Draft:Shiren 5 2020:Scroll

Scrolls (Japanese: 巻物) are projectile items that appears in Shiren the Wanderer 5 and 5 Plus. There are fifty-three variants of them in total.

Scrolls in Shiren 5 behave in a similar way as scrolls in classic roguelikes, including Rogue itself .

Scrolls are normally single-use magic items that disappears after use. Reading them identifies its type, registers that type in your Item Book, and adds a little check mark in your Item Book. If you identify one without reading it, it will be registered in your Item Book but without a check mark. It is important to read every type of scroll at least once, because you can write any scroll you've ever read before on a Blank Scroll. Doing so does not take a turn. This makes Blank Scrolls some of the most powerful items in the game, as carrying a few with you lets you react to any situation by writing any scroll you need. Blank Scrolls are the main reason to collect points. You can buy as many Blank Scrolls as you want from the Point Shop in Nekomaneki Village for 200 points each.

Scrolls can be blessed or sealed but not cursed. A sealed scroll cannot be read. Reading a blessed scroll (that is not an Extraction Scroll) consumes the blessing but leaves the scroll intact. One useful trick here is to use a Blessing Pot to re-bless any scrolls you want to read repeatedly, then use more Blank Scrolls as Extraction Scrolls to extract the blessed scrolls while leaving the Blessing Pot intact. This trick can be used to great effect in many ways, such as repeatedly looting a Pick-A-Choice shop in perfect safety (Collection Scrolls), leveling up equipment to maximum level (Gambler's Scrolls), maxing out the upgrade value of equipment (Fate Scrolls and Earth Scrolls), blessing everything you own for greater protection (Blessing Scrolls), or maxing out your wallet while at a shop (Coupon Scrolls). Note that reading a blessed Extraction Scroll consumes the scroll, but blesses any items extracted. (This is undoubtedly a deliberate nerf by the game designers, as otherwise it would be trivial to create infinite value with a handful of Blank Scrolls and a Blessing Pot.)

There are a few different ways to use a scroll.

• Read them: Most scrolls are best used simply by reading them, and, they don't let you select a target. As soon as you try to read them, you will likely succeed and they will disappear, with no way to cancel the action.
• Read them, with a target item: Some scrolls need to be read to be used but require an item target. When you read them, you are then given a chance to select which item to target (in main inventory or at your feet), or you can cancel out if so desired.
• Drop them: Light, Oil and Sanctuary Scrolls are used by dropping them on the ground, either with the Drop command or by throwing. They don't work when dropped in shops or during boss fights. Note that you'll still need to read (and thus waste) a copy in order to be able to write your own copies later. When you drop these, they get stuck to the ground and have an "open scroll" icon instead of the normal "closed scroll" icon, and you can no longer pick them up or read them. A blessed scroll can be picked again or read while on the ground; doing either consumes the blessing.
• Throw them: Squid Sushi and Extinction Scrolls are best used as projectiles against monsters. You will need to read a copy to be able to write your own copies later. Throwing any other scroll at a monster does 2 damage and destroys the scroll.
• Use them in special ways with shopkeepers: Identify Scroll, Recommend. Letter, and Commend. Letter. Can be given to a shopkeeper for an effect (see below).

When making new item scrolls in secret pots, the random effects assigned seem to always be within a single method of use, though this needs more testing.

Most scrolls can only be read during the daytime or when you have a torch equipped, but a small number of scrolls (Which?) can be read in the dark.

The calligrapher is an old woman character who can be found in dungeons that allow wandering characters such as the Tower of Fortune or Inori Cave 70F and deeper. She asks you for a Blank Scroll, and if you give it to her, she will either destroy it by writing something useless on it, turning it into a Piece of Paper, or she will write a scroll of a type that you have never read before. There seems to be a 50% chance of each outcome, though if you've already read every type of scroll, she will presumably always destroy your Blank Scrolls after that.

