A spell scroll bears the words of a single spell, written as a mystical cipher. If the spell is on your class's spell list, you can read the scroll and cast its spell without providing any material components. Otherwise, the scroll is unintelligible. Casting the spell by reading the scroll requires the spell's normal casting time. Once the spell is cast, the words on the scroll fade, and it crumbles to dust. If the casting is interrupted, the scroll is not lost.
If the spell is on your class's spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC is 10. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect.
Once the spell is cast, the words on the scroll fade, and the scroll itself crumbles to dust.
Multiple variations of this item exist, as listed below:
Spell Level |
Rarity |
Save DC |
Attack Bonus |
Cantrip | Common | 13 | 5 |
1st | Common | 13 | 5 |
2nd | Uncommon | 13 | 5 |
3rd | Uncommon | 15 | 7 |
4td | Rare | 15 | 7 |
5td | Rare | 17 | 9 |
6td | Very rare | 17 | 9 |
7td | Very rare | 18 | 10 |
8td | Very rare | 18 | 10 |
9td | Legendary | 19 | 11 |
Scrolls & the Mighty Menagerie
With time and patience, a spellcaster can transfer a spell to a scroll, creating a spell scroll.
Resources.
Scribing a spell scroll takes an amount of time and money related to the level of the spell the character wants to scribe, as shown in the Spell Scroll Costs table. In addition, the character must have proficiency in the Arcana skill and must provide any material components required for the casting of the spell. Moreover, the character must have the spell prepared, or it must be among the character's known spells, in order to scribe a scroll of that spell.
If the scribed spell is a cantrip, the version on the scroll works as if the caster were 1st level.
Spell Scroll Costs
Spell Level |
Time |
Cost |
Cantrip |
1 day |
15 gp |
1st |
1 day |
25 gp |
2nd |
3 days |
250 gp |
3rd |
1 workweek |
500 gp |
4th |
2 workweeks |
2,500 gp |
5th |
4 workweeks |
5,000 gp |
6th |
8 workweeks |
15,000 gp |
7th |
16 workweeks |
25,000 gp |
8th |
32 workweeks |
50,000 gp |
9th |
48 workweeks |
250,000 gp |
Complications.
Crafting a spell scroll is a solitary task, unlikely to attract much attention. The complications that arise are more likely to involve the preparation needed for the activity. Every workweek spent scribing brings a 10 percent chance of a complication, examples of which are on the Scribe a Scroll Complications table.
Scribe a Scroll Complications
d6 |
Complication |
1 |
You bought up the last of the rare ink used to craft scrolls, angering a wizard in town. |
2 |
The priest of a temple of good accuses you of trafficking in dark magic.* |
3 |
A wizard eager to collect one of your spells in a book presses you to sell the scroll. |
4 |
Due to a strange error in creating the scroll, it is instead a random spell of the same level. |
5 |
The rare parchment you bought for your scroll has a barely visible map on it. |
6 |
A thief attempts to break into your workroom.* |
*Might involve a rival