Spell Scrolls

Scrolls are magical items which allow a Magic-User (Any Arcane Class character with a minimun Intelligence value of 14) to cast a spell without prior memorization, even if the spell is of higher level than the Magic-User is able to cast. A Magic-User must cast Identify in order to read a scroll (even to identify the spells contained on it!) if he isn’t the creator, but at any point thereafter the spell can be cast from a scroll. A scroll can have multiple spells on it, but only one spell can be cast at a time. Casting a spell from a scroll erases it from the scroll.

A character must hold the scroll with both hands in order to read/use it, and if in combat it takes the caster an entire Action to use, just like casting a normal spell.

All spells cast from scrolls use the level of the reader, not the writer, to determine the effects of the spell.

Writing a Scroll

Any Magic-User can create a spell scroll for any spell in his spellbook.

The process costs 75 sp per day.

Even though the scroll is essentially a “one-use” formula for a spell, each must still be individually researched and crafted, and not mass-produced. Indeed, making a copy of a spell scroll will not imbue the copy with magical energy, or at the Referee’s discretion, perhaps making the copy would dissipate all magical energy from the original as well!

Transcribing Spells

From a Scroll to a Spellbook

If a Magic-User finds a spell scroll containing a spell not already in the Magic-User’s spellbook, he can instead transcribe the spell on the scroll into his spellbook. This will remove the spell from the scroll.

The process costs 50 sp per day.

From Spellbook to Spellbook

Spellbooks are large, bulky things, and valuable at that. While a Magic-User can freely use any spellbook upon which he has cast Identify, sometimes a Magic-User may want to consolidate spellbooks or create new ones. This process is similar to writing scrolls, but does not erase the spell from the original source.

The process costs 25 sp per day.

Researching a Spell

If a Magic-User wishes to add a spell to a spellbook without a prior reference to the spell (from a scroll or another spellbook), there is more intensive research to be done. A Magic-User can research spells of a higher level than he is able to cast and add them to his spellbook, but he may never prepare such spells. He can, however, write them on scrolls.

A player can invent totally new spells for his character to research. The player must first write the spell in the format of the other spells in the spell lists. The Game Master must approve the spell, and should revise the spell for the player in advance of any research (sometimes this will merely involve altering the spell level). If successful, the character now has a spell that no other character has in the game!

For spells that are on the standard spell lists, the process costs 25sp per day.

For wholly original spells, the process costs 30sp per day.

Creating a Potion

Spells which affect a person can, for all intents and purposes, be made into liquid form so that the imbiber gains the benefit of the spell. The maker of the potion must be able to cast the spell being turned into a potion. If a Cleric assists the MagicUser, a potion capturing the essence of any of the healing spells (Cure Wounds or Cure Disease) can be made, though the Cleric must be of high enough level to cast the spell in question.

The process to make a potion costs 50sp per day.

Creating a Staff or Wand

Staves and wands can be used to hold magical power for later use. These are the steps to creating a staff or wand:

Determine What Spells the Item Will Contain

A wand or staff can only ever cast the spells that it is designed to cast. Wands can generally hold only one specific spell, but up to three different spells may be used if they are all closely related in effect. Staves can have up to three spells or five if they are all closely related.

Enter the Original Charges

Once all the work on the physical staff or wand is completed and the proper preparations are made, a Permanency spell must be cast on the item, followed by at least one casting of every spell to be represented in the staff or wand. However, the maximum number of charges will also be determined at this point, as the total number of spells cast into the wand (not counting the Permanency spell) will determine its maximum number of charges. Usually the lowest level spell is the one cast multiple times in order to increase the charges. These spells must be cast without interruption into the item, so it is usual for a group of mages, or a mass number of scrolls, to be used in the effort.

The maximum number of charges a wand can handle is 99, while a staff can handle 49 charges.

The base number of charges used by each spell is determined by the levels of spells included. The lowest level spell expends one charge, and the difference between the spell level of their effects determines the number of charges that higher-level effects expend.

Recharging a Staff or Wand

The Permanency spell must be cast on a staff or wand in order to recharge it. In this case, and only this case, if the Magic-User fails the saving throw when casting the Permanency spell, the item could be recharged after a number of days equal to 2x max-Lvl of the spells holded in it.

The process of making a staff or wand costs 50 sp per day.

Time of Magical Activities

When transcribing or researching spells, the character (and player) will never know exactly how long it will take. Magic is a risky business.

The player must declare ahead of time how long the character will take to perform the activity. The Referee will randomly determine the actual necessary length of time it should take according to the table below (which the player can also use to estimate how long they wish to work). The period must be uninterrupted for the character; any significant interruption undoes all work and the project must be started anew. The costs up to that time are wasted. Only after the time passes in-game and the money is spent can success be determined.

If the character spent time equal to, or greater than, the amount necessary, then the work is automatically a success. If the character spent less time, the entire project is a failure; all work has been for naught, all money spent has been wasted, and the process must begin again from scratch. There is a 10% chance that any failed project results in a curse as determined by the Referee.

The time required for items 1–5 is doubled if the Magic-User is not working in a library worth at least 1,000 sp per level of the spell in question. Time to create a potion is doubled if the Magic-User is not working in a laboratory worth at least 1,000 sp per level of the spell that the potion will duplicate. Creating a wand or staff requires both a library and a laboratory worth at least 1,000 sp each per highest spell level included or the time is doubled.

The character’s Intelligence modifier is applied to the final number of required days (with a positive modifier lessening the number of days, of course). The minimum amount of time it takes to research spells or write scrolls is never less than a day

Activity	Time required	Cost	Permanency DC (Int)
Writing a Scroll	Spell Level×2d6 Days	75 sp/day	8 + Spell Level
Transcribing a Spell from Scroll to Spellbook	Spell Level×1d6 Days	50 sp/day	8 + Spell Level
Transcribing a Spell from Spellbook to Spellbook	Spell Level×1d3 Days	25 sp/day	8 + Spell Level
Researching a Spell on the Spell Lists	Spell Level×3d6 Days	25 sp/day	8 + Spell Level
Researching a New Spell	Spell Level×4d6 Days	30 sp/day	10 + Spell Level
Creating a Potion	Spell Level×1d6 Days	50 sp/day	8 + Spell Level
Creating a Wand or Staff	Spell Levels×10×1d6 Days	50 sp/day	8 + Max. Spell Level