List of Scrolls

Scrolls		Shops		In-Game Description	Usage Tips
English	Japanese	Cost	Value
Confusion Scroll	混乱の巻物	1,000	350	Read this to give all monsters in the room Confused status. In passageways, monsters around you will be given Confused status. (Monsters afflicted with Confused status will have erratic movements and attacks.)	Monsters can still hit you, or hit other monsters and level up, while they are confused. (If a monster levels up or down, it is fully healed and loses all status ailments.)
Slumber Scroll	バクスイの巻物	1,000	350	Read this to give all monsters in the room Sound Asleep status. In passageways, monsters around you will be given Sound Asleep status. (Monsters afflicted with Sound Asleep status will fall Asleep and are immobile. They will wake later with buffed stats, so stay alert.)	Because monsters wake up hasted, only use this when you are certain you can kill all monsters before they wake up.
Vacuum Slash Scrl	真空斬りの巻物	1,000	350	Read this to deal damage to all monsters in the same room. When read in a passageway, you will deal damage to monsters around you.	If you inflict damage on a shopkeeper or other friendly character (excluding allies), they become angry and try to attack you. With shopkeepers in particular, this can be fatal.
Fear Scroll	ゾワゾワの巻物	800	280	Read this to give monsters around you Afraid status. (With Afraid status, they deal attacks in the opposite direction.)	Monsters attack directly away from you when next to you, and cannot use special attacks. They can hit other monsters behind them and level up.
Escape Scroll	脱出の巻物	100	35	Read this to return to the village with your items and Gitan.	Your run ends (no confirmation is given) and you keep all items, but it does not count as a victory. This scroll is always identified.
Navigation Scroll	あかりの巻物	100	35	Reading this will tell you the layout of the floor and reveal the locations of items and monsters.	Effect lasts until you change floor, so you can see where the monsters move / new monsters spawn. Does not show sparkling floor or the secret top room of a Pick-A-Choice shop.
Dispel Aura Scroll	オーラ消しの巻物	1,000	350	Read this to remove all creatures who have an aura (Red Aura status, Blue Aura status, Yellow Aura status) from the floor. Additionally, this floor will not spawn any more monsters with auras.	Red = increased attack. Blue = increased defense. Yellow = hasted (can attack twice).
Trap Deletion Scrl	ワナ消しの巻物	800	280	Read this to delete all traps on this floor.	Some traps cannot be deleted.
Desert Scroll	水がれの巻物	800	280	Read this to change the water tiles on the current floor to ground tiles.	Can be used to generate new passageways, which can sometimes help, e.g. by letting you reach gitan vaults or giving you better escape routes from a store you want to rob. Also a good way to get items placed on small 2x2 islands. ) Useful as a rune ingredient.
Night-Day Scroll	昼夜の巻物	1,000	350	Read this during the daytime to make it become night. Read this at night to make it become daytime.	Can be used as an emergency item, since it erases all monsters (and spawns new ones). Any newly generated monsters next to you will be able to land a hit on you. As with most scrolls, you will need a light source in order to read it at night, so this alone won't get you back to daytime.
Swift Foe Scroll	敵加速の巻物	1,000	350	Read this to boost the action level of monsters in the room by 1 level. When read in a passageway, it'll raise the action speed of monsters around you by 1 level.	There is no way to use this.
Mnstr House Scrl	魔物部屋の巻物	1,000	350	Read this to make a monster house appear. When read in a passageway, you'll warp to a room and then the monster house will appear.	Great way to get more experience and generate more items if you can handle it. Best read in a large room, as you will get more stuff. A shop on the floor is a plus since you can sell anything you can't carry with you. Combine with Upgrade Seed to level up equipment quickly. If the floor already has a monster house, including a secret pop-up that hasn't triggered yet, this scroll will fail.
Trap Scroll	ワナの巻物	800	280	Read this to be able to place lots of traps.	Creates lots of new, invisible traps, similar to Multiplication Trap.
Lost Scroll	迷子の巻物	3,000	1050	Read this to forget the terrain of the floor.	Useful as a rune ingredient; see Runes for details.
Identify Scroll	識別の巻物	200	70	Read this and select an item to identify it.	Sometimes has a "lucky day" outcome (~10% of the time?) and identifies all items in main inventory. So organize your inventory to put any items you want to identify in main inventory before reading. You can also give this to a shopkeeper to identify all the items for sale. (You must own the Identify Scroll and it must be identified for this to be possible.) If you have loads of unidentified things, you can sell them to a shopkeeper first, give the shopkeeper an Identify Scroll, then buy or steal back the items you want.
Exorcism Scroll	おはらいの巻物	500	175	Read this and then select an item to remove the Curse or Seal from it. (Sealed items will lose their effects. Cursed equipment can't be unequipped.)	Sometimes has a "lucky day" outcome (~10% of the time?) and exorcises all items in main inventory. So organize your inventory to put all items with curses/seals or that might have curses/seals in your main inventory before reading.
