Spell scroll

Spell scroll
Depiction of a spell scroll from Dungeon Master's Guide (2024), p. 305.
General Information
Type	Scroll
Rarity	Varies by level Cantrip, 1st level: Common 2nd–3rd level: Uncommon 4th–5th level: Rare 6th–8th level: Very rare 9th level: Legendary
Materials	Vellum Special inks
Properties	Can be consumed to cast the specified spell once Can be consumed to copy the spell into spellbook
Price	Varies by level
Historical Information
Owners	Allura Vysoren Aloysia Telfan Baryn Vestisho Bautha Dyrr Dayana Prucine Galsariad Ardyth Keyleth Pike Trickfoot Raishan Ryn Scanlan Shorthalt Taryon Darrington Tiberius Stormwind Veth Brenatto Various merchants Cobalt Soul

A spell scroll bears the enciphered formula for a single spell, and can be used once to attempt to cast the spell or to transcribe the spell into one's own spellbook.

Description

Appearance

Spell scrolls can be made of fine vellum paper inscribed with various special inks, and they are magic items. They may be burned by the ambient heat of the Elemental Plane of Fire, or be usable despite being waterlogged. When they are consumed in the casting of a spell, the script lights up and the scroll burns into ash; the script seems to be more convoluted and the sensory effects seem to be more dramatic at higher spell levels.

An early variation of the Draconic language, which was the basis for much early arcane magic, is known to be used in the creation of spell scrolls. (The language of Aeor was an archaic form of Draconic.)

Properties

Critical Role has made at least one exception to the 5th Edition rule that one can only attempt to cast a spell from a scroll if that spell is on one's class's spell list. Reading the scroll to cast a spell from it takes the usual casting time for that spell. 5th Edition rules specify that casting a spell from a scroll does not require its material components, but on Critical Role, a spell scroll of Plane Shift was packed with the tuning fork component to take the caster to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Also, in this cosmology, a sorcerer casting a spell from a scroll is unable to modify the spell with their innate metamagic.

In 5th Edition rules, copying the spell from a scroll into one's spellbook requires succeeding at an Intelligence (Arcana) check, with higher-level spells being harder to copy. Also, as when copying a spell from one spellbook to another, copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook costs two hours and 50gp of material components per level of the spell.

Attempts to either cast the spell from the scroll or copy the spell into one's spellbook destroy the scroll.

History

The craft of making spell scrolls is not lost among practitioners of magic, and so scrolls for low-level spells are readily available for purchase even in cities without a notable reputation for the arcane arts. For example, several ports of the Menagerie Coast have a scrollery shop where a mage sells a small number of 1st-level spell scrolls; on Bisaft Isle, the scrollery is run by Grimalda, an elderly tortle shaman. In a bigger city like Zadash, there are better-stocked magic shops: The Invulnerable Vagrant (associated with the Cerberus Assembly) sells a variety of spell scrolls. Cidrick Gillsman of Vasselheim also sold a number of scrolls, including a spell only wizards can cast, despite that city's prohibition on arcane magic. The Cobalt Soul has spell scrolls available for its members to buy at substantial discounts. Bautha Dyrr, a priestess who works in the infirmary at Bazzoxan, keeps a scroll of Greater Restoration on hand, though she cannot reliably cast the spell and is willing to part with the scroll for the right price.

Raishan, the ancient green dragon, had an old spell scroll with a torturous version of Speak with Dead that she used on Thordak to try to extract the secret to curing the deadly curse on her.

The accomplished wizard Allura Vysoren occasionally provided spell scrolls to allies in need. When Veth Brenatto requested a spell scroll of Intellect Fortress to help her protect Caleb Widogast before their final mission (which would pit them against the aberrant powers of the Tombtakers and Somnovem), Allura retrieved one on short notice. Years later, to help Bells Hells in their attempt to infiltrate the Tishtan excavation site, she provided two Scrolls of Mass Nondetection, each of which cast a multiple-target variation on the Nondetection spell, along with a spell scroll of Greater Restoration to help free Planerider Ryn from petrification and a scroll of Dimension Door for the final approach.

Spell scrolls are sometimes discovered as treasure. For example:

• Anna Ripley found an old spell scroll of the 9th-level spell Gate within an ancient altar in a cave on Glintshore, which Vox Machina found hidden in her possessions after killing her.
• During a battle with pirates, Percival de Rolo stole a number of items from the attacking ship, one of which was a scroll of Programmed Illusion.
• Nott stole a magically protected scroll case with a couple of valuable spell scrolls from the High-Richter's house in Zadash for Caleb Widogast's use.
• The library in the Aeorian Salsvault facility has a watertight scroll case with two spell scrolls of Detect Magic.
• During Jigow's Festival of Merit in 836 PD, one can find a soggy but usable spell scroll of Thunderwave alongside a potion of healing in the Emerald Grotto.
• Not long afterward, across Xhorhas in Bazzoxan, a vrock is found to have swallowed a magically sealed puzzle box containing a spell scroll of Bestow Curse.
• In a private study in the sunken ruins of Cael Morrow, one may find a spell scroll of Teleport.
• In a cavern of the Netherdeep with multiple treasures, all presumably generated by Alyxian's yearning, is a spell scroll of Otiluke's Resilient Sphere

Spell scrolls have been used in key battles:

• Scanlan Shorthalt used a spell scroll of Chain Lightning in the battle against K'Varn.
• Tiberius Stormwind used one of his two spell scrolls of Blight against a fire elemental while attempting to help Keyleth complete her Aramenté.
• One especially consequential use: soon after acquiring the Gate scroll, Scanlan used it with great difficulty to summon Yenk from the Abyss for the dual purpose of softening up Vorugal and claiming the Spire of Conflux in Yenk's belly for Keyleth.
• Taryon Darrington used a spell scroll of Hypnotic Pattern from his Robe of Useful Items against the kraken near the rift at Vesrah, though the kraken resisted its effects.

Trivia

• The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount suggests one way for people outside the Kryn Dynasty to learn dunamancy is to uncover a cache of spell scrolls.
• When Critical Role first started airing in 2015, Matthew Mercer was not yet familiar with the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules on crafting and transcribing spell scrolls, so he improvised. In one early episode, Keyleth produced two spell scrolls of the 4th-level spell Polymorph, each of which required expending 400gp of materials over half a day. Later, she wanted to create a scroll of the 3rd-level spell Daylight, which Matt said would cost 600gp and take six days. Much later, when Scanlan asked how long it would take Allura Vysoren to copy the 9th-level Gate scroll, she said it would take perhaps a few hours. Near the end of the campaign, when Keyleth again wanted to produce a 4th-level spell scroll, Matt said it would take several weeks of downtime.
  • Early in the streamed campaign, as noted above, Scanlan Shorthalt had a spell scroll of the 6th-level spell Chain Lightning, and Tiberius Stormwind had two spell scrolls of Blight.
  • The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide provided optional rules for crafting magic items, including spell scrolls, by rarity. The 5th Edition sourcebook Xanathar's Guide to Everything (published in November 2017, after Campaign One concluded) offers a variant/optional rule for scribing spell scrolls during downtime, with suggested time and material component costs. The 2024 Player's Handbook offers a different set of requirements.
• In Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep, one possible scenario has an antagonist, Aloysia Telfan, narratively succeed at using a spell scroll of Earthquake despite that spell being well beyond her usual capability.
• One piece of Critical Role merchandise was a spell scroll based on Fortune's Favor.

References

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