Scrolls

Scrolls are magical Consumables that allow characters to cast spells without expending spell slots or having a spellcasting class. Scrolls can be very useful in situations when you do not have any remaining spell slots, when you need to cast a spell you do not have prepared, or when you do not have the required spellcaster in the party.

How scrolls work edit

Scrolls in Baldur's Gate 3 follow different rules from the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. Here are some key points of how scrolls work in BG3:

A character of any class can cast any spell from a scroll, even if they lack a spellcasting class or the spell's level is higher than the character's highest-level spell slots.
- However, conditions that prevent spellcasting, like Rage and Wild Shape, still apply to scrolls.

The  Attack roll and spell save DC of any spell cast from a scroll always benefits from the caster's current Proficiency Bonus as well as their Spellcasting Ability Modifier, even if their class cannot normally cast spells.

Classes by Spellcasting Ability Score
Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma
Fighter  Rogue  Wizard	Cleric  Druid  Monk  Ranger	Barbarian  Bard  Paladin  Sorcerer  Warlock

In case of multiclassing, the scroll spellcasting ability is determined by the most recently added class (the class a character most recently reached level 1 in). Fighter and rogue are exceptions to this rule, as these two classes do not have a spellcasting ability defined, though they use Intelligence, the default ability, when monoclassed. When multiclassing with these two classes, they are ignored for the purpose of determining spellcasting ability.
- Both classes, however, gain a proper spellcasting ability (still Intelligence) if the Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster subclasses are taken at level 3. For example:
  - Say a character has taken 5 levels in cleric, so their spellcasting ability is Wisdom. If they multiclass and take 3 levels in warlock, then their spellcasting ability when using scrolls becomes Charisma, because warlock was added more recently.
  - Say a character has taken 5 levels in cleric, then multiclasses and takes 1 level in rogue. In this case, the spellcasting ability of scrolls remains Wisdom, because rogue does not initially grant a spellcasting ability. If, upon reaching level 3 in rogue, the Arcane Trickster subclass is taken, then the spellcasting ability for scrolls changes to Intelligence, as Arcane Trickster grants the rogue a spellcasting ability.
    - Note that the most recent class is still determined by which class reached level 1 most recently. So if a level 5 cleric takes a level in rogue and then a level in sorcerer, their scroll spellcasting ability is Charisma. Even if they then take two more levels in rogue and become an Arcane Trickster, their spellcasting ability remains Charisma, since they reached level 1 in sorcerer more recently than in rogue.
Spell Scribing: A wizard who finds a scroll with a wizard spell they do not know may permanently copy (scribe) that spell to their spellbook at a cost of  50 gp per level of the spell; this also consumes the scroll.
- Cost is reduced to  25 gp per spell level for spells belonging to the same school as the wizard's subclass (see wizard for subclass options). Bladesingers do not get any discount.
- In the event of a class change where a character is no longer a wizard but becomes one again later, spells previously learned from scrolls will still be memorised. As long as a character has at least one level in wizard, they can access all of their scribed spells.
- Unlike in D&D, scrolls cannot be created.
- If a party member tries to scribe a wizard spell scroll whose level is too high, it says their wizard level is not high enough. This is misleading, as in order to scribe a scroll, the only requirement is that the combined caster level of a character's spellcasting classes is high enough to cast that spell (i.e. they must have at least one spell slot of the spell's level). A character only needs one level of wizard to scribe any wizard spell contained on a scroll.^[1] For example, a character with wizard 1/bard 2 has 2nd-level spell slots, and thus can scribe the 2nd-level wizard spell  Detect Thoughts (although in this case they would not have been able to learn any 2nd-level spells from either class when levelling up).
  - When considering combined caster levels and spell scribing, it may be helpful to bear in mind which spellcasting classes are full, half, and one-third casters.
Scrolls used to cast spells with different variants, such as the various elements of  Chromatic Orb, cannot be used directly out of a character's inventory and must first be put on the hotbar.
Scrolls will not be consumed if blocked by  Counterspell.
The level requirements for buying scrolls are as follows:
- Character level 1: level 1 and 2 spells (also  Speak with Dead, which is a level 3 spell).^[2]^[3]
- Character level 3: level 3 spells
- Character level 5: level 4 spells
- Character level 7: level 5 spells
- Character level 9: level 6 spells
A Sorcerer may apply metamagic to scrolls, with minor differences to how metamagic usually works:
- Scrolls of spells with sub-spells (such as  Chromatic Orb) will erroneously report their Sorcery Point cost to be a multiple of the number of sub-spells. For example, applying Twinned Spell to a scroll of Chromatic Orb will report that it requires 7 Sorcery Points instead of 1. Opening the sub-spell menu first before applying metamagic will allow it to be used.
- Scrolls inside containers cannot have metamagic applied to them; they must be in the main inventory of the caster.

List of scrolls edit

Utility Scrolls edit

The following are classified as "utility scrolls" or "rare utility scrolls" by the game.

Peculiar scrolls edit

The following scrolls offer spells which may only be obtained by scrolls on this list.

Cantrips edit

Level 1 spells edit

Level 2 spells edit

Level 3 spells edit

Level 4 spells edit

Level 5 spells edit

Level 6 spells edit

Limited Scrolls edit

Sold by only one Trader edit

Limited edit

Unique edit

Spells without scrolls edit

Cantrips edit

Level 1 edit

Level 2 edit

Unavailable scrolls edit

Scrolls that cannot be obtained in the game, but can still be spawned by using 3rd party tools.

Unobtainable scrolls edit

Scrolls that cannot be obtained in the game and cannot be spawned by using 3rd party tools.

Most of these scrolls existed in the Early Access version of the game. In the release version of the game, most non-wizard spell scrolls were removed.

Notes edit

↑ The peculiar ability of multiclassed spellcasters with a single wizard level having access to most wizard spells via scribing from scrolls (with all the patches that have been applied since its discovery) is likely another example of rule zero being used by Larian in the game.
↑  Helsik can sell some level 3 and 4 spells to level 1 characters.
↑ Unlike Helsik (whose scrolls can vary), level 1 characters can always buy  Stoneskin,  Wall of Stone, and  Flesh to Stone from  Boney.

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[1] The peculiar ability of multiclassed spellcasters with a single wizard level having access to most wizard spells via scribing from scrolls (with all the patches that have been applied since its discovery) is likely another example of rule zero being used by Larian in the game.

[2]  Helsik can sell some level 3 and 4 spells to level 1 characters.

[3] Unlike Helsik (whose scrolls can vary), level 1 characters can always buy  Stoneskin,  Wall of Stone, and  Flesh to Stone from  Boney.

[1]

[2]

[3]

How scrolls work edit

List of scrolls edit

Utility Scrolls edit

Peculiar scrolls edit

Cantrips edit

Level 1 spells edit

Level 2 spells edit

Level 3 spells edit

Level 4 spells edit

Level 5 spells edit

Level 6 spells edit

Limited Scrolls edit

Sold by only one Trader edit

Limited edit

Unique edit

Spells without scrolls edit

Cantrips edit

Level 1 edit

Level 2 edit

Level 3 edit

Level 4 edit

Level 6 edit

Unavailable scrolls edit

Unobtainable scrolls edit

Notes edit