Spell scrolls and useability

Hi there!

Today I was thinking about Clerics and how their spells are actually prayers and then I thought about spell scrolls, and how they are actually prayer scrolls.

And prayer scrolls don’t disappear after you read them.

Scrolls are fragile, and can be affected by heat, moisture, tearing, cutting, age, smudgy ink, and on and on. There is also the language barrier; a reader must be able to read the language, pronounce words, have a basic understanding of context, etc

If you’re trying to read a scroll in combat, then good luck! Arrows can go right through it, swords and axes can slice it, fire can burn it, water will make the ink run… a battlefield is no place for a scroll. Nor are mildew-filled humid caverns or dry tombs sealed for centuries. If it isn’t a moldy mess, it will turn to dust when it is handled.

They get wet when you ford a river or get caught in a downpour. They burn up when you’re running from the fire breathing dragon. They disintegrate when you get splashed with acid. They become illegible when you’re chest deep in the muck of an otyugh’s den. 

Scrolls, while powerful and useful tools, are far from awe-inspiring magic items.

The only mythology I know of that has one-use magic scrolls is Dungeons and Dragons and the various spin-offs.

I assume it has something to do with game balance, or Gygax being a dick, or some other reason born out of a basement 50 years ago. I don’t really care.

I don’t like it, so I’m changing it.

  • Reusable
  • very fragile: If it isn’t properly stored, a scroll will be irreparably damaged by travel and weather. I’m thinking of a 1 in 10 chance of the scroll becoming illegible per week of travel, with modifiers for weather and geographic obstacles. Like +5 (making it 6 in 10) if a body of water was crossed, +3 if climbing was necessary, +1 if a light rain was encountered. These can be used for hex crawling or for mid adventure spot checks.
  • Not useful in combat: If you’re in combat and get hit while reading a scroll, there is a 5 in 10 chance the scroll is destroyed. Add modifiers for weather and conditions. 
  • The reader must know proper language and/or cryptography (if encoded) to use the scroll. Finding a scroll in an ancient tomb may be useless because no one can read it. This can lead to further adventure. This also encourages the use of different languages, and I love that. I’ll probably write a post about language at some point in the future.
  • Scrolls can be memorized and added to the cleric or magic user’s spell list. This requires study and takes some time. The regular rules apply. I’ll probably use the rules from Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

 So all that kinda makes scroll cases actually important, instead of just crappy background imagery.

  • Scroll cases can be made of whatever, but here are some guidelines
    • Leather is soft and won’t be broken, protecting from wear and tear. However, it isn’t waterproof. It’s better than nothing, though.
    • Wood is tough but crappy in every other way. It can be sealed with wax.
    • Metal is the strongest and can be hermetically sealed.  

Author: everloss

I'm a dude that writes about stuff on the internet.

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