Light Reading

Thoughts on Unconventional Scrolls

A scroll, in TTRPGs, is a piece of paper-equivalent material (typically parchment or papyrus, but you can easily enough play a game where ‘scrolls’ are strips of tree bark), that can be read to cast a spell. In ACKS II’s item creation rules, such an item is explicitly a charged item- once used, successfully or otherwise, the item, or that portion of the item is inert. An item with the same form factor that doesn’t fit the mechanical constraints would only be able to be created by a 9^th level spellcaster, the same as a miscellaneous magic item, rather than by a 5^th level spellcaster like a true scroll, but for purposes of treasure generation would still be on the tables for scrolls, analogous to certain rule-breaking ‘potions’. I have some thoughts on what kind of effects might exist in this niche. Mechanically, anything can be done, but I’d like an item’s diegetic use case to be appropriate to the form- spell scrolls are, really, grandfathered in, very much an artifact of early fantasy RPGs rather than fantasy literature or mythological precedent.

An item with a charged effect, even with varying spells included or a larger number of charges, is still approximately a typical spell scroll, though there’s room for mechanical differentiation.

Activated effects (hourly, daily, etc) are a bit tricky. I wouldn’t like a 1/hour fireball scroll, but I generally don’t like such items regardless of form factor. More broadly, the general nature of magical scrolls as things that are used until they can be used no more is contrary to regular discrete uses, unless there’s a good reason.

Permanent effects vary heavily in fit. There is a difference between a scroll which grants a rank in the Military Strategy proficiency just by being carried, and a general whipping out a magical tactics textbook mid-fight to consult- the former is perhaps too fantastical, while the latter is impractical. I’m not particularly satisfied with ‘you’ve read this scroll recently, so you benefit from its effect, but it’s impossible to have multiple people have read it recently’. Books are conceptually similar to scrolls, and one such item in the Treasure Tome (and By This Axe), the manual of the master machinist, requires continuous referencing to be used- fine for powers related to craft or research, but not for other effects. A scroll which is a deed, record of lineage, letter of introduction, or similar might, on the other hand, establish effects on a character’s reaction bonus, domain-relevant effects, or similar without needing to be shown to every person the character meets.

There’s also some ideas for diegetic use of parchment and paper that, by virtue of not appearing on default spell lists, might be suited to their own item entry, even if essentially a spell scroll. Permanent items that are used diegetically, and thus don’t quite feel permanent but rather like they’re used at will, are interesting when they can be pulled off.

It’s worth noting that, unlike potions, scrolls exist in every rarity. It would be a hair difficult to write, say, a reusable 1/day 2^nd level effect in a fluid form factor as an ersatz potion, as its 10,000gp base price would make it an odd man out when there are no true potions in the Rare (5,001-25,000gp) category. A piece of magical parchment with a price in that range, however, would fit in neatly on a table that primarily consists of 20-something-level scrolls and treasure maps.

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Scroll of Diagnostics

Base Cost 19,000gp: Permanent (turn/level) 1^st level effect. Apparent Value: 150gp.

This parchment scroll is covered in charcoal markings and rubbings, the quality of the parchment and gold foil framing its margins the only things distinguishing it from scrap material. Holding the scroll against a conventional or usual magic item (of Common, Uncommon, or Rare rarity) or special component and rubbing it anew with charcoal for a turn will produce not only a conventional rubbing but textual insights into the item’s nature on a proficiency throw of 11+, as the Magical Engineering proficiency. Similar diagnostic use allows the proper harvesting of special components from constructs and grants a +1 bonus to magic research throws. Due to the need to continually reevaluate portions of a project, use of the scroll cannot benefit more than one magic research project at a time. As with the proficiency, the scroll cannot be used to determine command words, if an item is trapped or cursed, or the specific bonus or number of charges remaining in an item, or to identify any item that is Very Rare or Legendary.

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Nothing requires this power to be a scroll - several Treasure Tome gems/lenses offer a variation on Magical Engineering- but I like the implementation here, and this is, to my knowledge, the first item to give the proficiency as-is.