I am a bit of a wizard novice, so while I'm sure these two items are vastly different, on paper they seem to perform the same function. You have a spell-sealing medium and write a spell into it, freeing up your actual slots. What difference, if any, are there between scrolls and gems?
Spell gems are a wondrous item made up of certain rare gems, which correspond to the level of spell they can hold (for example, a diamond spell gem can store one 9th level spell). They were introduced in Out of the Abyss.
What difference, if any, are there between scrolls and gems?
I was unfamiliar with them but after taking a look, they are pretty different:
Crafting - Spell gems can only be crafted by deep gnomes, whereas spell scrolls can be crafted by anyone with the arcana skill.
Materials - The scroll parchment and necessary inks to scribe a spell scroll are conceivably much more common than any of the gems you'd need to create spell gems.
Cost - Due to the reusable nature of a spell gem, how easily/quickly you can store a spell on one and that the ability to craft them is limited to deep gnomes then I'd say the value of a spell gem be very high and certainly higher than any spell scroll of equivalent power. Though on the other hand, you'd save more gold and time in the long run with a gem versus a scroll. Similiar to how the new downtime rules for training cost more gold versus the former method of costing more time. So whichever you value more would determine which you favor more.
Creativity - Spells scrolls are well, scrolls and therefore there isn't much you can do with them without reskinning them. Whereas spell gems could be stored in armor, weapons or other items. For example, you could create a rechargeable helm of brilliance or ring of spell storing using them.
Availability - While a DM can roll or pick what treasure they want you to come across on your adventures, generally speaking, you will only come across spell scrolls if you happen to involve yourself with spellcasters. Be that delving into the tomb of a long dead wizard or dealing with a very much alive lich bent on world domination. However, with spell gems, those could be found potentially anywhere gemstones could be such as a dragon's horde or in a chest full of other treasure. So while crafting them might be more difficult, finding them may be much easier. As for buying, that is very dependant on your DM. But spell gems should be more difficult to buy in comparison to spell scrolls since they are rarer.
Hooks - Spell scrolls don't have adventure hooks built into them unless a DM puts them there but with spell gems, there is the connection with deep gnomes already baked in. So all sorts of adventures could happen such as a clan of deep gnomes requesting your help as their crafting secrets were recently stolen or the only way to obtain any spell gems in the world is by first finding where the deep gnomes reside within the Underdark.
But all that aside, as you are currently a novice then I'd only worry about spell scrolls. Though you certainly should bring up your interest in spell gems with your DM and see how they may involve them in their world.
thats a fair argument but a spell gem can store any spell the spell is cast using a single action any material components are provided by the gem and if it uses a consumable material component it only uses half the material components and unlike scrolls anyone can use a spell gem you just have to be a caster to attune to it and fill it with another spell heres a fine example a 1 action 25gp teleportation circle that the caster doesn't have to have prepared in his daily spells
i don't know about you but that seems worth getting for any caster regardless of learning the spell if this sounds too good to be true take a look https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/spell-gem
the attunement thing is a bit wonky since you only need to be attuned to it while you're charging it....so if you have a free weekend, attune to the gem, charge it, then attune back to whatever else you had. You could even have a stack of them that way...you can't attune to more than one of the same item, but if you attune to them one at a time, you're good. Kinda silly though.
Spell Gems can be crazy powerful, e.g. wizard main loads one up with a tiny hut as a ritual, expending no spell slots, just casting time, then hands it (along with a sack of arrows) to the ranger/fighter/rogue/what-have-you to rush a chokepoint and unleash mid-combat for a battlefield control obstacle + near impenetrable defense + unobstructed arrow attacks. Load one up with awaken and for a 1,000 gp you have a 1 action, touch range, no-save spell that instantaneously charms your opponent's war-elephant or mammoth (or T-Rex) for 30 days and can't be dispelled or counterspelled.
If the higher level rare ones are hard to come by in your game even 1st and 2nd level uncommon ones are potent. Have a cleric load one with a prayer of healing and anyone in the party with access to the right spell list can use it to give up to six creatures 2d8+mod HP at a moment's notice. Did I mention it's reuseable, and doesn't have class restrictions for attunement? You don't even have to be able to cast the spell if it's on your class spell list. With a bit of downtime a paladin main can pass out find steed spells for everyone who's dipped into the class, or if one person has find familiar they can get familiars for whoever could cast it but didn't take the spell.
There are a million other uses for Spell Gems for creative players, they're more comparable to rings of spell storing than spell scrolls.
Edit: Expect these to be crazy good with Artificers in TCE; as if being able to make a new bag of holding everyday at 2nd level after your last one disappeared in another horrible extraplanar rift wasn't bad enough.
I'm playing alongside a wizard with 10 bloodstone spell gems, and have fireball stored in most of them, alongside a wand of fireballs. Let's just say that our combat is super repetitive.
