Troll Lord Games

On page 48 of the PHB it says:

(column 1, paragraph 2)

Quote:
... a character can simply read the spell into a spell book. Doing so copies the spell into the character's spell book, but destroys the scroll in the process.

This sounds like the way I remember doing it in 1st edition way back in the day.

But...

Also on page 48 (column 2 last sentence) it says:

Quote:
Spells can be learned and copied from scrolls normally, and doing so does not destroy the scroll.

What exactly does that mean? I get that you can learn a spell by reading the scroll, but what exactly does 'copied normally' mean? Can you make a second (fully functional) scroll from an 'original'?
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Meet me at Stonehenge at Midnight. I'll bring the goat.

skerns wrote:
On page 48 of the PHB it says:

(column 1, paragraph 2)


This sounds like the way I remember doing it in 1st edition way back in the day.

But...

Also on page 48 (column 2 last sentence) it says:



What exactly does that mean? I get that you can learn a spell by reading the scroll, but what exactly does 'copied normally' mean? Can you make a second (fully functional) scroll from an 'original'?

The first involves verbal, which 'casts' the spell into the book, thereby destroying the scroll.

The other is a hand copy method. So sure, you could write down 100 copies of a scroll if you had the resources and materials.
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"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

One might wonder why there are two options:

1) Reading it from the scroll places the spell immediately into the spellbook.

2) No time required (other than the minuscule amount needed for the reading) and no ink or special ingredients.

3) Destroys the trace evidence (that is, opponents cannot steal the scroll; they'd have to take the whole book.) Arguably, this is not that great a trade-off, but if you're careful with your book (maybe in a portable hole, kangaroo pouch, or other ethereal travel device) then it because more beneficial.

4) Some wizards/casters have eldritch rules about their spells not existing on scrolls for others to find, and its generally a bad idea to piss off someone high enough level to make scrolls, as they tend to be quite powerful.

5) You might be a cleric or druid and not have a spellbook, so "some other" method is needed (see below.)

Quote:
Can you make a second (fully functional) scroll from an 'original'?

Sort of, but not directly. You have to copy it to your spellbook first, since you can only make scrolls of spells you know, and then, you can, if you're high enough level, create a scroll of the spell from your book. This is going to be a long process, though and expensive.

Where it gets weird is with clerics and druids, as they do not have spellbooks. In cases like that, the second (manual copy) is the only viable option, and they would, therefore, be able to simply duplicate it by hand... provided they were able to cast the spell in the first place. You could not, at 7th level, when you can first scribe anyway, scribe a scroll of a 9th level spell because you're incapable of casting the 9th level spell.