Read about it here.
The key points:
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 is a full-round action.
Your wizard spends a full round deciphering the scroll using a Read Magic cantrip (level 0 spell) which never fails, or rolls Spellcraft with a DC of 23.
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 she can proceed directly to the next step when the time comes to use the scroll.
Do it now so you can know what is on the scroll. Chances are you already did this which is why you know it's a Fireball scroll.
When he wants to "use" it, he does the following:
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 class.)
Your wizard can use a Fireball scroll - this is an arcane spell.
The user must have the spell on her class list.
Fireball is on the wizard class list.
The user must have the requisite ability score.
Wizards need an INT of 13 or higher to cast Fireball.
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.
The Fireball scroll is assumed to be the minimum caster level (all scrolls are) so this would be 5. It's possible the GM gave you a scroll of a higher caster level. Your wizard who uses the scroll must be at least the same caster level to automatically use the scroll.
If not:
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.
The DC would be 6, assuming the minimum caster level for the Fireball scroll. To make a caster level check, the wizard rolls a d20 + his level. If he gets a 6, he casts the spell.
If she fails, she must make a DC 5 Wisdom check to avoid a scroll mishap. 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. If the caster level check fails but no mishap occurs, the scroll is not expended.
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, unless the scriber specifically desired otherwise.
An alternative use for it is to just save it.
Later, when the wizard is 5th level, he can scribe that spell into his spellbook and then he will always be able to cast Fireball himself.
Sure, at 5th level, he can learn it anyway, but he only gets two free spells each level, so if he saves this scroll he can learn Fireball AND two OTHER free spells, thereby learning three spells at 5th level instead of only two.
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An alternative use for it is to just save it.
And violate the Chekhov's Fireball Scroll narrative trope? Perish the thought, good sir!
Chief Technical Officer
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If you're using the Beginner's Box (and I assume you are, since this is the forum for that product), page 52 of the Game Master's Guide has an explanation that's a bit less complicated:
To use a scroll, you have to do the following things in order:
1) Decipher the scroll
A scroll is a sort of magical code. You can decipher it
automatically by casting read magic. If for some reason you
can’t cast read magic or you just like doing things the hard
way, you can instead try a Spellcraft check (DC 20). If you fail
the Spellcraft check, you can’t try using Spellcraft to decipher
it again for a week.
2) Be the right class
Only clerics can cast cleric spells from scrolls. Only wizards
can cast wizard spells from scrolls. If a spell is both a cleric
spell and a wizard spell (like cause fear), both clerics and
wizards can cast it from the scroll. Remember that evoker
wizards and illusionist wizards can never cast certain spells,
even from scrolls.
3) Read the Scroll
Casting the spell from the scroll is a standard action, just like a
cleric or wizard casting a prepared spell. You have to be able to
see the scroll to cast from it. Just like casting a prepared spell,
you can’t cast from a scroll if an enemy is adjacent to you.
Casting a spell from a scroll destroys the scroll.
Scroll Caster Level
A scroll always uses its own caster level, even if your cleric
or wizard level is different than that. A scroll’s caster level
is 1st for 1st-level spells, 3rd for 2nd-level spells, or 5th for
3rd-level spells.
Scroll Saving Throw DC
The saving throw DC for a scroll is 11 for a 1st-level spell, 12
for a 2nd-level spell, or 14 for a 3rd-level spell. In other words,
your INT Mod and WIS Mod don’t affect the saving throw DC
of a scroll.
Copying Wizard Scrolls
If you’re a wizard, you can spend 1 hour copying a wizard scroll
into your spellbook. Copying a scroll requires rare inks that cost
10 gp for a 1st-level spell, 40 gp for a 2nd-level spell, and 90 gp
for a 3rd-level spell. Copying the spell destroys the scroll. Once
the spell is copied, it is part of your spellbook, and from then on,
every time you prepare spells you can prepare that spell from the
spellbook. You can’t copy a cleric scroll into your spellbook.