Forgotten Kingdoms Forums

Came across an interesting issue this afternoon. Which kind of gave me two different topics to talk about, but both having to do with the same thing.

First off, when someone scribes a scroll. Why would they not automatically know what it is a scroll of? Instead you have to cast read magic to know what it is a scroll of. I would think that the writer of the scroll would know what it is without having to use a spell to understand it?

Second, When you scribe a scroll, is there any way we can change the name of it?
Example: Once the scroll has been scribed, it is no longer blank correct? Could the blank be removed and it just say a scroll of Ventriloquism?

This used to be the case, has it changed? If it has changed, then I agree that when a blank scroll is scribed, the name should change (as it did previously). The name remaining as "a blank scroll" for every scroll scribed with a different spell makes things an irritating inconvenience without any reasonable cause.
A wizard isn't going to fish through a load of things called "a blank scroll" in the midst of a fight in order to use on in an emergency, so all it really does it mean that scrolls become less useful.

Note: for me this would only apply to the blank scrolls that available to buy for scribing, not the scrolls generated via the loot table.

On the testport, the name of the spell is automatically appended to the scroll's short description, so that should not be a problem, at least not for long. However, it remains a "blank scroll" when that is the starting short description...and I think those are the ONLY ones that can be used? If so, I think changing this makes sense: that is, making
a blank scroll (perfect)
become
a scroll of poison (perfect)
rather than
a blank scroll of poison (perfect)
after scribing.

I think it requires hard code, though: I don't see any soft code on the the blank scrolls, and the skill code invokes a do operation. Before heading down that path, let me confirm: one can ONLY scribe on the one object in the game with the short description
a blank scroll
correct?

Lirith wrote:This used to be the case, has it changed?

As of yesterday, I was seeing the short description of "A blank scroll of Whatever", these were only on scrolls that were scribed by me.

lirith wrote: Note: for me this would only apply to the blank scrolls that available to buy for scribing, not the scrolls generated via the loot table.

The scrolls from the loot table still show up as just "A golden scroll" and so forth. But that also brings up another point, once the PC has used the spell "Read Magic" and has deciphered these loot scrolls, would it be possible to make the short description still show the spell name when it is placed in a bag? For example "A golden scroll" becomes "A golden scroll of fly" once it has been deciphered, but when you place it in your bag, it reverts back to "A golden scroll" until you pill it back out, then it can be seen as "A golden scroll of fly" again.
When you have 4 or 5 of these golden scrolls in a bag, it makes it hard to figure out what is what.

Raona wrote:Before heading down that path, let me confirm: one can ONLY scribe on the one object in the game with the short description
a blank scroll correct?

As far as I can tell, unless there is a store out there somewhere that has some more fancy blank scrolls that can be purchased that I do not have access to.

Okay I misunderstood what was going on then, I thought that you meant "a blank scroll" stayed as "a blank scroll" even after scribing, not turned into "a blank scroll of blahblah".
It's always been this way, but it would be nice if it changed into "a scroll of spiffy spell" after scribing and so removed the word blank. It wouldn't be anything of a priority but nice for cosmetics.

Raona, I'm pretty sure that only those types of blank scrolls can be used for scribing. I just tested it with a loot table scroll (a singed scroll) and got the response

I've noticed something strange with blank scrolls, as well. If I put the "blank scroll of ___" in a container, when I look in the container all I see is "a blank scroll." If I remove it, it will display as a "blank scroll of ____" in my inventory. But even if I know that it is a blank scroll of fly, let's say... I can't use the word fly to identify it.

This obviously gets a little crazy when you have multiple "blank" scrolls in your bag and then are forced to empty them all and sort through them to find the one you're looking for - and holding the correct one is obviously impossible.

That is odd, I don't see that happening. When I have blank scrolls in a container, they are all listed as being "blank scrolls of...." and then the spells are shown. This is still the case when I remove a few and put them back in again.

Ciara wrote:I've noticed something strange with blank scrolls, as well. If I put the "blank scroll of ___" in a container, when I look in the container all I see is "a blank scroll." If I remove it, it will display as a "blank scroll of ____" in my inventory.

I have this with random drop scrolls. Ancient scrolls, crumpled, whatever they are. If I've read them once, even when not affected by read magic I know what they are, so long as they're in my inventory. But if they're in a container I can't see what they are.

For example, got a random drop scroll. Read magic and turns out it's of Sagacity. Shows up in inventory as
an ancient scroll of sagacity
I put it in a scrollcase and it shows up as just an ancient scroll.

Yes - this is a consequence of the code for scroll identification, which makes the identification specific to the individual. When the scroll is in a container, it's not counting it as in the possession of anyone.

That's another solid thing to add to an enhancement request along these lines, thank you.

As a follow-up to this, I confirm that I'm now seeing what Ciara reported for scribed scrolls. After scribing and while in inventory it shows as "a blank scroll of acid blast". As soon as it goes into a container it becomes "a blank scroll" again. This is really not workable for a wizard that makes a lot of scrolls.

To make sure this is clear - the issue is not that putting a scroll into a container erases the information about what is on it (which would be a bug), but rather that while it remains in the container, the information about what is on it isn't shown. Changing that would be an "enahancement" rather than a "fix," so this is a suggestion for an enhancement to the new spell identification code. I understand why the code was set up - a scroll is known only if the person holding it has deciphered it. "Magic missile" isn't scrawled in crayon at the top of it.

What's the best resolution here? Should we ask for the crayon route, and any scroll, once identified by someone is marked as such for all to see, or should we ask that scrolls known to a given individual be able to be seen as such even when inside a container?

The problem is that people are writing scrolls and the scrolls are remaining blank and not stacking over other blank scrolls. So when you put them in a big bag of scrolls, you never pull out the right scroll. The easiest solution is the most ooc one, which would be to make them like brewed potions, identified by the description to allow for access. The more ic solution would be for anyone that scribed the scrolls or blessed with the read magic spell to pick out the correct scroll from their belongings. Either would be a good solution for the number of recent scribers introduced. Myself, I would recommend the quick and simple route of the brewed potion, it works, its simple and effective.

Another good enhancement to this would be to have read magic add keywords to the loot scrolls when they have been deciphered.