# One designer says *No* The *Dragon* #298 Sage Advice column "Official Answers to Your Questions" includes this exchange: > **Question:** Is it possible for wizards to cast curative spells? For example, *cure moderate wounds* or *cure light wounds*? It seems that they can under the right circumstances. Suppose Willie, a halfling bard in my party, has the Scribe Scroll feat. The *Player's Handbook* says wizards, sorcerers, and bards all cast arcane magic. That means the *cure* spells a bard casts are arcane and not divine regardless of what the spell is, right? That also means that if Willie scribes a scroll with *cure light wounds* on it, the scroll will still be an arcane scroll. If that's correct, it means that if my wizard gets the *cure light wounds* scroll from Willie, he can scribe it into his spell book and then prepare it as an arcane spell that he can use time and time again, right? > > **Answer:** You can't read a spell off a scroll unless the spell is on your class list (see page 203 in the *Dungeon Master's Guide*). You also cannot scribe a spell into your book unless its [*sic*] on your class list. Only another bard can use Willie's *cure light wounds* scrolls (because bards are the only arcane casters who have *cure* spells on their class lists). > > Remember that spell trigger items, such as wands, do not come in arcane or divine versions. If a bard makes a *wand of cure light wounds*, any character who has *cure light wounds* on his spell list can use the wand. (112) This ruling predates the *Dungeons and Dragons 3.5* revision, but as the topic's remained unmentioned since then (so far as I could determine, anyway), this ruling should be applicable to any *3.5* campaign with minor revisions by the DM (*DMG* (2003) 4). Although then-Sage Skip Williams's [Rules of the Game][1] columns should be read with salt shaker in hand, he's still one of the three primary designers of *Dungeons and Dragons, Third Edition*, giving this ruling at least *some* credibility. (By the way, at the time, *Dragon* was still published by Wizards of the Coast, not Paizo, if that makes a difference in determining if something's authoritative enough for your group.) --- ## By the book, though, a wizard can *possibly* transcribe an off-list spell from a scroll into his spellbook... A wizard that acquires an arcane *[scroll][2] of [cure light wounds][3]* [conj] (*PH* 215-6) (1st-level spell at caster level 2) (*DMG* 239) (50 gp; 0 lbs.) or even a divine *[scroll][2] of [cure light wounds][3]* [conj] (*PH* 216-7) (1st-level spell at caster level 1) (*DMG* 241) (25 gp; 0 lbs.) must follow these steps to get it into his spellbook: 1. The wizard must decipher the magical writing on the *scroll of cure light wounds* by *either* making a Spellcraft skill check (DC 21) *or* employing the 0-level Sor/Wiz spell [*read magic*][4] [div] (*PH* 269). 2. The wizard must understand the spell *cure light wounds* by taking 1 day and making a Spellcraft skill check (DC 16). *Note:* Some restrictions apply. 3. The wizard must copy the spell *cure light wounds* into his spellbook by taking 1 day, spending 100 gp, and having the spell occupy 1 page of his spellbook. For this to work, the DM *must* rule that the wizard is *not* activating the spell (which is what happens when the spell on the scroll is cast)—the wizard *can't* do that because to activate the spell on the scroll *both* the "spell must be of the correct type" *and* a wizard "must have the spell on his or her class list" (*DMG* 239). Instead, the DM must rule that using the scroll to add the spell to his spellbook is a *different process* that *doesn't* so much as *activate the spell* but, like, *readies the spell for transcription* or something. Nonetheless, when this this different process is used, "a spell successfully copied from a magic scroll disappears from the parchment" (179). Such a ruling isn't, in itself, a *huge* leap for the DM to make, but it's not an inconsequential one either, so a player asking the DM about such a distinction should make clear his reason for asking. ## ...And a wizard *can* prepare a spell that's in his spellbook... The *Player's Handbook* on [Spell Preparation Time][5] says, "After resting, a wizard must study her spellbook to prepare any spells that day" (178). That is, if a spell's in the wizard's personal spellbook, the spell's already gone through the process above (or a similar process that's led to the spell being in the wizard's spellbook). Nothing *prevents* the preparation of *any* spell in the wizard's spellbook—even if the spell's source is weird or its typical list alien. ## ...But a wizard can't usually *cast* an off-list spell The [wizard][6] class feature spells says, "A wizard casts arcane spells... which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list" (*PH* 56). While the text doesn't say a wizard *can't* cast spells from lists other than the sorcerer/wizard spell list, the game usually uses inclusive language (explaining what can be done), saving for confusing corner cases exclusive language (explaining what *can't* be done). That is, just because the text *doesn't* say the wizard *can't* doesn't mean the wizard *can*, for example, turn his foes into [lawn furniture][7] (at least until the wizard can cast [*polymorph any object*][8], anyway). Hence, with a generous DM, a wizard can understand and copy from a scroll *any* spell into his spellbook, and a wizard can even prepare that spell if he has a spell slot of the appropriate level, but the wizard can't *cast* the spell unless it's on the sorcerer/wizard spell list. Again, with a generous DM, it's possible that such prepared-but-uncastable spells could still be used, for example, during item creation; that is, the item creation process often "triggers" spells—the prepared spell's expended *as if* the spell were cast but the spell's not *actually* cast. So using that generous DM's rulings, such a wizard could, for example, create—but, oddly, *still* not normally use—a *wand of cure light wounds*. Also, when a wizard that has added to his spellbook the spell *cure light wounds* from a divine *scroll of cure light wounds* then creates his own *scroll of cure light wounds*, the DM must decide whether the resultant *cure light wounds* spell on that scroll is arcane or divine, because, honestly, *I* have no idea, and, really, if you've such a generous DM that you've gotten this far, why are you trying to make his head explode? Neither could that wizard normally use that (arcane? divine?) *scroll of cure light wounds*. Seriously, do that nice DM a solid and just brew a darn potion. Of course, none of this precludes a wizard from employing in whatever capacity off-list spells that *that specific wizard* has somehow uniquely added to his wizard's spell list. In that case, the spells aren't off-list anymore, so it doesn't matter. [1]: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/rg [2]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/scrolls.htm [3]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/cureLightWounds.htm [4]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/readMagic.htm [5]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/arcaneSpells.htm#spellPreparationTime [6]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#wizard [7]: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/q/36088/8610 [8]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/polymorphAnyObject.htm [9]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dragonTrue.htm#goldDragon [10]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/naga.htm#guardianNaga [11]: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/divineSpells.htm#divineIndependentResearch