Cand Spellbooks be destroyed by fire? What about Scrolls and other magic items?

[Fischy32]

Yesterday our wizard used burning hands to burning some evil guys asses. Unfortunatly he didn't know, that those books within the area were soaked with oil, so after the fight, the slaved librarian was very sad, especially because there was a spellbook and some scrolls within those piles, which are now gone. But the Wizard-Player was just happy, said "spellbooks can't burn" and so he could wait till the fire got out and rescue the spellbook. I couldn't find anything about this, are there rules about this? What about Scrolls, Wands and all that other stuff?

[gatherer818]

Spellbooks take damage from fire like any other object. A spellbook might survive where a scroll wouldn't just by virtue of its size, though, since thicker items have higher hp.

If it was soaked in oil and not protected somehow or extinguished, it'll take 2d3 damage from the fire over 2 rounds. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/goods-and-services/herbs-oils-other-subst ances/#TOC-Oil-Lamp

Paper has 2 hp per inch of thickness. A scroll therefore probably only has 1 hp and is destroyed, but a spellbook has a chance. One-inch thick - destroyed. Two-inches thick has nearly a 50/50 chance, Three-inches is only destroyed if both dice come up 3. Thicker is fine. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/damaging-objects/

If it's leather-bound and was only splattered (not "soaked") in oil, the leather's hardness may apply, and the GM may halve the damage (you normally halve energy damage like fire or cold against objects, unless the GM considers that object to be weak against that energy type, like paper and fire...). That ensures the book survives. Likewise for a scroll in a case of some sort.

Wands are typically treated wood, and should halve damage from fire. With hardness 5 and 10 hp, they're basically immune to ordinary lamp oil.

I hope that helps!

[Omnius]

Spellbooks have no special protections. They're just physical books with expensive ink. Fire will work just fine. Same for scrolls. Wands are a little dubious, as they are more likely to be made of other things like metal, but if we're talking a wooden wand, it'll burn just like wood.

A blessed book specifically is bound in iron, and has some spacial magic weirdness going on, so that could conceivably resist fire, but that's dubious.

3.5 had rules for making your spellbook out of special stuff. You want a solid steel spell book? Sure. Or tattoo it on your own flesh, which has some harsh space limitations. Not sure if Pathfinder has some stuff for that.

You could probably enchant your spellbook to resist elements by some means or another. Or, at the very least, cast Hardening on your spellbook to make it more resistant to normal damage. A CL12 Hardening spell would give your paper spellbook Hardness 6, and it's a permanent spell, so I'm pretty sure that would make it immune to the 1d6 damage of mundane fire.

But, yeah, AoE fire spells do collateral damage, and regular spellbooks and scrolls are liable to burn good.

[Ryan Freire]

IIRC you don't test for things like scrolls or spellbooks taking damage unless you roll a 1 on the save? Maybe on a failed save? Most campaigns kind of handwave this because checking ALL the things that could be damaged takes a while which distracts from table time.

[Omnius]

It sounds like this wasn't an object on the wizard's person, but something else in the terrain? Otherwise, yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right on things on your person, Ryan.

[Fischy32]

Thanks for clarify!

[Claxon]

Yes, why wouldn't they?

Now, if your question involves people who have those items on their person there are rules to determine if the items get damaged.

Quote:

Automatic Failures and Successes: A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on a saving throw is always a failure, and the spell may cause damage to exposed items (see Items Surviving after a Saving Throw, below). A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a success.

Voluntarily Giving up a Saving Throw: A creature can voluntarily forego a saving throw and willingly accept a spell's result. Even a character with a special resistance to magic can suppress this quality.
Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks Order* Item
1st Shield
2nd Armor
3rd Magic helmet, hat, or headband
4th Item in hand (including weapon, wand, or the like)
5th Magic cloak
6th Stowed or sheathed weapon
7th Magic bracers
8th Magic clothing
9th Magic jewelry (including rings)
10th Anything else
* In order of most likely to least likely to be affected.

Items Surviving after a Saving Throw: Unless the descriptive text for the spell specifies otherwise, all items carried or worn by a creature are assumed to survive a magical attack. If a creature rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against the effect, however, an exposed item is harmed (if the attack can harm objects). Refer to Table: Items Affected by Magical Attacks. Determine which four objects carried or worn by the creature are most likely to be affected and roll randomly among them. The randomly determined item must make a saving throw against the attack form and take whatever damage the attack dealt.

If the selected item is not carried or worn and is not magical, it does not get a saving throw. It simply is dealt the appropriate damage.

The main thing is, you only ever risk your items on your being damaged if you roll a nat 1 on the save, unless the spell specifies differently.

But for books and scrolls sitting on the floor and you fireball the area...yeah they take damage and are probably destroyed.