Author Topic: Scrolls, Selling, and Scribing  (Read 12368 times)

Merry Munchkin

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Re: Scrolls, Selling, and Scribing
« Reply #50 on: January 07, 2015, 09:59:31 PM »
I dont understand what issue is that players can buy scrolls such as shadow shield and tensers. I put out, that requires the pc having trained in umd, spell craft or have levels as a spellcaster already to even use them. So why are we trivializing skills?

Use of scrolls  are also short burst due to duration .

Iv no idea how many times Iv been able to save a party wipe in a dangerous dungeon with the use of shadow shield also, as theres not much anything else to counter horrid wilting spam by npcs. There was already measures placed in spawns also that by pass +3 damage reduction the spell offers.

You have get the gold to buy the scrolls. Time and effort
You have locate the shops, get there alive or bribe another wizard. I never minded a wizard that charged me extra off the top for going buy a supply for me.
You have have the required skills, umd, spell craft, spellcasting class. Your also likely a person thats using light armor with spell failure issues.

and answered yourself about what a low level magic server is. Its just as powerful, but its just rarer. All the previous notes, is one that that makes it rarer .

Your also not offering anyone reasons why these spells are "problematic" in the first place

Edit: I dont recall any items that cast teners. We have divine power. Ill also point out, divine power is better to hoard then tensers scrolls. Once you turn on tensers, you have hundred percent spell failure until it wears off.  Oh and that con wearing off when on low health. Fun

I think you (or maybe it is me) is misapprehending the focus of this discussion.  I don't think the issue is whether scrolls are short or long duration, and I certainly don't consider ANY spells to be "problematic" -- anything that a wizard can cast is fair game for scribing on a scroll, as far as I am concerned.

Where I think the real issue lies is whether scrolls should be available at NPC merchants, versus only available from other players who scribe them.  Your quote above I think actually sums up arguments FOR having restrictions on NPC merchants:
"You have get the gold to buy the scrolls. Time and effort
You have locate the shops, get there alive or bribe another wizard. I never minded a wizard that charged me extra off the top for going buy a supply for me.
You have have the required skills, umd, spell craft, spellcasting class. Your also likely a person thats using light armor with spell failure issues."

What you describe in your quote is exactly what would happen if NPC merchants were replaced by player-to-player scroll trading.  In fact, it might be MORE efficient in some cases -- the same wizard you bribed to go buy the scrolls for you, could instead simply get paid to scribe those scrolls for you.  The wizard would likely be more than happy to cut out the middle man, since he or she pockets the full proceeds of the sale.  The fact that the wizard currently has access to the NPC merchant also means that the wizard has access to the spell to learn it himself or herself, which means they can scribe it for you.

In reality, I don't see this as a debate over "high magic versus low magic" or "problematic spells" or "overpowered magic", etc.  This is a debate over convenience.  In general, it is more convenient for the playerbase if there are NPC merchants that sell desired items, because the merchants are always in the same location, always open, always fully stocked with inventory, never go out of business, and charge the same prices over and over.  Regardless of whether it is hard to get to or easy to get to, and whether the merchant is expensive or cheap, having the reliable, constant source of supply is CONVENIENT for players.  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing improper about this -- convenience has a legitimate value.

In contrast, relying on a player-to-player economy is less convenient, because the merchant (i.e. the other player) may not be online when you are online, and their cost structure is entirely negotiable.  Even if they are on, they may be adventuring and not available to trade with, or they may not have ready access to scribing materials or be out of stock of particular scrolls.  However, reliance on a player-to-player economy is clearly a strong RP generator, and generates a lot of interaction for scribed items to the same extent that other crafted items generate RP and interaction.  This does not happen with NPC merchants.  It should also be pointed out that since any wizard should be able to scribe a scroll of any spell they know, there should be ample opportunities to trade for low level scrolls, and fewer opportunities for higher level scrolls, so more powerful magic would be scarcer than lower level magic (in other words, getting a scroll of a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level spell ought to be dirt easy, while spells of 7th, 8th, and 9th level would be more difficult due to scarcity).

So the debate is ultimately this one:  if we were to shift from NPC merchants to player-merchants, is the lack of convenience offset by the increase in RP opportunities?


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McNastea

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Re: Scrolls, Selling, and Scribing
« Reply #51 on: January 07, 2015, 10:59:43 PM »
In general, it is more convenient for the playerbase if there are NPC merchants that sell desired items, because the merchants are always in the same location, always open, always fully stocked with inventory, never go out of business, and charge the same prices over and over.

The scrolls do run out, some of the merchants have unlimited, some only have one of each, others somewhere in between that I'm not quite sure of the number.
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Bluebomber4evr

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Re: Scrolls, Selling, and Scribing
« Reply #52 on: January 07, 2015, 11:06:11 PM »
We're not removing them from NPC merchants.

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