I'm playing alongside a wizard with 10 bloodstone spell gems, and have fireball stored in most of them, alongside a wand of fireballs. Let's just say that our combat is super repetitive.
sounds like its time for the DM to get creative with side effects of throwing around fireballs everywhere.
I love spell gems since the spell is cast from the gem as an action.
Spell Gem + Glyph of Warding + Flock of Familiars = place a trap anywhere you want within 1 mile.
Also super useful if trying to planar bind a conjured creature. Normally the concentration requires (anything taking more than 1 action/1ba/1 reaction to cast requires concentration - so often trying to planar bind requires magic circles which then makes things wonky in timing because by the time you finish casting planar bind, magic circle wears off. With spell gem this is eliminated. Put the planar bind spell into gem, conjure what you wish to conjure and use one action to instantly bind the conjured creature.
And they're reusable and don't cost anything extra to use. You only need to attune when storing a spell - so it's not harsh on attunement slots and anybody can cast the spell from the gem, so it's a great way to buff somebody without you having to maintain concentration for it. Whereas spell scrolls take a lot of time, cost and can only be used by spellcasters.
I'm playing alongside a wizard with 10 bloodstone spell gems, and have fireball stored in most of them, alongside a wand of fireballs. Let's just say that our combat is super repetitive.
sounds like its time for the DM to get creative with side effects of throwing around fireballs everywhere.
i wish he would. There is also one of the players that has a homebrew class, which is way too OP d12 hit die access to heavy armor damage reduction access to spellcasting can gain A LOT of temporal hitpoints from killing something and they even reworked one of the abilities, that would normally give you a none magical weapon with a +1 to +3 modifier (depending on your his level), to just adding that modifier to his original weapon. So right now he has a +3 magical weapon at level 8.
I'm playing alongside a wizard with 10 bloodstone spell gems, and have fireball stored in most of them, alongside a wand of fireballs. Let's just say that our combat is super repetitive.
sounds like its time for the DM to get creative with side effects of throwing around fireballs everywhere.
i wish he would. There is also one of the players that has a homebrew class, which is way too OP d12 hit die access to heavy armor damage reduction access to spellcasting can gain A LOT of temporal hitpoints from killing something and they even reworked one of the abilities, that would normally give you a none magical weapon with a +1 to +3 modifier (depending on your his level), to just adding that modifier to his original weapon. So right now he has a +3 magical weapon at level 8.
I think Spell Gems are just a symptom of a much worse problem then...
Spell Gems are nothing like scrolls. They are similar to a Ring of Spell Storing. But the Rings are designed for non-casters (as you do not have to be attuned to them to load the spell), the Spell Gems are designed for the Caster (as you DO have to be attuned to them to cast.
I try to load the Spell Gem with good spells I rarely need, then prepare a different spell the next day and keep the one in the spell gem.
[...] Spell Gem + Glyph of Warding + Flock of Familiars = place a trap anywhere you want within 1 mile. [...]
Flock of Familiars gives you the telepathic communication and shared visual and auditory senses out to a mile, but doesn't remove the 100 foot restriction on casting a touch spell through a familiar. Some generous DMs might allow this, but YMMV.
Still, you could make a normal bat or owl familiar invisible and send it into the BBEG's bedroom window to lay down Explosive Runes to trigger when he falls asleep. Unconscious creatures automatically fail Dex saves.
Spell Gems are nothing like scrolls. They are similar to a Ring of Spell Storing. But the Rings are designed for non-casters (as you do not have to be attuned to them to load the spell), the Spell Gems are designed for the Caster (as you DO have to be attuned to them to cast.
You don't need to be attuned to the Spell Gem to cast the spell that's inside it, only to load one with a new spell.
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I am a bit of a wizard novice, so while I'm sure these two items are vastly different, on paper they seem to perform the same function. You have a spell-sealing medium and write a spell into it, freeing up your actual slots. What difference, if any, are there between scrolls and gems?
"The Epic Level Handbook wasn't that bad, guys.
Guys, pls."
Which gems are you talking about? "Spell gems" isn't a category of magic item.
Spell gems are a wondrous item made up of certain rare gems, which correspond to the level of spell they can hold (for example, a diamond spell gem can store one 9th level spell). They were introduced in Out of the Abyss.
"The Epic Level Handbook wasn't that bad, guys.
Guys, pls."
But all that aside, as you are currently a novice then I'd only worry about spell scrolls. Though you certainly should bring up your interest in spell gems with your DM and see how they may involve them in their world.
Much obliged.
"The Epic Level Handbook wasn't that bad, guys.
Guys, pls."
