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Old 07-07-2020, 05:40 AM   #1
hcobb
 
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Location: Pacheco, California
Default Scroll fix

Scrolls are one group of magical items that are clearly overpriced.

https://www.hcobb.com/tft/scrolls_suck.html

Plus they increase your dependence on the party wizard.

My fix is that a scroll takes one hour per IQ point to write and writing (but not reading) a scroll in Sorcerers' Tongue is at +2 DX. To read a scroll requires literacy in the language (95% of the time this will be Sorcerers' Tongue) and either being a wizard or knowing Alchemy.

Because of all of this scroll costs are 1/8th of list price, if these are written in Sorcerers' Tongue. (Selling scrolls in other languages is also 1/8th list price, but buying them is such a hassle that no discount is available.)
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Old 07-07-2020, 12:02 PM   #2
Skarg
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

Scrolls tend to be overlooked and not used very much, and may seem not worth the cost particularly for certain spells, so if a GM wants scrolls to see more use, adjusting the costs and/or difficulty of making them could help that.

However I think your estimations are inaccurate.

Comparing potions and gas bombs favorably to scrolls seems really problematic to me, as for instance:

* Scrolls cover a much wider range of abilities than potions and gas bombs do, so comparing spells whose effects can be achieved with potions and gas bombs is NOT a reason to adjust all scrolls to try to "balance" them on cost. It is OK (I would even say, interesting and desirable) if one form of magic is more efficient or inexpensive than another to achieve certain similar effects.

* Some/many costs are set based on logical reasons rather than utility to adventurers, which has a value in terms of consistency, and is not necessarily a problem.

* Making scrolls very easy to make and cheap to buy would mean that practically any spell that can be made into a scroll would be relatively easily/affordably available. Maybe some GMs/players would enjoy that, but others might want to be careful about what magic they make how easy/cheap to buy.

* Potions are dangerous to make.
* Potions tend to take longer to make.
* Making potions tends to require special ingredients.
* Making potions requires a lab.
* The readying/use time is not different for scrolls vs gas bombs.
* Potions are fragile and so subject to accidents (that for gas bombs, involve gassing yourself and/or your friends).
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Old 07-20-2020, 12:25 AM   #3
JohnPaulB
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg View Post

* Potions are dangerous to make.
* Potions tend to take longer to make.
* Making potions tends to require special ingredients.
* Making potions requires a lab.
* The readying/use time is not different for scrolls vs gas bombs.
* Potions are fragile and so subject to accidents (that for gas bombs, involve gassing yourself and/or your friends).
However, potions can be used by anybody and scrolls only by wizards who can read the language.
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Old 07-20-2020, 03:18 AM   #4
Steve Plambeck
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Default Re: Scroll fix

A scroll never got used once in all my years of play, so I'm rather weak on the RAW. However, we did have house rules for them (that also never got used) that I do sorta recall. The gist was anyone could use one, even a non-wizard, and they were all self-powered. They had to be in our world's equivalent of the Sorcerer's Tongue, but if you didn't know the language that was okay, because once you peeked at one it would take over your mind and force you to read it aloud phonetically, even if you had no idea what you were saying. You got a 3 vs IQ saving roll to stop yourself.

The idea was a scroll could be a capricious trap. Maybe you'd cast Sleep on yourself, maybe fire lightening in a random direction, or perhaps even call up a demon with no control over it.

I've still gotta use that someday!
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Old 07-20-2020, 01:29 PM   #5
Axly Suregrip
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
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Default Re: Scroll fix

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck View Post
The idea was a scroll could be a capricious trap.
Same as any potion, magic item or magic weapon/armor. Poisons labeled "drink and be well"; Cursed rings, swords and armor that cannot be removed, etc.

The solution is the same: Analyze Magic before attempting use.
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Old 07-20-2020, 02:58 PM   #6
hcobb
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

Just ask Molly to cast Spellsniffer.

And she will swear up and down that there is no active magic on that potion or scroll
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Old 07-21-2020, 08:53 AM   #7
Axly Suregrip
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

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Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
Just ask Molly to cast Spellsniffer.

And she will swear up and down that there is no active magic on that potion or scroll
Oh I bet. And she would offer to take it off my hands for a generous $1 silver.
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Old 07-21-2020, 09:24 AM   #8
hcobb
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

Goblins can't lie. There is no active magic on the average potion or spell scroll.

What Molly can sniff if there is a blast trap or other protective magic. (Putting Lock-5 on your fanny pack is a good way to protect all of your scrolls.)

Then she can use the glance method from ITL 141 to attempt to figure out the scroll. With her starting IQ of 17 she has a 84.1% chance of a general guess and a 70.7% chance of an exact determination. If she starts actually reading the scroll then knock her over with a feather pillow onto another pillow. (She's fragile.)
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Last edited by hcobb; 07-21-2020 at 09:28 AM.
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Old 07-21-2020, 10:37 AM   #9
TippetsTX
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

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Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
There is no active magic on the average potion or spell scroll.
Personally, I think your interpretation here is too narrow. Spells can exist in an 'active' and 'passive' (or potential) state, but the magic is still there. Untriggered, but still present, spells might be harder to detect but they should not be invisible to a powerful spell (IQ 17) like SPELLSNIFFER.
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Old 07-21-2020, 03:27 PM   #10
Skarg
 
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Default Re: Scroll fix

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Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
Goblins can't lie.
Only if they promise you not to.
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