrolls?

[Rel]

As a general recommendation (from somebody who likes playing Wizards), I suggest that you use Scrolls as a way to keep those "handy once in a while" spells available. Things like Mount, Tenser's Floating Disc, Obscuring Mist, Change Self, Spider Climb and so forth. Once you've got these "in the bag" then you can use your daily slots on things like Magic Missile, Sleep, Burning Hands, Grease, Mage Armor, Shield and other "need these all the time" sorts of spells.

Consider scribing at higher than the minimum caster level when it will get you increased benefits (extra targets or a considerably larger area of effect for example). But generally you're better off with 3 scrolls at Caster Level 1 rather than 1 scroll at Caster Level 3.

If you get a chance to purchase Wands later in the campaign, buy low level wands that don't get big benefits from higher caster levels first. A Wand of Shield at Caster Level 1 only costs 750 GP, gives the same Shield Bonus as a higher Caster Level and lasts for 1 minute (longer than most fights tend to be) and will free up more low level slots for things like Magic Missile or Burning Hands that will benefit from your intrinsic Caster Level.

And don't be afraid to simply shoot your crossbow at low levels. If the party isn't hard pressed at the moment then you may be better off to save your spells for tough times and plink away with a ranged weapon of some sort.

 

[Staffan]

Also it is important to note that a spell cannot be cast out of a spellbook (unlike 2nd ed).

They couldn't be cast out of spellbooks in 2e either. Maybe they could in 1e, I only played that at a con once.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I'm attaching my Crafting Calculator excel file. Even a high-level wizard can craft spells at a lower caster level, after all.

Also, I allow a scroll with 2 or 3 spells to count as a single item, and this is reflected in the "time to create" calculation in the file.

It's just a quick way of figuring out how long and how expensive it would take to do things like scribe a single scroll with 1 first level spell cast at 3rd level, one fifth level spell cast at 15th level, and a 9th level spell cast at 18th level (3000gp, 240xp, and 3 days, in this instance).

It does wands and potions, too.

 

[MerakSpielman]

My equations might be off.

So, quick question: When calculating the time to craft an item, do you use the gp the character pays to craft it, or the gp it would cost if it were to be bought new? I know it says "base price," but which is the base price?

 

[Rel]

My equations might be off.

So, quick question: When calculating the time to craft an item, do you use the gp the character pays to craft it, or the gp it would cost if it were to be bought new? I know it says "base price," but which is the base price?

"Base Price" is the cost to purchase new. "Price" is what is paid on the market vs. "Cost", which is what it, well, costs to make from raw materials.

 

[MerakSpielman]

"Base Price" is the cost to purchase new. "Price" is what is paid on the market vs. "Cost", which is what it, well, costs to make from raw materials.

In which case my calculator was incorrect. Here is the correct version:

 

[scrubkai]

No, it would cost 50 gp to buy it. It would cost you 25 gp and 2 XP (and a day) to scribe it.

Staffan, why does it take a day to scribe this scroll? Doesn't it only take 24 Minutes to scribe a first level scroll? I've never seen anywhere where it has a limit to the time it takes to scribe a scroll. Brew Potion has a lower time limit of one day, but not scribe a scroll.

Now I could be wrong, but I thought that:
If you can scribe 1000gp worth of scrolls in an 8 hour day, then scribing a single scroll worth 50 gp is: (scroll value/1000) * (480 Minutes in an eight hour day) Or (50/1000)*480 = 24 minutes.

I'm not trying to be picky or anything, rather I'm just asking because I let my players scribe/craft many magic items (scrolls, wands and Wondrous Items) in one day, as long as they don't pass up the maximum limit of 1000gp of crafted items per day.

 

[Jdvn1]

You can only make one per day, but it doesn't necessarily take a whole day, I think.

 

[Rel]

Staffan, why does it take a day to scribe this scroll? Doesn't it only take 24 Minutes to scribe a first level scroll? I've never seen anywhere where it has a limit to the time it takes to scribe a scroll. Brew Potion has a lower time limit of one day, but not scribe a scroll.

Now I could be wrong, but I thought that:
If you can scribe 1000gp worth of scrolls in an 8 hour day, then scribing a single scroll worth 50 gp is: (scroll value/1000) * (480 Minutes in an eight hour day) Or (50/1000)*480 = 24 minutes.

I'm not trying to be picky or anything, rather I'm just asking because I let my players scribe/craft many magic items (scrolls, wands and Wondrous Items) in one day, as long as they don't pass up the maximum limit of 1000gp of crafted items per day.

I believe the official answer to this is that it takes a minimum of one full day to scribe ANY scroll, whether it be first level or fifth. This gets into the sticky area of "what about a scroll with multiple spells on it?" and so forth.

My house rule on the matter is that you can scribe one spell level per point of bonus in your primary spellcasting stat per day. So if your Wizard has an 18 Int, then you can scribe 4 levels of scrolls in a day.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I think the general rule is "it takes one day per 1000gp to craft ANY magical item. Regardless of the cost of the item, it always takes at least one full day to complete."

As a DM you get to rule on whether that makes any sense to you.