Make scrolls useful to the writer

[hcobb]

ITL 30 add after "and the spell to be written on the scroll"

, or have a spellbook with the spell and an attuned wizard's chest or laboratory. If writing from a book the wizard is at -2 DX for every IQ level the spell exceeds his own.

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by hcobb

ITL 30 add after "and the spell to be written on the scroll"

, or have a spellbook with the spell and an attuned wizard's chest or laboratory. If writing from a book the wizard is at -2 DX for every IQ level the spell exceeds his own.

It's a clever idea but it has a big downside. Any large town would have a Wizard's Guild with a full library of spells. That means, a wizard with Write Scroll spell would have every spell at his finger tips with just some prep.

[Steve Plambeck]

Have you been Scrying on me Henry? I spent the early morning writing the rules for Magic Scrolls for the fantasy game I'm designing, and the very first thing I see entering this forum tonight is your post above. Now this has happened more times than I can even count in the last couple years -- I spend hours working on a section or chapter, and the very next time I come here you've just started a thread on the same very specific subject. It's spooky! :)

Alas despite having just been closely addressing this problem, my project is too different from TFT, especially where magic is concerned, for much of it to translate into answers on this topic. I'm not even using a Write Scroll spell, but treating it as an advanced skill known only to very advanced wizards, Archmages and Enchanters. But I'll quote one thing I just wrote:

“The Power is in the Words.”

To be a useful game component, Scrolls must be self-powered. In TFT, they are a mere shortcut for casting a spell from a book. And they should work for anyone, not just wizards, lucky (or unlucky) enough to unroll one. Language and not even literacy should be a barrier (and isn't in my system, but that's another story). And the spell just works, no "to hit" roll, no ST or Mana required.

I address the last point by making the wizard who writes it pay the full cost as they finish writing the thing -- and they have to know the spell. They pay the full cost as they would if they were casting the spell plus any extra Mana for the duration the spell should run. Now in TFT that would get awkward fast, as a big spell would require a bunch of apprentices with Aid spells present for the writing process (fortunately I don't have that problem because I use neither). I suppose the writer could hold the pen in one hand while clutching a well-loaded mana Staff in the other, or they could be sitting on a powerstone -- at least that's better than having a gaggle of students hovering over your shoulder and then all trying to hit their Aid spells at the same time or ruin the thing - LOL.

Anyway the thing is to devise a way to make self-powered scrolls in TFT. And I don't see an easy fix for that. The magic item creation rules are problematic at best.

[Steve Plambeck]

Funny whataboutism...

you unroll the Scroll, but it turns out to be the Death Spell.

If the only target available is a Giant or Dragon, I guess you're toast!

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

Funny whataboutism...

you unroll the Scroll, but it turns out to be the Death Spell.

If the only target available is a Giant or Dragon, I guess you're toast!

"I cast the Death Spell on the invisible figure two hexes in front of me."

GM stops and gasps: "How, how did you know where that invisible troll was?"

[Axly Suregrip]

I like Henry's idea of being able to write scrolls from books. But it needs more of a balancing trade off than just -2 DX / spell IQ over wizard's. In addition, what if the creation time is double the number of weeks to complete the scroll?

And I like Steve P's idea that scrolls should be powered. But, I think the game has room for both the normal scrolls and the new powered scrolls. Again, let's say creating a powered scroll takes double the number of weeks to complete.

Creating a scroll from a both AND is powered will take 4 times as long.

Powered scrolls will need some rules:

- A powered scroll will only provide the initial cost of the spell and not the maintenance cost. Maintenance costs will be normally drawn from the caster.

- Spells that come in multiple level of casting will always be set at the THIRD level of power in a powered scroll. Examples:
. Fireball spells in a powered scroll will always cast a 3 ST fireball.
. Aid spell will always boost an attribute by 3.
. Meal scroll will feed 3 people.
. Clumsiness scroll will always reduce DX by -6.
. Zombie spell only creates a zombie of ST 3.

- Wizard should be allowed to add more ST into the spell, permitting the spell allows it. Examples, add 2 more ST to create a zombie or ST 5. But cannot at 1 ST to a fireball since 3 ST is already the maximum.

- Death spell cannot be made into a powered scroll. There may be other spells that cannot be done.

[Axly Suregrip]

In addition to the above, you may want to add new Write Scroll levels (like staff spells):

Write Scroll II (Powered Scrolls): IQ 17; may now create powered scrolls as per the rules in my previous update, but taking twice as long.

Write Scroll III (Scrolls from Books): IQ 18; may now create scrolls without knowledge of the spell but with spell book, but taking twice as long.

[hcobb]

If you make self-powered scrolls that expensive then it's cheaper to just make more powerstones.

"I hold up my staff to draw the mana as I read the scroll!"

"Fnording octopus!"

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip

I like Henry's idea of being able to write scrolls from books. But it needs more of a balancing trade off than just -2 DX / spell IQ over wizard's. In addition, what if the creation time is double the number of weeks to complete the scroll?

And I like Steve P's idea that scrolls should be powered. But, I think the game has room for both the normal scrolls and the new powered scrolls. Again, let's say creating a powered scroll takes double the number of weeks to complete.

In my system I've gone the exact opposite route. Scrolls (all being self-powered) become faster and simpler to make. There's no "Write Scroll" spell to learn. It only takes someone as long as it would to carefully write out the same incantation they'd speak aloud to cast the spell themselves, followed by "injecting" the casting cost into the thing in one go. (Although it does require a piece of extra fine velum, and silver ink, which Amazon informs me would currently cost $50 for a single sheet -- hahaha.) So, just a few minutes in most cases -- still not something you'd do in combat turns though nor while spending Mana/ST on other things.

But then there are a couple severely limiting rules. It's a skill learned by very advanced wizards -- think about IQ 18 in TFT terms. There sure won't be many people writing them. A rare PC, but normally only NPCs.

And importantly I've set a Limit of Three. If three Scrolls written by the same wizard already exist, that wizard cannot create another Scroll until one of the preexisting three – wherever it may be – is used up or destroyed. Any attempt to write another one while three already exist ends with the parchment for the new one just going poof the moment the new one is completed. (This is in contrast to the Staff -- if you lose a Staff in TFT you can just cast the spell on another piece of wood and the original becomes deactivated. If you lose track of a Magic Scroll in my system, you cannot replace it until someone somewhere uses it up or burns it. And high quality velum parchment can last thousands of years.)

[Shostak]

Scrolls are single-use magic items, and perhaps it is best to think of them that way when making house rules for them. Scrolls can then be compared with the other single-use magic items found in TFT (e.g. exploding gems, potions) to determine if RAW offers any commonalities. This can then inform a more holistic approach to house rules for such items.