You are skilled at the art of casting spells, identifying magic items, crafting magic items, and identifying spells as they are being cast.
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.
Proficiency:
- Legendary: Whenever you attempt a caster level check, attempt a Spellcraft check at a –20 penalty at the same DC. If the spellcraft check succeeds, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on your caster level check.
Table: Spellcraft DC's
| 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 |
Uses
Craft Magic Items (Skilled)
Making a Spellcraft check to craft a magic item is made as part of the creation process.
Determine Properties of Magic Item (Skilled)
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.
Action: 3 rounds per item.
Retry? 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.
Proficiency:
- Expert: Identifying magic items takes a complex provoke action of 3 acts.
- Master: You can identify magic items without using detect magic, though the DC is increased by 10. Identifying magic items is a complex provoke action of 2 acts.
Identify Spell Being Cast (Skilled)
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.
Retry? You cannot retry checks made to identify a spell.
Learn Spell from Spellbook (Skilled)
Learning a spell from a spellbook takes 1 hour per level of the spell (0-level spells take 30 minutes).
Action: 1 hour.
Retry? If you fail to learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll, you must wait at least 1 week before you can try again.
Proficiency:
- Expert: The time required to learn a spell from a spellbook is halved.
- Master: The time required to learn a new spell from a spellbook is reduced to 1 minute per spell level.
Prepare Spell from Borrowed Spellbook (Skilled)
Preparing a spell from a borrowed spellbook does not add any time to your spell preparation.
Retry? If you fail to prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook, you cannot try again until the next day.
Modifiers
- Class—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.
- Feats—If you have the Magical Aptitude feat, you get a +2 bonus on all Spellcraft checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in Spellcraft, the bonus increases to +4.
- Race—An elf with the elven magic racial trait gets a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify the properties of magic items.