The Witch and using scrolls

[terry victory]

Can a Witch use a Command Scroll and a Cure Lt Wounds Scroll? Both spells are Divine Spells but are also on the spell list for Witches which is an Arcane Spellcaster. According to the rules you must have the spell on your spell list(check), have the appropiate ability score(check), and be the correct spellcaster for the spell,divine casts divine, arcane casts arcane(?).

[Kalyth]

terry victory wrote:

Can a Witch use a Command Scroll and a Cure Lt Wounds Scroll? Both spells are Divine Spells but are also on the spell list for Witches which is an Arcane Spellcaster. According to the rules you must have the spell on your spell list(check), have the appropiate ability score(check), and be the correct spellcaster for the spell,divine casts divine, arcane casts arcane(?).

If they were divine scrolls then no. But if they were arcane then sure.

Say if a bard had scribed the cure light wounds scroll.

[Karameikos]

I would ask for a Use Magic Device check but cut the DC to 10 + caster level.

[Ross Byers]

terry victory wrote:

Can a Witch use a Command Scroll and a Cure Lt Wounds Scroll? Both spells are Divine Spells but are also on the spell list for Witches which is an Arcane Spellcaster. According to the rules you must have the spell on your spell list(check), have the appropiate ability score(check), and be the correct spellcaster for the spell,divine casts divine, arcane casts arcane(?).

This isn't an issue of the spell being divine or arcane, because when a Witch casts cure light wounds, it's an arcane version of the spell. It's an issue of the scroll being arcane or divine. To use a scroll without an UMD check, a Witch needs an arcane scroll. Which, in the case of cure light wounds, means a scroll scribed by another Witch or a Bard (also an arcane caster with cure light on their spell list), not a Cleric or Druid.

That said, the distinction between arcane and divine scrolls is one of the most-ignored rules in the game.

[terry victory]

How does this pertain to the Pathfinder Society Rule that wizards, clerics or druids create the scrolls in the world?

[seekerofshadowlight]

Buy arcane versions.

[oynaz]

My first houserule was to condemn the concept of arcane and divine scrolls to the mad lawyer / insane accountant infected hell where it belongs.

Seriously, people who actually enjoys keeping track of whether or not a given scroll is divine or arcane scares me.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever told my player's if a scroll was arcane or divine... If its on their list, they can use it. Saying a divine scroll is different than an arcane scroll doesn't make much sense to me. Sure they're different styles of magic, but you could say that a druid would make scrolls much different than a cleric, so a cleric couldn't use a scroll written by a druid because their magics are too different, and that would just get too confusing.

[Starglim]

terry victory wrote:

How does this pertain to the Pathfinder Society Rule that wizards, clerics or druids create the scrolls in the world?

edit: My mistake: cure light wounds is on the cleric and druid spell lists, so you can only buy a scroll of cure light wounds created by a cleric or a druid in PFS.

[Howie23]

The arcane/divine tag for scrolls rarely comes up. Other than with arcane cure spells, the main place that I've seen it is for NPC adepts and domain spells. Divine scroll of lightning bolt, anyone?

As for it being regularly ignored, I have never played in a game where it was ignored. It just is uncommon. YMMV.

[Zurai]

I've never seen a game where it was ignored, either. It's just incredibly rare for it to come up at all.

[Devilkiller]

DMs I've played with are about 50/50 on ignoring the arcane vs divine scroll distinction. One way to make sure you'll have arcane scrolls of Cure and such is to have your Witch take the Scribe Scroll feat. Besides the usual benefits it lets a Witch create a backup of the spells in his or her familiar (which not every DM will restrain from killing).