Arcane Spell Failure and Scrolls

drunkenpig · Post by **drunkenpig** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:17 pm

When using a scroll, does Arcane Spell Failure effect the sucess of the scroll??

Arcep · Post by **Arcep** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:23 pm

No, it only affects spells cast with somatic components. It's the armour getting in the way of those complicated gestures

Zip Nolan · Post by **Zip Nolan** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:09 am

a quick related question:-

I have a reasonable UMD but continually fail to cast scrolls usually with humorous critical results.

Does you intelligence enter into it (mine is 10)?

Even then with a UMD skill of around 8 (I think) why should nearly every scroll I read fail, I've had stinking cloud, darkness all sorts, I don’t mind as it all adds to the fun....just not sure why?

mortzestus · Post by **mortzestus** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:12 am

You can read here a complete explanation of how the Use Magic Device skill works in Avlis.

Jordicus · Post by **Jordicus** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:24 am

Zip Nolan wrote:a quick related question:-

I have a reasonable UMD but continually fail to cast scrolls usually with humorous critical results.

Does you intelligence enter into it (mine is 10)?

Even then with a UMD skill of around 8 (I think) why should nearly every scroll I read fail, I've had stinking cloud, darkness all sorts, I don’t mind as it all adds to the fun....just not sure why?

a reasonable UMD skill score is probably 20. you will most likely tend to fail with a score of 8. and UMD is realted to CHA, not INT

reading a scroll would be you would roll your UMD + d20 vs. 25 + spell level.

a level 1 spell scroll would have a DC of 26 so with a UMD of 8, you would have to roll at least 18 to be able to cast it. and that's just with a lvl 1 spell scroll.

drunkenpig · Post by **drunkenpig** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:39 am

OK, thanks for the info, let me see if I understand it correctly.

I am a Barbarian (4) Sorcerer (7)

Scenario 1:
I have a scroll w/ Bull Strength - a spell I know as a Sorcerer.
I read the Bull Strength spell wearing armor and shield w/ 95% Arcane Spell Failure.
Since I know the spell, I cast it successfully since ASF doesn't apply.

Scenario 2:
I have a scroll w/ Invisibility - a spell I DO NOT know as a Sorcerer.
I read the Invisibility scroll wearing armor and shield w/ 95% Arcane Spell Failure.
Since I do not know the scroll, I make a UMD/Spellcraft check to see if I can successful cast the spell off the scroll.

mortzestus · Post by **mortzestus** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:50 am

drunkenpig wrote:Scenario 1:
I have a scroll w/ Bull Strength - a spell I know as a Sorcerer.
I read the Bull Strength spell wearing armor and shield w/ 95% Arcane Spell Failure.
Since I know the spell, I cast it successfully since ASF doesn't apply.

Yeah.

Scenario 2:
I have a scroll w/ Invisibility - a spell I DO NOT know as a Sorcerer.
I read the Invisibility scroll wearing armor and shield w/ 95% Arcane Spell Failure.
Since I do not know the scroll, I make a UMD/Spellcraft check to see if I can successful cast the spell off the scroll.

No. What matters here is not if your character knows a particular spell or not, but if the spell is of a level your character can cast and it's in his class list. For instance, a level 7 sorcerer like your character can use all scrolls with spells of the wizard/sorcerer list of level 3 and lower. He would need a spellcraft check for scrolls with spells of the wizard/sorcerer list of level 4 and higher (since a level 7 sorcerer can cast just up to level 3 spells). And finally, he wouldn't be able to read any scrolls of any other spell lists since UMD is required for that.

Fire Monkey · Post by **Fire Monkey** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:49 pm

A related question for scribed scrolls:

If you cast a spell from a scroll, is the DC to save against it set by the ability bonus, feats etc of the person who reads the scroll or the one who orginally scribed it?

dougnoel · Post by **dougnoel** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:26 pm

Fire Monkey wrote:A related question for scribed scrolls:

If you cast a spell from a scroll, is the DC to save against it set by the ability bonus, feats etc of the person who reads the scroll or the one who orginally scribed it?

The original scriber - although currently it's the minimum for the spell. It's in the bug list.

Final Shinryuu · Post by **Final Shinryuu** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:28 pm

dougnoel wrote:
Fire Monkey wrote:A related question for scribed scrolls:

If you cast a spell from a scroll, is the DC to save against it set by the ability bonus, feats etc of the person who reads the scroll or the one who orginally scribed it?
The original scriber - although currently it's the minimum for the spell. It's in the bug list.

Wait... so, when the system is working as intended, if a caster who can cast DC 30 say, Finger of Death makes a scroll of that spell, then anyone using the scroll will cast it at the same DC?

*cheers*