Post by GRWelsh on Dec 28, 2008 14:26:55 GMT -5
Does anyone know what the cost of scribing scrolls is?
The DMG doesn't seem to specify, other than the cost per sheet of material the spell is inscribed on. The other ingredients involved seem to imply items that they must be sought out, and cannot always simply be bought.
But in a place like the Society of Magi at Greyhawk, I would think these special ingredients would be available, although they could be expensive.
The cost of scribing a scroll must be less than the cost of buying one... though maybe not by too much. The guideline given in the DMG is that spell-scrolls can be sold for 3 times their XP value, i.e. 300 gp per level.
The guideline given in 3rd edition for cost of inscribing scrolls is: caster level x spell level x 25 gp. But I don't know what the rules for "inscribing failure" are in 3e. In 1e, the chance of failure is 20% + 1% per spell level - 1% per caster level. So, for example, a 9th level magic-user inscribing a 5th level spell would have a 14% chance of failure.
Such a scroll could be sold for 1500 g.p. The cost of creating it, using the 3e guideline, would be 1125 g.p. 3e is a bit too formulaic, too cut and dry, for my tastes... And that seems kind of steep. Here's what I was thinking, as an example for the costs of scribing a 5th level spell scroll at the Society of Magi:
Teleport scroll
Scribing scrolls requires 5 days of uninterrupted work for each teleport spell. There is a chance of failure, determined by spell level, your level, and what sort of material you scribe them on. The guild wizards will sell the ingredients and provide a space for you to be undisturbed in your work.
You may try to put up to 7 spells on a single scroll-sheet, or put them on separate sheets. The Society of Magi charges 10 gp per sheet for vellum (best, improves chances of success), 5 gp per sheet of parchment, and 2 gp per sheet for papyrus (worst, reduces chances of success).
Special quills and ink must be used. These quills cannot normally be purchased, since they must be from fantastic creatures like rocs, harpies, hippogriffs, sphinxes, etc. A fresh quill must be used for each spell. The ink must be compounded by the inscriber, but is also not normal sort of ink -- it is made up of rare ingredients like giant octopus ink, demon ichor, a bit of powdered unicorn horn and powdered malachite.
You must compound the ink and then inside a magically inscribed circle, and with special candles and incense burning, scribe the scrolls without interruption. The cost per scroll is:
100 gp per sphinx quill
10 gp per dram of giant octopus ink (one dram per spell)
10 gp powdered malachite
200 gp drop of demon ichor
300 gp ounce of powdered unicorn horn
26 gp special candles and incense
50 gp, or 10 gp per day for a private chamber
The cost is 696 gp per teleport spell scribed, not including cost of the material scribed upon.
Alternately, you could purchase teleport scrolls from the Society (for 1500 gp - 1800 gp each, if you could find a buyer and depending on what kind of reaction roll you got from the wizard).
The DMG doesn't seem to specify, other than the cost per sheet of material the spell is inscribed on. The other ingredients involved seem to imply items that they must be sought out, and cannot always simply be bought.
But in a place like the Society of Magi at Greyhawk, I would think these special ingredients would be available, although they could be expensive.
The cost of scribing a scroll must be less than the cost of buying one... though maybe not by too much. The guideline given in the DMG is that spell-scrolls can be sold for 3 times their XP value, i.e. 300 gp per level.
The guideline given in 3rd edition for cost of inscribing scrolls is: caster level x spell level x 25 gp. But I don't know what the rules for "inscribing failure" are in 3e. In 1e, the chance of failure is 20% + 1% per spell level - 1% per caster level. So, for example, a 9th level magic-user inscribing a 5th level spell would have a 14% chance of failure.
Such a scroll could be sold for 1500 g.p. The cost of creating it, using the 3e guideline, would be 1125 g.p. 3e is a bit too formulaic, too cut and dry, for my tastes... And that seems kind of steep. Here's what I was thinking, as an example for the costs of scribing a 5th level spell scroll at the Society of Magi:
Teleport scroll
Scribing scrolls requires 5 days of uninterrupted work for each teleport spell. There is a chance of failure, determined by spell level, your level, and what sort of material you scribe them on. The guild wizards will sell the ingredients and provide a space for you to be undisturbed in your work.
You may try to put up to 7 spells on a single scroll-sheet, or put them on separate sheets. The Society of Magi charges 10 gp per sheet for vellum (best, improves chances of success), 5 gp per sheet of parchment, and 2 gp per sheet for papyrus (worst, reduces chances of success).
Special quills and ink must be used. These quills cannot normally be purchased, since they must be from fantastic creatures like rocs, harpies, hippogriffs, sphinxes, etc. A fresh quill must be used for each spell. The ink must be compounded by the inscriber, but is also not normal sort of ink -- it is made up of rare ingredients like giant octopus ink, demon ichor, a bit of powdered unicorn horn and powdered malachite.
You must compound the ink and then inside a magically inscribed circle, and with special candles and incense burning, scribe the scrolls without interruption. The cost per scroll is:
100 gp per sphinx quill
10 gp per dram of giant octopus ink (one dram per spell)
10 gp powdered malachite
200 gp drop of demon ichor
300 gp ounce of powdered unicorn horn
26 gp special candles and incense
50 gp, or 10 gp per day for a private chamber
The cost is 696 gp per teleport spell scribed, not including cost of the material scribed upon.
Alternately, you could purchase teleport scrolls from the Society (for 1500 gp - 1800 gp each, if you could find a buyer and depending on what kind of reaction roll you got from the wizard).