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If you scribe 10 1st-level spells on one scroll with Caster Level 1, does this take 10 days (counting each spell as a separate item) or 1 day, provided you have ten spell slots, as the total value of the scroll with all 10 spells is only 250 g.p.?

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    \$\begingroup\$ @KRyan - This answer would seem to contradict that assertion.(Although my DMG for 3.5 has it on page 237/238). -> A scroll holding more than one spell has the same width (about 8 1/2 inches) but is an extra foot or so long for each extra spell \$\endgroup\$
    – JohnP
    Aug 22, 2019 at 19:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ Does D&D 3.5 differentiate between scrolls and spell scrolls? \$\endgroup\$ Aug 22, 2019 at 19:44
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    \$\begingroup\$ @WillemRenzema If by that you mean, “are there non-spell scrolls in 3.5e?” the answer is yes. If by that you mean, “does 3.5e consistently use the term spell scroll for scrolls with spells, and have the term scroll without modifier indicate a scroll without a spell?” the answer is no. There are statistics for the weight and cost of a mundane scroll, but in almost all other contexts the word “scroll” refers to a spell scroll, whose pricing has nothing to do with the mundane scroll item. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Aug 22, 2019 at 20:44
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    \$\begingroup\$ @JohnP I have apparently seen and voted on that question before, yet I have no memory of it or of this possibility. Thanks for the link. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Aug 22, 2019 at 20:45

2 Answers 2

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The Sage says that if it's price is no more than 1,000 gp then scribing one scroll takes 1 day no matter the number of spells on the scroll

The Dragon #343 Sage Advice column "Official Answers to Your Questions" includes this exchange.

According to the rules, creating a magic item takes one day per 1,000 gp in its base cost, with a minimum of one day. The random scroll generation charts in the Dungeon Master’s Guide state that a scroll could have up to six spells on it. Does this mean that when I create a scroll I can place six spells on it? Does it count as one scroll or six for purposes of item creation (in other words, should it take one day or six)?

A scroll with multiple spells counts as a single item for the purpose of determining the time to create it. A divine scroll with six castings of cure light wounds (market price 150 gp) would take 1 day to scribe; a divine scroll with six castings of heal (market price 9,900 gp) would take 10 days to scribe.

You’d need to expend (and prepare, if that’s required by your class) the spell once for each time it appears on the scroll. The act of scribing cure light wounds the first time onto a scroll expends cure light wounds, which means you’d need to have another one prepared to scribe it again. (83)

The Sage at the time is D&D 3.5 architect Andy Collins. This exchange is repeated nearly verbatim in the D&D Frequently Asked Questions (63).

This assessment jibes with what this player views as the downside of having multiple spells on the same scroll: "A scroll has AC 9, 1 hit point, hardness 0, and a break DC of 8" (Dungeon Master's Guide 238). So go ahead and scribe in one day that scroll of 10 spells but be aware that everybody knows how fragile it is!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks again! Perfect find! I think the fragility is only a minor drawback in comparison to the scarcity of downtime. I mean it would be extremely difficult targeting an opponent's scroll: who readies the action "I strike at his scroll if he takes one out"? \$\endgroup\$
    – Giorin
    Aug 23, 2019 at 11:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Giorin You're welcome. A readied action, by the way, isn't the risk. The risk is that a reader who employed a scroll with spells remaining on it afterward must either A) keep the scroll in hand where it's at risk in combat, B) drop it which no body likes to do, or C) take a move action that provokes attacks of opportunity to stow the scroll somewhere safe (and risk that the foe with that attack of opportunity strikes at the scroll!). There are no good options without investing more money to solve that problem… and that's not a problem with a 1-spell-per-scroll paradigm. \$\endgroup\$ Aug 23, 2019 at 11:59
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RAW it makes no difference

Text of the feat:

SCRIBE SCROLL

You can create scrolls, from which you or another a spellcaster can cast the scribed spells. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide for rules on scrolls.

Prerequisite: Caster level 1st.

Benefit: You can create a scroll of any spell that you know. Scribing a scroll takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. The base price of a scroll is its spell level × its caster level × 25 gp.

So anything less than 1000gp in base price takes 1 day. 1001 - 1999 gp would take two days, and so on, so 10 spells of 1st level would be 10 days. There is no other distinction, however your DM could fluff this as needed. (Note: Pathfinder suggests a timeframe of 2 hours for anything less than 250 gp).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ "Anything below 1000 g.p." could refer to the total or the single spell. That is what my question is about. \$\endgroup\$
    – Giorin
    Aug 22, 2019 at 23:24

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