I'm a little late to the game, but you seem to lack the biggest advantage of spell scrolls.
a wizard can copy a scroll into his spellbook and learn it that way. It's not always successful, but spell gems cant do that at all.
thats a fair argument
but a spell gem can store any spell
the spell is cast using a single action
any material components are provided by the gem and if it uses a consumable material component it only uses half the material components
and unlike scrolls anyone can use a spell gem you just have to be a caster to attune to it and fill it with another spell
heres a fine example
a 1 action 25gp teleportation circle that the caster doesn't have to have prepared in his daily spells
i don't know about you but that seems worth getting for any caster regardless of learning the spell
if this sounds too good to be true take a look
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/spell-gem
the attunement thing is a bit wonky since you only need to be attuned to it while you're charging it....so if you have a free weekend, attune to the gem, charge it, then attune back to whatever else you had. You could even have a stack of them that way...you can't attune to more than one of the same item, but if you attune to them one at a time, you're good. Kinda silly though.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
Spell Gems can be crazy powerful, e.g. wizard main loads one up with a tiny hut as a ritual, expending no spell slots, just casting time, then hands it (along with a sack of arrows) to the ranger/fighter/rogue/what-have-you to rush a chokepoint and unleash mid-combat for a battlefield control obstacle + near impenetrable defense + unobstructed arrow attacks. Load one up with awaken and for a 1,000 gp you have a 1 action, touch range, no-save spell that instantaneously charms your opponent's war-elephant or mammoth (or T-Rex) for 30 days and can't be dispelled or counterspelled.
If the higher level rare ones are hard to come by in your game even 1st and 2nd level uncommon ones are potent. Have a cleric load one with a prayer of healing and anyone in the party with access to the right spell list can use it to give up to six creatures 2d8+mod HP at a moment's notice. Did I mention it's reuseable, and doesn't have class restrictions for attunement? You don't even have to be able to cast the spell if it's on your class spell list. With a bit of downtime a paladin main can pass out find steed spells for everyone who's dipped into the class, or if one person has find familiar they can get familiars for whoever could cast it but didn't take the spell.
There are a million other uses for Spell Gems for creative players, they're more comparable to rings of spell storing than spell scrolls.
Edit: Expect these to be crazy good with Artificers in TCE; as if being able to make a new bag of holding everyday at 2nd level after your last one disappeared in another horrible extraplanar rift wasn't bad enough.
I'm playing alongside a wizard with 10 bloodstone spell gems, and have fireball stored in most of them, alongside a wand of fireballs.
Let's just say that our combat is super repetitive.
sounds like its time for the DM to get creative with side effects of throwing around fireballs everywhere.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
I love spell gems since the spell is cast from the gem as an action.
Spell Gem + Glyph of Warding + Flock of Familiars = place a trap anywhere you want within 1 mile.
Also super useful if trying to planar bind a conjured creature. Normally the concentration requires (anything taking more than 1 action/1ba/1 reaction to cast requires concentration - so often trying to planar bind requires magic circles which then makes things wonky in timing because by the time you finish casting planar bind, magic circle wears off. With spell gem this is eliminated. Put the planar bind spell into gem, conjure what you wish to conjure and use one action to instantly bind the conjured creature.
And they're reusable and don't cost anything extra to use. You only need to attune when storing a spell - so it's not harsh on attunement slots and anybody can cast the spell from the gem, so it's a great way to buff somebody without you having to maintain concentration for it. Whereas spell scrolls take a lot of time, cost and can only be used by spellcasters.
Spell Gems win out in every regard.
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i wish he would.
There is also one of the players that has a homebrew class, which is way too OP
d12 hit die
access to heavy armor
damage reduction
access to spellcasting
can gain A LOT of temporal hitpoints from killing something
and they even reworked one of the abilities, that would normally give you a none magical weapon with a +1 to +3 modifier (depending on your his level), to just adding that modifier to his original weapon. So right now he has a +3 magical weapon at level 8.
I think Spell Gems are just a symptom of a much worse problem then...
Spell Gems are nothing like scrolls. They are similar to a Ring of Spell Storing. But the Rings are designed for non-casters (as you do not have to be attuned to them to load the spell), the Spell Gems are designed for the Caster (as you DO have to be attuned to them to cast.
I try to load the Spell Gem with good spells I rarely need, then prepare a different spell the next day and keep the one in the spell gem.
Flock of Familiars gives you the telepathic communication and shared visual and auditory senses out to a mile, but doesn't remove the 100 foot restriction on casting a touch spell through a familiar. Some generous DMs might allow this, but YMMV.
Still, you could make a normal bat or owl familiar invisible and send it into the BBEG's bedroom window to lay down Explosive Runes to trigger when he falls asleep. Unconscious creatures automatically fail Dex saves.
Good examples of this are, by level:
All of these are situational. They are rarely needed, but can be immensely helpful when you need them.
You don't need to be attuned to the Spell Gem to cast the spell that's inside it, only to load one with a new spell.