Spellcraft

Spellcraft (INT; Trained Only)

Use this skill to identify spells as they are cast or spells already in place.

Check: You can identify spells and magic effects.

DC	Task
13	When using Read Magic, identify a Glyph of Warding.
15 + spell level	Identify a spell being cast. (You must see or hear the spell's verbal or somatic components.) No retry.
15 + spell level	Learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll. (Mage only.) No retry for that spell until you gain at least 1 rank in Spellcraft (even if you find another source to try to learn the spell from).
15 + spell level	Prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook. (Mage only). One try per day.
15 + spell level	When casting Detect Magic, determine the school of magic involved in the aura of a single item or creatrure you can see. (If the aura is not a spell effect, the DC is 15 + half caster level.)
19	When using Read Magic, identify a Symbol.
20 + spell level	Identify a spell that's already in place and in effect. (You must be able to see or detect the effects of the spell.) No retry.
20 + spell level	Identify materials created or shaped by magic, such as noting that an iron wall is the result of Wall of Iron spell. No retry.
20 + spell level	Decipher a written spell (such as a scroll) without using Read Magic. One try per day.
20	Draw a diagram to augment casting Dimensional Anchor on a summoned creature. Takes 10 minutes. No retry. The DM makes this check.
30 or higher	Understand a strange or unique magical effect, such as the effects of a magic stream. No retry.

Additionally, certain spells allow you to gain information about magic provided that you make a Spellcraft check as detailed in the spell description (for example, see the Detect Magic spell, page 193).

Retry: See above.

Special: A specialist Mage gets a +2 bonus when dealing with a spell or effect from his specialised school. He suffers a -5 penalty when dealing with a spell or effect from a prohibited school (and some tasks, such as learning a prohibited spell, are just impossible).

If you have 5 or more ranks of Use Magic Device, you get a +2 synergy bonus to Spellcraft checks to decipher spells on scrolls.