Scrolls!
SRD wrote: 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 class.)
* The user must have the spell on 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). 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.
1. So far as I can tell, 3E and PF materials often contain scrolls of a given spell which do not specify whether it's arcane or divine. However, with the proliferation of classes, there are a number of cases where it could be either. If a published adventure specifies a "scroll of cure light wounds", how would you determine whether it's arcane or divine?
2. It appears that you can cast a spell of a level you could not ordinarily cast, as long as it was scribed at a caster level you can manage. For instance, an 11th level sorcerer can use a 6th-level scroll scribed by a wizard, because the 11th level sorcerer can cast at CL11 without a caster level check, even though 6th level spells are not available to sorcerers until level 12. Similarly, a magus or bard can cast a 6th level spell from a scroll at level 11, if it was scribed at CL 11 by a wizard, even though they couldn't cast it themselves until level 16. And an 11th level witch with a 16 int can cast chain lightning from a scroll even though the witch spell would require CL13 and int 17.
This creates interesting options. A bard can create a CL4 scroll of suggestion for 200gp, creating a 2nd level spell scroll at CL4, with a save DC of 13. A wizard can't create one below CL5, with a save DC of 14. But the wizard can learn the spell from the bard's scroll. But wait! What's the spellcraft DC to decipher it? Is it based on the bard level or the wizard level? If you want to add suggestion to your book from a scroll, is doing it from the bard scroll cheaper and easier? Can a wizard then cast that spell with a 12 int, not needing a 13?
3. Does this mean that the existence of a new class which gets access to a given spell sooner than others has sweeping effects on the scroll market? :)
1. The adventure should tell you, but they often don't. However if you find it on the body of a divine caster it is safe to assume it is a divine scroll. I have always ignored the rule personally.
A scroll is a scroll as long as it is on your class list. <--Not how the rule works, just how I do it.
2. Yes, but for some reason I never noticed that in all my years of playing. I guess that is because it is rare to find such scrolls.
With that aside it is best to seperate question so they can be read easier.. :)
The DC to decipher a scroll is (DC 15+ spell level). The level of the spell goes by who created it. That is also good to know since it affects the price of the scroll, if it is sold.
3. The game does not model markets realistically, so the answer is no.
1) I would suggest, as a house rule, that if the adventure does not state what class created the scroll (to determine spell level, arcane or divine, CL, etc), that you could use the "priority list" for determining spell-like abilities.
That is to say, use the following order. Sorc/Wiz, Cleric, Druid, Bard, Paladin, Ranger, (other casters). The scroll was made by the first class that has the spell on its list.
So a "Cure Light Wounds" scroll is assumed to be crafted by a Cleric, rather than a Bard.
2) I would say no. Once you learn the spell, you learn the version that falls on your own class list.
3) I would say that since the existence of the new class is probably small compared to Wizards and Clerics, it wouldn't affect the market. But a PC of that class would have a discount to craft (like Summoner's do for some spells now).
Oh, I realized I screwed up some of my questions. I was originally wondering whether you could use the scroll with a 12 int. I think it's pretty clear that once you scribe it, you get the 3rd level version that needs a 13.
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