I have a player who was able to make his Use Magic Device roll to cast a spell from a wizard scroll. The player is a Rogue, however, I ruled he couldn't cast the spell because he lacked the required spell component.
I want to check with the community to see if I made the correct call. He wanted to cast "Protection from Arrows" from a scroll from a treasure horde. It requires a tortoise shell as a material component. Since he didn't have a spell component pouch (Rogue class) and hadn't acquired the tortoise shell through any other means I ruled he couldn't cast the spell.
I suppose the question is if the required spell component was part of the making of the spell or part of the casting. Then it would also bring up the idea of a found scroll of "Wish" or other such spell. Is the 25k diamond part of the creation of the spell scroll or part of the casting from said scroll.
Please let me know what you all think.
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I suppose the question is if the required spell component was part of the making of the spell or part of the casting. Then it would also bring up the idea of a found scroll of "Wish" or other such spell. Is the 25k diamond part of the creation of the spell scroll or part of the casting from said scroll.
It's part of the creation of the scroll; the user needs nothing but the scroll itself.
A scroll is a spell (or collection of spells) that has been stored in written form. A spell on a scroll can be used only once. The writing vanishes from the scroll when the spell is activated. Using a scroll is basically like casting a spell. The price of a scroll is equal to the level of the spell × the creator's caster level × 25 gp. If the scroll has a material component cost, it is added to the base price and cost to create. Table: Scrolls gives sample prices for scrolls created at the lowest possible caster level for each spellcasting class. Note that some spells appear at different levels for different casters. The level of such spells depends on the caster scribing the scroll.
Note also that the section on activating a scroll, farther down that page, makes no mention of components.
The creator must have prepared the spell to be scribed (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires. A material component is consumed when she begins writing, but a focus is not. (A focus used in scribing a scroll can be reused.) The act of writing triggers the prepared spell, making it unavailable for casting until the character has rested and regained spells. (That is, that spell slot is expended from the caster's currently prepared spells, just as if it had been cast.)
So yes, a Wish scroll is very expensive to make. And when you make a scroll of restoration you must decide to spend either 1,000 gp of diamond dust to have it be able to dispel a permanent negative level or just 100 gp of diamond dust to get the base effects only.
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Oh wait, we're in the playtest forums. That wasn't on purpose, was it? UMD isn't in the playtest. Well, just in case, the answer is the same for material components, though different for foci for some reason.
Any physical material components and cost were already provided when the scroll was crafted, but you must spend a Somatic Casting action in place of each Material Casting action required to cast the spell. If the spell requires a focus, you must still have that focus to cast the spell from a scroll.
What the cat said. The necessary components were already provided by the scroll's creator.
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While I'm thinking of it, I'll ask a question. Can you use spell trigger magic items while wearing armor? I'm under the impression that spell trigger items don't have any somatic components to activate. You point the wand and say the magic word. So I'm thinking that arcane spell failure is not a problem for spell trigger magic items.
correct you are
You are not, yourself, casting the spell and, as such, yes. You can use them while in armor, yes, if you are capable of activating the item.
@Serum Nothing in either the Scribe Scroll feat nor in the Scroll data say that you need verbal or somatic components to cast from a scroll. Could you provide a link or quote?
Scroll rules are pretty scattered around:
Spell Completion: This is the activation method for scrolls. A scroll is a spell that is mostly finished. The preparation is done for the caster, so no preparation time is needed beforehand as with normal spellcasting. All that's left to do is perform the finishing parts of the spellcasting (the final gestures, words, and so on). To use a spell completion item safely, a character must be of high enough level in the right class to cast the spell already. If he can't already cast the spell, there's a chance he'll make a mistake. Activating a spell completion item is a standard action (or the spell's casting time, whichever is longer) and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
So you have at least the "final" parts of the somatic and verbal components to provide. Also,
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.
That last sentence strongly implies that the somatic components are performed, since spells w/o somatic components don't incur ASF.
Thank you for all the responses. I owe the player an apology.
Well, there is a glitch in this per published stuff.
Per the PRD 8th level scrolls, Trap the Soul costs 23,000 gp. That is 3,000 for 8th level + 20,000 for HD at 1,000/HD. How do you get 20 HD for that spell? No mention of a HD cap is given on the spell, nor any relationship between HD and CL.
I have also seen some magic items in this and previous versions of the game where the material component was supplied separately from the item casting the spell. For an example an item that you must supply the 1000 gp in a special place to get the spell cast. No agency receives the gp, it just goes away. [Actually, I think it was a pearl of that value, but it has been years.]
The point is that you can assume the standard material component for any standard use of the spell unless called out particularity. The scroll above, since the cost depends on what you target, you must work out the cost of components supplied.
/cevah