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In two different scenarios, my cleric gained access to a Scroll of Aid (cost 250 gp) and a Scroll of Silence (cost 150 gp). Both spells are second level cleric spells. The cost of a scroll of a second level cleric spell created by a third level cleric is 2 * 3 * 25 gp=150 gp. The Scroll of Aid costs 250 gp, so it must have been created by a fifth-level cleric (2 * 5 * 25 gp=250 gp), right?
This means that when I use the scroll, the spell will be cast as if I were a fifth level cleric (assuming I make the Wisdom check).
Sounds right to me, although when I give out potions, wands, and scrolls that are created above the miniumum caster level I always tell the player what the caster level is (once the item has been properly identified). So it seems strange to me that the DM didn't say "this is a scroll of Aid at 5th Caster Level".
And your last bit about making the Wisdom check concerns me. are you saying you are a cleric but you have less than a 12 Wisdom? The scroll only requires you to have enough Wisdom to cast a 2nd level spell, and that only requires a 12 Wisdom - as a cleric, I would hope that your Wisdom is significantly higher than that. If it isn't, then you may have a serious design flaw in your character.
Also, if your Wisdom is in fact less than 12 then you cannot use either of these scrolls at all. Having the minimum Wisdom to cast a spell of this level (they're both level 2 spells) is not optional; it's a requirement (unless you use the Use Magic Device skill to activate them).
Now, if you're not yet 5th level, you will have to make a Caster Level check to cast that Aid. The DC is the scroll's Caster Level + 1, so the DC is only a 6. Whenever you make a Caster Level check, for any reason, you roll 1d20 and add your class level in whatever your spellcasting class is. So for example, if you're a 3rd level cleric and you try to use this scroll, you'll need to roll a d20+3 and get at least a 6 to successfully cast it.
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Sounds right to me, although when I give out potions, wands, and scrolls that are created above the miniumum caster level I always tell the player what the caster level is (once the item has been properly identified). So it seems strange to me that the DM didn't say "this is a scroll of Aid at 5th Caster Level".
And your last bit about making the Wisdom check concerns me. are you saying you are a cleric but you have less than a 12 Wisdom? The scroll only requires you to have enough Wisdom to cast a 2nd level spell, and that only requires a 12 Wisdom - as a cleric, I would hope that your Wisdom is significantly higher than that. If it isn't, then you may have a serious design flaw in your character.
Also, if your Wisdom is in fact less than 12 then you cannot use either of these scrolls at all. Having the minimum Wisdom to cast a spell of this level (they're both level 2 spells) is not optional; it's a requirement (unless you use the Use Magic Device skill to activate them).
Now, if you're not yet 5th level, you will have to make a Caster Level check to cast that Aid. The DC is the scroll's Caster Level + 1, so the DC is only a 6. Whenever you make a Caster Level check, for any reason, you roll 1d20 and add your class level in whatever your spellcasting class is. So for example, if you're a 3rd level cleric and you try to use this scroll, you'll need to roll a d20+3 and get at least a 6 to successfully cast it.
The character's wisdom is 18, but he is only a second level cleric. According to the PRD, a Wisdom check is needed if the caster level of the scroll's creator is higher than the caster level of the scroll's reader.
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). A natural roll of 1 always fails, whatever the modifiers. Activating a scroll is a standard action (or the spell's casting time, whichever is longer) and it provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
Given that only a 6 needed (4 on the die), it should not be too difficult to make the check, but failure is always a possibility. I don;t get it - I typed, "Caster Level Check" not "Wisdom Check" in my original post. This new Keyboard from Miskatonic Data Systems keeps changing my posts.
In the GM's defense, we did not use Read Magic during the scenario. The scenario sheet simply lists what items are available for the characters to purchase after they finish.
Iä! Cthulhu!
The character's wisdom is 18, but he is only a second level cleric. According to the PRD, a Wisdom check is needed if the caster level of the scroll's creator is higher than the caster level of the scroll's reader.
...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). A natural roll of 1 always fails, whatever the modifiers. Activating a scroll is a standard action (or the spell's casting time, whichever is longer) and it provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
You're almost right.
Because you're second level, you need to make a caster level check (I bolded that in the text you quoted from the PRD). If you fail that check, then you make a Wisdom check for the mishap (I italicized that in the text you quoted from the PRD).
(all of which, if I'm reading the last part of your most recent post correctly, you realized after you re-read the PRD).
Given that you're making assumptions about the scroll based on its price, we need to rule out Supply and Demand and the whimseys of market. Maybe this is a Caster Level 8 scroll of Aid but the vendor was having a sale tht day. Or maybe it's a Caster Level 3 scroll but it's such a popular spell that the vendor decided to gouge you on the price...
Might be best to ask the DM about the level of the scroll, just to be sure.
Note that it's mostly moot, in the case of scrolls -- by the time you get 4 prestige points, you can buy a scroll of Aid at any caster level you like between 3 and 9, for instance.
In the GM's defense, we did not use Read Magic during the scenario. The scenario sheet simply lists what items are available for the characters to purchase after they finish.
This would only matter if you wanted to use the scroll during the scenario. Once the scenario is over it is assumed when you are buying the items from the chronicle sheet, that you are buying them back from the Pathfinder Society and that whatever needs to be done for you to use the item, such as read magic or identify, has been taken care of in down-time and you are good to go. If you are still trying to use a scroll above your level, you will still need to make that check, but that is it.
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Note that it's mostly moot, in the case of scrolls -- by the time you get 4 prestige points, you can buy a scroll of Aid at any caster level you like between 3 and 9, for instance.
Not correct at all.
You can only buy them at base caster level. Remember you're not able to but anything that's possible based on the item creation rules but only specific items with specific costs.Table 15-5 has a sub heading called Scroll Costs and you must buy from there, you cannot buy items above minimum caster level unless you specifically find them in adventures.
The scrolls that are always available and do not require either PA or TPA to purchase are always at the minimum caster level. A scroll of magic missiles bought as an always available item will always be caster level one, for example. However, if you are buying a scroll of magic missiles based written at caster level 10, which is a cost of 250 gold, you would have to either use a PA and get it from your faction or have your TPA be at least 4.
And before people say differently, this is not item creation because you are not inventing a new item, which is what the "no magic crafting" rule is there to prevent. Remember, the Guide says the Magic Item Creation section of the Core Book is not allowed, but the rules for scrolls and the purchasing of them is not in that section.