Summary
Spell scrolls are powerful consumable magic items inDungeons & Dragonsthat allow a caster who has the spell on their class’s spell list to cast a spell one time without the need for its usual material components. With a successful spellcasting ability check, you can even use them to cast a spell of a higher level than you would be able to cast otherwise.
However, perhaps the most overlooked benefit of stocking up on spell scrolls is giving your party access to certain spells without needing to prepare them or expending your valuable spell slots. Consequently, spell scrolls are often at their best when used to stock up on useful utility spells. Let’s take a look.
10Silence
Shhhhh
This is a great spell to have on hand in case you run into enemy spellcasters. While Silence isn’t typically useful in most combats, it’s incredibly good against spellcasters in particular, as almost all spells require verbal components. Silence specifically says that casting a spell with verbal components is impossible while in its area.
While a spellcaster can move out of the area of Silence, doing so will probably either provoke costly opportunity attacks or place them in a precarious position on the battlefield. For the best use of this spell, have a strength-based character grapple with the spellcaster before dropping Silence on them. At that point, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
9Knock
Police, Open Up
With a couple of spell scrolls of Knock, even locked chests and barred doors won’t stand a chance against your party. If you happen tohave a Rogueamong your friends, the usefulness of this spell is certainly diminished. That being said, the best Rogues know it’s always good to have a backup plan.
This spell is particularly good when you need to get out of a place in a hurry as it does make a sound audible up to 300 feet away. Long story short, leave most of the lockpicking to your shady companion.
8Arcane Lock
Password Please
The counterpart to Knock, Arcane Lock, will prevent opponents from going places you don’t want them to be. Running out of a room and casting Arcane Lock on the door behind you is an easy way to turn a fight that could have been a TPK (Total Party Kill) into an easy escape.
In case you do need to reopen the entry that you’ve blocked, you’re able to even set a password for your party to use later. Of course, this isan extremely niche spell, but that’s why it’s a perfect candidate for scrawling.
7Protection From Evil And Good
Not Today Satan
Offensive spells are always best in D&D due to the way the action economy works. That being said, there are some defensive spells worth having around, and Protection From Evil And Good is one of them. This first level concentration spell will give any fiend, undead, celestial, elemental, fey, or aberration disadvantage on attacks against the character it is warding.
On top of that, it also prevents the target from being possessed, frightened, or charmed by such creatures. Whether your party is surprised by a horde of ghouls or accidentally summons a demon from the Abyss, this spell can easily save a character’s life when used at the right time.
6Absorb Elements
Fear The Elements No Longer
Elemental damage, including fire, cold, lightning, thunder, and acid, is quite commonly encountered while adventuring, whether it comes from an errant lightning bolt or an enemy spellcaster’s fireball. Absorb Elements reduces the damage you’ll take from these instances by half.
Better yet, you can wait to cast this spell until after you’ve failed the saving throw against the effect. According to Xanathar’s Guide To Everything, scribing a first level spell scroll takes a day and costs 25 gold pieces. Even at low levels, this is a very affordable and worthwhile use of your character’s time and money.
5Control Water
Splish Splash, We’re Taking A Bath
This fourth level concentration spell is extremely powerful but can only be used if there happens to be a large body of water on the battlefield. As a result, it’s pretty much a waste to prepare this spell unless you know for certain that you’ll be adventuring over sea or near a lake.
Uses for Control Water include capsizing enemy ships, parting the water like some kind of biblical figure, redirecting the flow of a river, or creating a massive whirlpool for your opponents to contend with. All of these modes can come in clutch at the most unusual of times, making control water a prime candidate for scrawling.
4Shield
Protect Your Life And Your Spell Slots
While we mentioned in the introduction that spell scrolls are best used for utility spells, Shield is a good scroll for a different reason. It’s well-known that Shield is one of the best spells in the game, as it shores up a spellcaster’s armor class for an entire round.
However, casting Shield every round will quickly see your spell slots diminished. you may avoid this problem by scribing a handful of spells scrolls of Shield.
3Feather Fall
A Pillow For Your Plummet
This is another spell that’s always handy. Whether you need to travel from high ground to low ground quickly or an ally takes an untimely fall, Feather Fall will prevent your party from having to deal with life-threatening fall damage.
Creating different levels of elevation is one of the most basic ways to provide a dynamic feeling to a battlefield. Beyond that, adventurers often pass throughprecarious placeswhere an unfortunate slip could lead to outright death. Feather Fall is a cheap answer to all of these issues.
2Counterspell
Silly DM, Spellcasting Is For Players
Just like Silence, Counterspell is great to have on hand specifically when facing enemy spellcasters. Many players keep Counterspell on their prepared spell list for just this occassion, however, use cases for this spell are far from abundant in most campaigns.
Consequently, you’re much better off scribing a couple of spell scrolls of Counterspell and using your treasured prepared spells for problems you’re likely to encounter more often. It might seem costly to pay 500 gold and a week of downtime for this spell scroll, but try it out. More than likely, the scroll will burn a hole in your bags before you actually need to cast it.
1Dispel Magic
Magic Begone
It’s hard to say whether Dispel Magic is the most important spell to have scrolls of or whether you should just always have this spell prepared. Magical effects are incredibly common to encounter in the worlds of D&D and the importance of access to a spell that ends them on sight is difficult to understate.
If we keep in mind that Dispel Magic has a chance to fail against spells of fourth level or higher, you may even make an argument for both preparing Dispel Magic and having spell scrolls of it on hand. Either way, remember that this spell is best when used in tandem with Detect Magic so that you can remove a spell effect before your party suffers its consequences. Now that’s smart play.
