Spell Research and Scribing Scrolls

Spell casting characters are able to research and create new spells and magical items. New spells and scrolls can be created regardless of the character’s level, but all other types of magical items require that the caster be of at least 9th level.

To create a new spell, the player describes in detail the kind of spell he wants to create, and the effect it has. The referee will then decide if the spell can be created, and if so what the spell level will be. The character must be capable of casting spells of the spell level the potential new spell will be, otherwise the player must wait until the character attains a high enough level to research and cast the spell. If the character can create the spell, it will take one week and 1,000 gp per spell level.

Scrolls can be created for spells the caster already “knows” (i.e. have in their spell or prayer book) at the cost of 100 gp and 1 week’s work for each spell of the first level, 200 gold pieces and 2 weeks for a second level spell, etc.

No attempt to create a magic item, spell or other effect happens without some chance of failure. There is a minimum probability of 15% that any such endeavor fails, and this percentage can be raised depending on the circumstances. The player will roll for failure only after the character has spent the money and time on the project, and these are lost regardless of the result. When rolling to determine failure, a high roll (85-00) indicates failure.

One last little quirk: the time required to create scrolls or research spells is in REAL time, not game time. Thus, if your magic-user decides at the end of the game session that he wishes to scribe a 1st level scroll, he will be out of play the following week as he scribbles away. He will return to the game at the session after that with scroll in hand. I realize that this may cause the amount of game time required to research a spell or scribe a scroll to vary wildly, but that’s magic for you.