Last night after our game of Microlite20 KOOKS, one of the players and I chatted about things. He asked a very good question (during a prior dungeon delve I had given out a number of magic scrolls -- but there was not a magic user in the team):
Who can use those scrolls?
I hadn't thought about it. In D&D the scrolls are only useful to magic users in relation to the Vancian Magic. However, Microlite20 does not use Vancian Magic. The magic user can cast any spell up to his or her level if he or she willing to spend or can afford the HP. For instance a 5th Level spell will cost 11 HP. Since only a 10th Level magic user or higher would be able to use that spell in Vancian Magic 11 HP cost may not be so terrible. But for a low level magic user with a scroll, even if allowed to use it on a one time basis, it might be more HP than he or she has.
Why limit it to magic users?
Indeed, why??? If the scroll is a magic item itself imbued with the power of the magic of spell and the magic user who created it why not let anyone use the spell? But at what cost? Wouldn't the maker have 'paid' the price in HP when it was made much like a magic sword, or other magic items? That seemed to fit better with the spirit of Microlite20. So no HP cost should be required.
How difficult should it be to cast the spell?
Hmmmm. Not a clue. There would need to be some Difficulty Target (DT -- I am going to start using T.W.O. RPG terms...). The player suggested a DT = 5 + the HP Cost of the Spell. So that high level 5th Level Spell would require a Skill Roll of BRAIN + Knowledge > 16; no cost in HP. Not easy but not impossible.
What if the effort fails?
The simple answer would be that the scroll is destroyed whether or not the Skill Roll succeeds. That seems harsh. How valuable would such a scroll be if there is a very high chance it would just go poof on a failed Skill Roll? Not much. So why would a powerful magic user make such a scroll, put so much HP into it, only to see it have no value? So if the Skill Roll for the spell works the scroll is destroyed -- the spell is used, and if the Skill Roll fails the scroll remains intact -- a puzzle unsolved.
What if it is a magic user who wants to use the scroll?
It seems that the magic user should have some advantage in this endeavor. The DT = the HP Cost of the Spell, and again no HP cost since it has already been 'paid' by the maker.
FINAL QUESTION: After this rule is boiled down to a few sentences where to put it?
Should it go into the Rules (Volume 1), or the Spells section (Volume 4)?