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Browsing the PHB, I noticed the 3rd entry of the spellcraft skill's usages:

15 + spell level: Learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll (wizard only). No retry for that spell until you gain at least 1 rank in Spellcraft (even if you find another source to try to learn the spell from). Requires 8 hours.

Playing a wizard and knowing that no other PHB class can learn extra spells through studies (unless I am mistaken), I immediately recalled the rule stating that you need 24 hours to scribe a spell from a scroll or another spellbook to your own. That is what I have been considering 'learning' a spell so far, and now I am confused. Can someone clarify things a bit (preferably) with an example?

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2 Answers

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As usual, the SRD knows all.

What you see are two steps of a single process:

  1. First the wizard must interpret and understand the spellbook/scroll. This is a Spellcraft check, and takes eight hours.

  2. Once understood, the wizard writes the spell into his spellbook. This process takes 24 hours.

The total time to copy a spell from another wizard's spellbook is therefore 32 hours (eight hours to understand it, 24 hour to write the copy).

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up vote 3 down vote

Scribing a spell and learning a spell are two different things. Learning a spell means that regardless of the source (your spellbook or another spellbook) you understand the spell and how it works to the point that you are actually able to memorize it and cast it. In order to learn a spell, you must spend a day studying it. If you fail to understand it through that study, you must wait until you gain another rank in Spellcraft to try again.

Once you understand the spell, it's workings and so forth, you are then able to scribe or copy the spell. Scribing a spell is only relevant to being able to copy the pertinent information that you have learned and understood from a foreign source (i.e. gaining a level, a scroll or captured/purchased spellbook) to your own spellbook. You must learn a spell and understand it before you are able to scribe or copy the spell. Scribing the spell to your spellbook takes 24 hours, regardless.

So one day to learn, another to scribe.

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Don't you mean 8h to learn + another whole day to scribe? – Eldebryn Apr 27 '12 at 20:38
The exact quote is "No matter the spell’s source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing .... Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level)." What that means is 1st: make Spellcraft check to decipher the writing. 2nd: If successful, then you must spend a day learning the spell, then make ANOTHER Spellcraft check to learn the spell. Finally, an additional 24 hours to scribe it. So, 2 Spellcraft checks and 2 days to learn & scribe. 8 hours is not mentioned anywhere. – BBlake Apr 27 '12 at 21:03
It is mentioned in the spellcraft skill as I quoted... I sense some ambiguity here. – Eldebryn Apr 27 '12 at 21:32

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