TL;DR - Can a 6th level wizard research (not cast) an existing 4th level spell?
As a wizard of the 13th circle, I have a need for some spells of the 4th tier. I have been unable to find scrolls for purchase, and I have limited time to spend researching. I have a small team of personal simulacra, which are each as powerful as a wizard of the 6th circle. As such, they can cast spells of the 3rd tier easily, but 4th tier is beyond them.
As the effects are known, and only the formulae need to be worked out, are a sufficiently high skill in Spellcraft and proper expenditure of resources all that is required to add the spell to a spellbook?
Research a Spell
The standard rules allow you to perform spell research, either to create a new spell or learn an existing spell from another source. In the downtime system, the steps for spell research each day are as follows.
- Pay 100 gp × the spell’s level for research costs and rare ingredients. You may spend Goods or Magic toward this cost.
- Determine the total days of progress required to complete the research, which is 7 × the spell level.
- Determine the spell research DC, which is 10 + twice the spell’s level.
- Attempt a Spellcraft check and a Knowledge check (arcana for an arcane spell, religion for a divine spell) against the spell research DC. You can’t take 10 on these checks. You may spend Magic to modify a check result, with 1 point of Magic adding 2 to your total (maximum +10). If both checks succeed, you make 1 day’s progress toward completing the spell. When your days of progress equal the total number of days needed, the spell is completed and added to your spellbook or list of spells known.
If either or both spell research checks fail by 4 or less, you make no progress. For each check that fails by 5 or more, your research has led to poor results and you lose a day of progress toward completing the spell.
Independent Research
A wizard can also research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell or creating an entirely new one. The cost to research a new spell, and the time required, are left up to GM discretion, but it should probably take at least 1 week and cost at least 1,000 gp per level of the spell to be researched. This should also require a number of Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana) checks.