Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
| Author | Jason Bulmahn |
| Publisher | Paizo Publishing |
| Publish date | 2009 |
| OGL Section 15 | Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game |
The material below is Open Game Content
Spellcraft (Int; Trained Only)
You are skilled at the art of casting spells, identifying magic items, crafting magic items, and identifying spells as they are being cast.
Check: Spellcraft is used whenever your knowledge and skill of the technical art of casting a spell or crafting a magic item comes into question. This skill is also used to identify the properties of magic items in your possession through the use of spells such as detect magic and identify. The DC of this check varies depending upon the task at hand.
Action: Identifying a spell as it is being cast requires no action, but you must be able to clearly see the spell as it is being cast, and this incurs the same penalties as a Perception skill check due to distance, poor conditions, and other factors. Learning a spell from a spellbook takes 1 hour per level of the spell (0-level spells take 30 minutes). Preparing a spell from a borrowed spellbook does not add any time to your spell preparation. Making a Spellcraft check to craft a magic item is made as part of the creation process. Attempting to ascertain the properties of a magic item takes 3 rounds per item to be identified and you must be able to thoroughly examine the object.
Retry: You cannot retry checks made to identify a spell. If you fail to learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll, you must wait at least 1 week before you can try again. If you fail to prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook, you cannot try again until the next day. When using detect magic or identify to learn the properties of magic items, you can only attempt to ascertain the properties of an individual item once per day. Additional attempts reveal the same results.
Special: If you are a specialist wizard, you get a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks made to identify, learn, and prepare spells from your chosen school. Similarly, you take a –5 penalty on similar checks made concerning spells from your opposition schools.
An elf gets a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify the properties of magic items.
If you have the Magical Aptitude feat, you gain a bonus on Spellcraft checks (see Feats).
| Task | Spellcraft DC |
|---|---|
| Identify a spell as it is being cast | 15 + spell level |
| Learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll | 15 + spell level |
| Prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook | 15 + spell level |
| Identify the properties of a magic item using detect magic | 15 + item's caster level |
| Decipher a scroll | 20 + spell level |
| Craft a magic item | Varies by item |
The material below is Open Game Content from the System Reference Document.
SPELLCRAFT (INT; TRAINED ONLY)
Use this skill to identify spells as they are cast or spells already in place.
| Spellcraft DC | Task |
|---|---|
| 13 | When using read magic, identify a glyph of warding. No action required. |
| 15 + spell level | Identify a spell being cast. (You must see or hear the spell’s verbal or somatic components.) No action required. No retry. |
| 15 + spell level | Learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll (wizard only). No retry for that spell until you gain at least 1 rank in Spellcraft (even if you find another source to try to learn the spell from). Requires 8 hours. |
| 15 + spell level | Prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook (wizard only). One try per day. No extra time required. |
| 15 + spell level | When casting detect magic, determine the school of magic involved in the aura of a single item or creature you can see. (If the aura is not a spell effect, the DC is 15 + one-half caster level.) No action required. |
| 19 | When using read magic, identify a symbol. No action required. |
| 20 + spell level | Identify a spell that’s already in place and in effect. You must be able to see or detect the effects of the spell. No action required. No retry. |
| 20 + spell level | Identify materials created or shaped by magic, such as noting that an iron wall is the result of a wall of iron spell. No action required. No retry. |
| 20 + spell level | Decipher a written spell (such as a scroll) without using read magic. One try per day. Requires a full-round action. |
| 25 + spell level | After rolling a saving throw against a spell targeted on you, determine what that spell was. No action required. No retry. |
| 25 | Identify a potion. Requires 1 minute. No retry. |
| 20 | Draw a diagram to allow dimensional anchor to be cast on a magic circle spell. Requires 10 minutes. No retry. This check is made secretly so you do not know the result. |
| 30 or higher | Understand a strange or unique magical effect, such as the effects of a magic stream. Time required varies. No retry. |
Check: You can identify spells and magic effects. The DCs for Spellcraft checks relating to various tasks are summarized on the table above.
Action: Varies, as noted above.
Try Again: See above.
Special: If you are a specialist wizard, you get a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks when dealing with a spell or effect from your specialty school. You take a –5 penalty when dealing with a spell or effect from a prohibited school (and some tasks, such as learning a prohibited spell, are just impossible).
If you have the Magical Aptitude feat, you get a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks.
Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (arcana), you get a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Use Magic Device, you get a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks to decipher spells on scrolls.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Spellcraft, you get a +2 bonus on Use Magic Device checks related to scrolls.
Additionally, certain spells allow you to gain information about magic, provided that you make a successful Spellcraft check as detailed in the spell description.
