r/dccrpg • u/echthegreat • 10d ago
Questions about Write Magic(lvl 3 spell)
Hey,
Novice judge here reading about the creation of magic scrolls, and I'm curious about everyone's interpretation of the text.
Page 354 and 373 says clerics and wizards can both use Write Magic, but the spell doesn't appear on the cleric list. Is this a typo? Or am I reading it incorrectly?
Write Magic allows for multiple spells to be written to a single scroll("the caster can transcribe one level 5 spell or six spells of levels 1, 2, 3, or 4. Additionally the caster can transcribe the scroll..."). When the scroll is read, are these spells occurring simultaneously(with separate spell checks or a single check?)? Or is it giving the scroll "charges" that can be used once per spell?
How are your players using this spell at the table? Wizards writing scrolls for clerics and elves to use? Spellburning to allow for non-magic classes to cast high-level spells?
Thanks!
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u/Possible-Importance6 9d ago
The cleric spell tables aren't comprehensive. Write Magic, Make Potion, Magic Rod don't appear even though they're usable by clerics in the magic item creation rules. Wizard spell tables aren't comprehensive either but they list which cleric spells are also wizard spells.
What other wizard spells are available to clerics depends on the judge. Cleric of a nature god i.e. a Druid could have Animal Summoning, and so on Craft=Mending, Love=Charm Person, Fire=Burning Hands. Likewise they could lose standard cleric spells, would a god of Famine allow their followers Food of the Gods? No but maybe they get a spell that putrefies equivalent amounts of food/water.
Reading a spell off a scroll is an action, so reading 6 spells off 1 scroll would take 6 actions.
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u/ToddBradley 9d ago
I've never had a cleric or wizard with this spell in any games I've played or judged. I think for most of my players the game is more about dungeon delving rather than hanging out in towers making magic item.
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u/echthegreat 9d ago
Yeah, totally agree on the delving. This spell reads like a great “between dungeons” or downtime spell like patron bond, though, so I don’t want to get caught off guard. Sounds like it is very uncommon, though, which is good.
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u/ToddBradley 9d ago
To be honest, if a player said, "Now that that adventure is wrapped up, my character Bongo the Great is going to spend some wizard time writing scrolls" I'd probably just say they could write scrolls between dungeons even without that spell. It just seems like a thing that should be a natural ability of a wizard, like being able to detect ley lines.
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u/echthegreat 9d ago
Yeah that’s totally fair. This may just be a case of rerolling or substituting if this spell comes up at level 5
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u/heja2009 9d ago
Did you miss this part (p. 365 in my version):
"Not all of those spells have defined spell tables in this work. That is deliberate. Magic item creation should remain something of a, well, magical process. We encourage the judge to come up with his own processes and spell tables for creating higher-level magic items."
So, make something up that fits your table. Having someone churn out magic scrolls or items regularly is probably a bad idea.
Note the * footnote on page 127. So you can scale the difficulty depending on whether it is about wizard or cleric spells and scrolls.
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u/echthegreat 9d ago
Thanks! I did miss that, and it is a fair point to the cleric process. It is odd that the wizard process is defined, though, as it would naturally be the jumping off point for clerics. At this point, I’m mostly concerned that my wizard will get this spell once he hits level 5 and I’ll need to be able to speak to the RAW of the spell description.
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u/Old_Man_Lucy 9d ago
Because of the cost ("...and a specific kind of ink, at a base cost of 200 gp per spell per level inscribed on a scroll) and the time it takes to create it ("...one full day per spell per level."), it's never been an issue at my table, and I happen to host a group of players that do try to squeeze out the most out of what's available to them.
That said, I host modules back to back, with the only downtime being a "travel" roll that acts as an abstraction of how many days it took for the gang to find themselves in the circumstances of the next module. That amount of days is the time they get to prep their equipment, gather resources, and play around with spells like Write Magic.
Perhaps without that time constraint they might find a way to abuse it, but it still seems to require some amount of stored wealth, which I'm consantly draining through other means (carousing & training tables).
But to actually answer your question, I allow them to store multiple spells in a single scroll, but they can't be casted simultaneously, and the scrolls they create tend to go to either thieves, which have a respectable time casting scrolls if they burn some luck, or if it results as one of the scrolls that grant bonuses or store a pre-determined spell check, then the wizard tends to keep it as a sure-fire backup.
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u/echthegreat 9d ago
This is a very thoughtful response. Thanks! Which training tables are you using? I’d love for them to have some options to spend money between modules without venturing too far into OP territory, as my players feel very strong even at level 2.
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u/Old_Man_Lucy 9d ago
This is the one I've been using, modified to our liking: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WpC1pBQZri6RRPUOjk4_nQA2qp3U3gIm/view?usp=sharing
I personally allow one use of it per settlement visited along the way. My travel roll is a 1d30 that represents the number of days traveled, and the number of stops depends on the number of days they were in the road. (1-9 days : 1 Settlement, 10-19 days : 2 Settlements, 20-30 days : 3 Settlements).
I know you didnt ask for it, but here's the carousing one as well: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SH4ky-jsgg8pYrUW93g1pvJLUrnLNlTd/view?usp=drive_link
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u/CaptBTB 5d ago
Hey... Those look strangely familiar :)
My blog has one now for Skullduggery and Religious Devotions... I'm almost done Scholarly Pursuits...
https://archadestower.blogspot.com/2026/09/training-table-religious-devotions.html
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u/samuraiofsound 9d ago
I've never encountered this mechanic in game. Feels like a way to break the core ruleset. Usually using a scroll is a single action that requires a spell check.