What spells make good scrolls?

[MammonAzrael]

As the title, what spells are good for having on scrolls? From what I can tell there are a couple standard prereqs:

• Spells that will occasionally be useful, but certainly not something you'd have prepared every morning.
• Not needed enough to make a wand.
• Spells that aren't caster-level dependent.
• Spells that don't offer saves.

Are there any other requirements you can think of?

What are your favorite spells to carry around on a scroll or two?

Current Spells:

Neutralize Poison
Dismissal
Remove Blindness/Deafness
Remove Curse
Remove Disease
Speak with Dead
Water Breathing
Lesser Restoration
Gentle Repose
Tongues
Hold Portal
Knock
Tiny Hut
Secure Shelter
Commune
Omen of Peril
Find the Path
Legend Lore
Comprehend Language
Sending
Passwall

At this point ideas outside of the SRD are needed more. Good suggestions so far!

[Defiant]

One that comes to mind is knock.

[Zaq]

Certain divinations are pretty nice on scrolls. Speak with Dead, Commune, Omen of Peril, Find the Path, Legend Lore, things like that. You don't need 'em all the time, but sometimes you're just stumped and could use a little extra information. Divination (the spell) is kind of CL-dependent, but scrolls are cheap enough to sometimes be worth the gamble.

[Tvtyrant]

Comprehend languages is a most; one day you will need to barter and not be able to otherwise.

Spectral Hand: Its better as a spell but honestly your not going to memorize it, so get a scroll for it. One day your going to want to cast Otto's dance, and the enemy will be flying.

Mages Private Sanctum/mansion/other housing spells: Useful for hiding in and healing, but they get no benefit as a spell over a scroll.

Sending: Because what you don't have clerics where you come from?

Passwall: Look walls don't take an hour to get through, but you might want to get into the city in a hurry. 1 hour duration scroll beats 8 hours of resting to waste a spell slot on. If your going to use it to by-pass a dungeon then fine, but scrolls are great for getting into or out of cities where you are not wanted.

Detect scrying/divinations: Guy above me dealt with these.

Hold Portal: Because its cheap. Also, Gandalf beat a Balrog with it, so take its useless magic with you out of homage.

[Eldariel]

Wind Wall.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Teleport is good on a scroll, you never know when you'll need to make a quick escape its doubly useful if a party member has UMD, nothing like being trapped in a demon infested dungeon and the wizard is dead.

Revivify also makes for a handy scroll and to a lesser extend raise dead and other revival spells. Their already expensive due to the material components so the extra cost of the scroll isn't that much.

Mages Private Sanctum/mansion/other housing spells: Useful for hiding in and healing, but they get no benefit as a spell over a scroll.

Scrolls are for utility spells you won't be casting everyday, housing spells are the kind of thing you'd cast on a daily basis. So I don't think its a good example.

[Jack_Simth]

There's the 'occasional' utility spells - Tongues, Comprehend Languages, Water Walking, Water Breathing, and the like.

If you're a Divine caster, there's also Reincarnate, Raise Dead, Resurrection, True Resurrection, Lesser Restoration, Restoration, Greater Restoration, and Regenerate.

[Reynard]

Identify can be handy.

[Jack_Simth]

Identify can be handy.

Heh. You'll use THAT one often enough that it's worthwhile to buy a wand... although if you do, you'll want to get a wand made by a magic-domain cleric, or a cloistered cleric. Much less expensive, can still be used by a wizard.

[HunterOfJello]

Spells that make good scrolls would often make better eternal wands.


Knock
Omen of Perild
Augury
Identify
Speak with Dead

all fall under this list.

[Zaq]

The difference, of course, is simply the cost. If you're that worried about running out of them, I'd buy three or four scrolls (still much, much cheaper than a wand, eternal or normal) and then, if you run out, evaluate if it's worth making a more permanent investment. In general, a non-eternal wand costs thirty times what a scroll of the same spell would cost (an eternal wand is not far off of that, if I'm not mistaken, but the numbers are slightly different). If you're really in it for the long haul, by all means, use the wand, but even if you're just going to use it ten times, you're still spending less money to buy scrolls. The cost-per-cast might be more, but the amount of money left in your account at AdventureBanc™ will be greater, and forty charges left on a wand that you don't get a chance to use really don't help you in the end.

[Dusk Eclipse]

On the issue about scrolls vs wands, I actually prefer to use minor schemas (MoE), which are to scroll, what eternal wands are to wands.

now the spells I would have on scrolls..... Forcecage might be useful to trap an enemy you want alive, or to let you run if s**** hits the fan and you have to get out of there.

[MammonAzrael]

Minor Schemas are good, but again only if you're expecting to use them them a bunch...in this case 16+ times. Less than that and you're still better off with scrolls (monetarily speaking, at least). Which is why for the most part I agree with Zaq (and that's why I started the thread in the first place).

I could see Forcecage being a useful scroll...though a very pricey one!

At this point I think we've hit the SRD pretty well...are there any spells from outside that, like from the Spell Compendium, that scroll well?

[Dr.Epic]

Cure "..." Wounds, seeing as how you can never have enough healing but you do run out of spells.

[MammonAzrael]

Cure "..." Wounds, seeing as how you can never have enough healing but you do run out of spells.

Except Cure Light Wounds and Lesser Vigor are both so useful as they belong on wands.

Unless you're talking about Cure Moderate/Heavy/Critical Wounds for emergencies? If which case I still think you'll be better off with a Healing Belt, as those scrolls start to get expensive.

[HunterOfJello]

On the issue about scrolls vs wands, I actually prefer to use minor schemas (MoE), which are to scroll, what eternal wands are to wands.

ooohhh. I've never heard of Minor Schemas before, I'm going to have to introduce these into my campaign now.


These would be amazing to make a ton of as an Artificer.

[Godskook]

scrolls are for things you'll only need to cast once or twice per level of character growth.

wands are for things you'll need to cast an undetermined number of times, be it once per day or 30 times, but if you need to cast it 30 times, you *NEED* to cast it 30 times.

eternal wands are for things you intend to cast every day, but caster level doesn't matter on.

schemas are for things you'd want eternal wands of, but RAW doesn't allow you to make them for.

Lesser vigor tends to be a "wand + eternal wand" kind of spell