More Tools for 5e: Scrollscriber's Supplies
This is our first set of tools that are not pre-existing in some form in the Dungeons & Dragons 5e system, and it’s something I’ve been asked to create by my players and readers on the blog, so I’m quite happy to finally get to this point.
Scribing scrolls has a lot of potential for spell casters to increase what they can do in a single day or allow them to prepare alternative spells than what they normally do if they have a scroll on hand. And as we all know, wizards are a greedy lot, and will do anything to get their hands on as many spells as possible.
Scribing a Scroll
Now, before we get too far into this, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, on page 133, provides its own rules for scribing a scroll. However, it provides some very steep prices for creating a spell scroll that I personally don’t feel is very representative of many tables. Spending 15,000 gp on scribing a 6th-level spell scroll seems pretty crazy, and I have to wonder how much money other tables are just shoveling out to the players.
Beyond just the amount of money, players are expected to spend on their spell scrolls, it’s also an incredibly long time to produce a scroll, with a 3rd-level scroll taking a week of work and a 9th-level spell taking 48 weeks to produce. I have a pretty good imagination, but I just can’t figure out what a wizard is doing for 48 weeks in creating a spell scroll unless they have the same level of ability as I do when it comes to procrastinating. And who has the time?! Not even liches are going to spend 48 weeks working on a single scroll when they have the entire cosmos to study! No matter has that amount of time, and if they did and were hoping to sell their scrolls… who is spending over 250,000 gp on a one-time consumable?
Frankly, I find the numbers a bit ridiculous, and yes, I am aware I can change them to what I want and that WotC just provided extremely high numbers to make their scroll system work in any game world, even incredibly low magic campaigns, and to not make DMs feel like they have to have cheap scrolls in their campaigns. I get that, which is why I’m making this tool.
For those that don’t care about the how of my tool:
For best results in GM Binder, use a Chrome Browser
Scrollscriber’s Supplies
Say that three times fast. I can’t even say it once without getting a bit tongue-tied. I am horrible when it comes to names. Just ask my table, who have interacted with legendary NPCs like Bob and Bob.
To craft a scroll, you need a lot of supplies. It’s not a simple process and, like WotC’s system, is pricey to create. You need paper, ink, gold pieces used in the scroll's crafting, and maybe a few rare and exotic materials.
The supplies will provide ink, paper, and a few quills to get you going, though the ink is by far the most expensive of the supplies to purchase. Ink ain’t cheap. Every time you wish to craft a scroll, you must expend materials to create the scroll, which is provided in a handy chart. You also need to provide the material cost for the spell, if there is any. Furthermore, you must expend the appropriate level spell slot in order to make progress on the scroll.
Scribing the Scroll
In order to scribe a scroll, you need the required materials and a few days to work on it in 8-hour increments. To determine how long scribing a scroll will last, simply take the level of the spell scroll times 8 and then add 8 to that total. This means a cantrip (0-level * 8 + 8) would take 8 hours, and a 9th-level spell (9th-level * 8 + 8) would take 80 hours, or 10 days, to complete.
80 hours vrs 48 workweeks is a huge difference, and DM’s are always free to adjust that number for their own table. I just wanted to provide a bit more reasonable number for my own table, which doesn’t always match the general public. I run a high magic world, and thus magic is easy to come across and work with.
Another requirement for scribing the scroll is that this tool works off of your Intelligence score. In order to scribe a spell scroll, you must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level, and you must be able to cast that level of spells and know the spell. The idea behind using your Intelligence is that you must know the arcane formulas in order to write them down, and having an 8 Intelligence isn’t going to help you when it comes to complicated maths and arcane glyphs.
Proficiency with this Tool
All this has been written from the standpoint that anyone, once they buy the supplies, can work on spell scrolls. So what do you get if you are proficient in these supplies? You get to save money, and if you like making scrolls, you get to save a lot of money. The scribing costs of a spell are halved for you, as you understand how to save materials and quickly write down formulas and glyphs to save on paper space and ink.
It's not quite as sexy as being able to cobble a sick pair of kicks, but making a spell scroll is neat, too.
Variant Rules
So far, this tool has been very simple and straightforward, but I know that it can be boring for certain tables. So, I created a few variant rules that can help spice up the tool, make scroll scribing a bit more special, or add a few extra tidbits if you want to reward daring acts.
The first variant rule harkens back to the older days of Dungeons & Dragons, where you had to go on a quest to find materials for spell scrolls. If you wanted to craft a spell scroll, you had to go out into the world away from your safe wizard tower and get your hands dirty. Want to craft that flesh to stone spell? Gotta go find a cockatrice and take its feathers to use as a quill. The same goes for an enlarge/reduce spell; find a beautiful quill made from a Roc and hope it still isn’t attached to the Roc.
These quests are meant to make spell scrolls rare and valuable items and can be a fun vacation from adventuring for a party trying to help out their wizard. This gives open license to a DM to keep up with all sorts of different monsters that a scribe might have to encounter in order to build up a large library of spell scrolls - the more creative, the better! I provide a list of 20+ spells and a few ingredients you might have to find in order to properly scribe the spell scroll.
Another variant rule is limiting the number of spell scrolls a scribe could have active at any time. This is ideal for worlds with low magic and to keep your players from spamming spell scrolls. Every scribe must insert a portion of their power into a scroll, and they can have a number of scrolls equal to their Intelligence modifier plus their Proficiency Bonus. Once they go over that amount, if they wish to scribe more spell scrolls they lose access to a spell slot of that same level of spell they wished to create.
As an example, you are a wizard with a +3 Intelligence and a +2 Proficiency Bonus. You can have 5 spell scrolls active at a time, and if you wish to create a sixth spell scroll of a 1st-level magic missile spell when you finish the spell scroll, you will lose access to one of your 1st-level spell slots until one of your six spell scrolls is used. Upon that happening, you will regain access to that spell slot.
Dotting the I’s and Crossing the T’s
And that’s the Scrollscriber’s Supplies. It’s a simple tool that gives a basis for creating scrolls and allows your players to go out into the world with all their downtown and create scrolls to better prepare themselves for the horrifying monsters to come. As a parting gift at the end of the tool, I also provide a list of every spell that has a material component and what that component is to make it easy for people using this tool to reference and figure out how much it costs to produce a spell scroll.
If you want a printer-friendly PDF of this tool or any other tool, consider supporting us at the $1 tier on our Patreon! All tools that I’ve created or will create in the future will be uploaded to our Patreon in printer-friendly versions. We appreciate any and all support!
Other tools: Potter’s Tools, Climber’s Kit, Thieves’ Tools, Weaver’s Tools, Painter’s Supplies, Calligrapher’s Tools, Jeweler’s Tools, Carpenter’s Tools, Forgery Kit, Disguise Kit, Herbalism Kit, Glassblower’s Tools, Navigator’s Tools, Leatherworker’s Tools, Cobbler’s Tools, Poisoner’s Kit, Cartographer’s Tools, Alchemist’s Supplies, Mason’s Tools, Gaming Sets, Tinker’s Tools, Healer’s Kit, Brewer’s Supplies, Smith’s Tools & Cook’s Utensils.
Like what we are doing here?
Support us on Patreon!
You’ll get early access to deep dives, our Homebrew Hoard, ad-free articles, and more!
