Otherworldly Acumen, Learn a Spell

[kroarty]

Question can apply to any innate spell, but Otherworldly Acumen is the hilarious example, since you can change it by spending a downtime day.

If you have an innate spell, do you count as someone who "knows" the spell for purposes of YOU using the Learn a Spell action? It seems Learn a Spell is supposed to represent the process of converting the information into your storage device (spellbook/familiar) more than simply wrapping your head around it.

Even if the answer's no, you can still craft a scroll of it and learn it from the scroll, just curious if I can skip the absurd middle-man step.

[BloodandDust]

I think no, a character with an innate spell does not "know" the spell in the same way that an actual caster does.

The core rulebook is a little loose, but innate spells are described as "natural to your character, typically coming from your ancestry or a magic item". The description goes into a number of exceptions to the rules to make this work (cast a spell activity even though not a spellcaster, spell DCs even though not trained, etc) but writing scrolls and learning or teaching spells are not part of the list.

IMO this means that Innate spells are cast instinctively, not with detailed knowledge of the process, so an innate caster cannot explain to others how they work (except as feelings, like e.g.: explaining how it feels to move your arm, or walk) and cannot write out a scroll, copy an innate spell into a spellbook, or teach anyone else how to cast the spell.

I'd probably make an exception if the innate caster is *also* a full-caster Wizard since that is the one class that focuses on learning the specifics of how magic works in excruciating detail.

[BloodandDust]

Further to the above...

1) The rules for "Crafting a scroll" says that "the casting must come from a spellcaster expending a spell slot.".

2) Also, the "Learn a spell" activity requires that "you have a spellcasting class feature". Innate spells are usually Ancestry features, not spellcasting class features and so would not qualify.

In short, not, you can't do any of that with an innate spell, and no, Otherworldly Acumen is not a shortcut to an infinite spellbook or basket of scrolls.

[Ravingdork]

As this only works at higher levels, requires more downtime and resources than without, and only nets you low level spells, I see absolutely no reason to disallow it.

After all, if a druid can teach a wizard fireball, I see no reason why an elf wizard could not study their inborn abilities to deduce how the magic works in more traditional form.

Learn a Spell only requires that you have a source to learn from. That source can be anything the GM deems appropriate, be it a scroll, a spellbook, a person, or in this case, your own inborn magical capabilities.

I would still be restrictive when it comes to Uncommon and Rare spells, mind you.

By the time my elf sorcerer* was 9th-level, she had learned every Common arcane spell in the Core Rulebook of 3rd-level and lower. Took her less than two days and didn't require jumping through these kinds of hoops. By the time she was 12th, she had all the 4th- and 5th-level spells as well. Learn a Spell is incredibly easy to use.

*:

She could add spells to a spellbook thanks to Arcane Evolution.