Editing Norrathians: Magic Changes (section)

===Spell Scrolls===

Crafting a magic scroll requires the Scribe Scroll feat and the finest materials and tools.  Everything from the vellum to the penknife must be made new and purified with rainwater, salt, incense, and exorcism incantations, so that no unwanted mystic force can contaminate the scroll.  The character compounds her own ink from rare pigments and magically potent substances.  Such requirements make scribing a scroll expensive.  Storing magic this way also consumes part of the spellcaster’s vital force: scribing a scroll costs the character experience points (spell level x spell level x 2) as well as gold pieces (spell level x spell level x 12.5).  If the stored spell requires any material components or an XP cost to cast, then these elements are added to the cost of scribing the scroll.  No skill check is needed.  The process takes a number of hours equal to the spell level times two.  A finished scroll can be bought or sold for spell level x spell level x 25 gold pieces, plus the cost of any material components that the spell consumed.

A character can scribe scrolls only of spells that she herself knows.  Any character of the same class can then use the scroll.  Characters cannot use scrolls of another class’ magic.  Reading a scroll to trigger the magic is a full-round action; the writing then vanishes from the scroll.  The magic always takes effect as if it were cast by the lowest possible spellcaster level.  Thus, a 7th-level druid spell takes effect as if cast by a 13th-level druid.
Like all magic, the caster must translate a scroll before it can be used (see “Translating Spells and Songs” on page 171 of the ''EverQuest: Player’s Handbook'').  This translation requires a Spellcraft check with a DC of 20 + the spell’s level (Perform check for bard songs); coaching from a character who already understands the scroll guarantees success.  Once a character has translated and understands the scroll, she can use it any time thereafter.

If a scroll’s reader is of sufficient level to cast the stored spell herself, she can use the scroll with perfect safety.  If her level is too low to cast the spell, using a spell becomes somewhat risky.  The character receives a caster level check (d20 + the character’s level) against a DC of 5 + the scroll’s caster level.  Failing the check means that the scroll fades and the spell fizzles.  A roll of “1” on the check indicates the magic is miscast and mystic energy lashes back to deal 1d6 points per spell level of magic damage to the would-be caster (half damage on a successful Fortitude save [DC 15]).

The Scribe Scroll feat may also be used to create a copy of an existing spell research component (runes, words, or pages).  This process costs half as much gold and experience points as scribing a scroll of the research component’s effective spell level and takes a number of hours equal to the component’s effective spell level.  A research component’s effective spell level is the spell level of the lowest level spell for which the component is required to research.



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[[EQrpg: Norrathians]]