Spellcraft

Spellcraft (Int; Trained Only)

You are skilled at the art of casting spells, identifying magic auras and items, crafting magic items, and identifying spells as they are being cast.

Check

Arcana 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 magical auras and the properties of magic items in your possession through the use of spells identify. The DC of this check varies depending upon the task at hand. Other specific uses of this skill are noted on the following table:

Task	Arcana DC
Identify an aura while using detect magic	15 + spell level
Identify a spell effect while using detect magic	20 + spell level
Identify materials manufactured by magic	20 + spell level
Identify a spell that just targeted you	25 + spell level
Identify the spells cast using a specific material component	20
Identify a spell as it is being cast1	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 while using detect magic or identify	15 + item's caster level
Decipher a scroll	20 + spell level
Craft a magic item	Varies by item
1 If you aren’t a spellcaster of the same type (i.e. arcane or divine) as the spell you are trying to identify, the DC to identify the spell being cast increases by +5.

Action

Identifying a spell as it is being cast is a free action that you can take even when it is not your turn, 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. Learning a spell from a spellbook takes 1 hour per level of the spell (0-level spells take 30 minutes). Preparing a spell from a borrowed spellbook does not add any time to your spell preparation. Making a Spellcraft check to craft a magic item is made as part of the creation process. Attempting to ascertain the properties of a magic item using detect magic takes 10 minutes per item to be identified, or 1 minute if using identify, and you must be able to thoroughly examine the object. Identifying a potion in this way only takes 1 round.

Try Again

You cannot retry checks made to identify a spell. If you fail to learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll, you must wait at least 1 week before you can try again. If you fail to prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook, you cannot try again until the next day. 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.

Special

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.

An elf gets a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify the properties of magic items using detect magic or identify.

If you have the Magical Aptitude feat, you gain a bonus on Spellcraft checks.