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View Full Version : Would this be unbalanced? Spellthieves and Scrolls



Zaq
2009-04-04, 06:40 PM
Okay, let us assume that we have a Spellthief with Scribe Scroll. He steals a spell from an enemy, and shortly after the battle, pulls out his high-quality parchment, quills, ink and so on, and sketches out the basics of the spell, in essence beginning the creation of the scroll. The scroll cannot be used, but the spell energy is trapped within it... in fluff terms, the spell has been contained on the scroll, and what remains to be done is allow it to be unsealed and used. He keeps several of these nascent scrolls with him, and when his adventure is done and he has some downtime, he spends a few days finishing them.

Now, by RAW, I believe a spellthief with Scribe Scroll can steal a spell and scribe it on the spot, but doing so requires 8 hours of work. It's just the tiniest bit fuzzy as to whether or not a spellthief can do this (I believe that they can, and I don't think it's problematic to allow them to do so), but please assume that they can. That's not the issue; I'm taking this a step farther.

By RAW, a spellthief could not do what I am suggesting for two reasons. One, someone crafting an item must spend 8 hours per day working on it, and while the days do not need to be continuous, there is no provision given for interrupting those eight hours (spending maybe an hour to lay the framework of the scroll, for instance, and spending seven hours on it later). Two, no character can create two magic items simultaneously. (There are a few prestige classes and the like that bend or break this rule, but those are exceptions, and we're looking at the rules, not the exceptions.) So, a spellthief cannot simply sketch the basics of a scroll and "hold" a stolen spell therein, finishing the scroll when he has some downtime, and even if he could, he could only do so to a single scroll at once, which is kind of lame.

So, we've established that a spellthief cannot do this. What I want you to consider is, what if they could? Would it necessarily be unbalanced or bad if a spellthief COULD do this? They'd still be spending the gold, XP, and time on it, they would still not be able to use the scrolls until they were completed, and they would still have spent the opportunity cost of the feat (and spellthieves need every feat they can get!). Would allowing a spellthief to sort of "collect" spells for scrolls later be really unbalancing?

Of course, there's always abuses with this, getting Trapsmith scrolls and so on, but that's more a problem with the Trapsmith than with the Spellthief (and besides, if a GM allows a spellthief to encounter a trapsmith, steal from him, and make all the scrolls he wants, that GM doesn't have a lot of right to complain.) Assuming that the spellthief had to find all the spells he wanted (either by making gather information checks and paying people in town to prepare the spells, or by fighting enemies and stealing from them), then I don't think it would be problematic or unbalanced. Powerful, maybe, and definitely unorthodox, but would it be unbalanced or overpowered? If so, why?

Keld Denar
2009-04-04, 06:54 PM
Maybe not scrolls. I'd recommend something akin to a Pearl of Power. Make it a gem stone. Full round action to put the spell in, standard action to take the spell out. Kinda like a battery. Price it at 1.5x Pearl of Power cost, unless it was consumed on casting. Then probably 1/10th of that cost. Make it a shiney gem stone.

And...probably wouldn't require a feat, unless you were crafting them.

Chronos
2009-04-05, 02:40 PM
Well, on the one hand, warlocks and artificers can already do something resembling this (artificers at level 1, even), without even needing to seek out someone with the spell. On the other hand, I think those abilities are broken, too. Then again, having to seek out and face any spell you want before you can use it would balance things somewhat.

Myrmex
2009-04-05, 03:02 PM
I like it, and don't think it would unbalance anything. You still have to spend a feat, and the DM has some pretty strong control over what scrolls you get.

Ascension
2009-04-05, 03:31 PM
Then again, having to seek out and face any spell you want before you can use it would balance things somewhat.

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