Fate Scroll	天の恵みの巻物	500	175	Read this and select a weapon to upgrade it.	Increases the upgrade value (the + value) of a sword. Also removes any curse/seal on the item.
Earth Scroll	地の恵みの巻物	500	175	Read this and select a shield to upgrade it.	Increases the upgrade value (the + value) of a shield. Also removes any curse/seal on the item.
Plating Scroll	メッキの巻物	500	175	Read this and select a weapon or shield to plate it. (Plated equipment will never rust and its upgraded value will never decrease.)	Adds the Rustproof rune to the selected sword/shield if it doesn't already have that rune and removes any curse/seal. Even if your equipment is already plated, consider saving this for later in case the Rustproof rune gets removed e.g. by a Mudster monster. The wandering plating character can also plate you, giving you immunity to attacks for a long time, but the Plating Scroll cannot do that. You can't add Rustproof onto gold equipment is it is inherently rustproof.
Tag Scroll	タグの巻物	500	175	Reading this will let you place a tag on a selected weapon or shield.	You can only have 8 tagged pieces of equipment. Tags are a very important safety measure for your most valuable swords and shields.
Sale Scroll	換金の巻物	500	175	Read this and select an item to exchange it for what it's worth in Gitan.	Don't use an unidentified scroll on anything important when you haven't identified this scroll yet. A good way to get rid of a cursed piece of equipment. Puts the Gitan in your inventory, so you can use it as a projectile if you want. (1 damage per 10 Gitan)
Onigiri Scroll	おにぎりの巻物	500	175	Read this and select an item to turn it into Large Onigiri.	Don't use an unidentified scroll on anything important when you haven't identified this scroll yet. A good way to get rid of a cursed piece of equipment. Provides food.
Pot God Scroll	壺増大の巻物	500	175	Read this and select a pot to increase its capacity by 1. (A pot's max capacity is 5.)	Upgrade Pots and Blessing Pots are useful and not common, so they are good targets for a Pot God Scroll if the pots aren't at maximum size. Can also be used in dangerous dungeons to add to or restore the capacity of safety pots such as Dodger Pot, Zen Pot, Reflection Pot, or Heal Pot. Another good use is on a Synthesis Pot to cram in one more item before you break the pot. (You can't increase a pot's capacity above 5, but the Synthesis Pot shrinks below 5 capacity as items inside merge, then you can increase the capacity again with this scroll.) Targeting a sealed pot with a Pot God Scroll does not remove the seal.
Extraction Scroll	吸い出しの巻物	500	175	Read this and select a pot to extract the contents to your surroundings.	Very useful on a Blessing Pot. Can also be used to get items out of Modder's Pot and Unbreakable Pot. Unlike most Scrolls, reading this while blessed will still consume it rather than just consuming the blessing, but at least any items extracted this way will be blessed. Make sure there is sufficient open space around you when you read this.
Blessing Scroll	祝福の巻物	500	175	Read this and select an item to bless it. (Blessed items will have boosted effects.)	Generally speaking, a blessed item either have double the effect, or protected against being cursed or sealed by traps or monsters. Blessing a cursed/sealed item will not only remove the curse/seal but also apply blessing.
Curse Scroll	たたりの巻物	500	175	Read this and select an item to make it Cursed or Sealed. (Sealed items will lose their effects. Cursed equipment can't be removed.)	If this targets an item that is already cursed or sealed, there is a 50% chance of swapping between curse and seal.
Immunity Scroll	予防の巻物	1,000	350	Reading this will remove status effects ailing you and your allies. You and your allies will also get Immune status. (Immune status will prevent you from getting status ailments.)	Can help a lot against certain types of monsters that attack via grasses or magic bullets, but be aware that Absorbiphant family monsters can absorb most if not all status effects including Immune. If you happen to have this scroll + a Reflective Pot + a Transient Staff, theft becomes trivial; read the Immunity Scroll, insert a fodder item into the Reflective Pot, then any time you zap a monster or character with the Transient Staff, it will reflect back at you and teleport you to the stairs, without paralyzing you because you're immune. Useful as a rune ingredient.
Replenish Scroll	技回復の巻物	1,000	350	Reading this will allow you to reuse techniques you have used on this floor.	Useful as a rune ingredient.
Muzzled Scroll	くちなしの巻物	800	280	Read this to inflict Muzzled status upon yourself. (Muzzled status restricts actions that require your mouth, like reading aloud or eating.)	If you want to identify scrolls by using them, it is a good idea to read them right before leaving a floor. If you get Muzzled or Grounded, you can clear it by simply changing floors.
Grounded Scroll	拾えずの巻物	800	280	Read this to inflict Grounded status upon yourself. (Grounded status will prevent you from picking up items on the ground.)
Attraction Scroll	ひきよせの巻物	800	280	If you read this on the floor where you have an ally, you'll attract the ally to your location. If you have no allies, you'll attract a dropped item or a monster.	Mnstr House, Attraction, and Gathering are some of the most dangerous scrolls to be surprised by when you're reading unknown scrolls. To prepare for a Mnster House Scrl, it's best to stand just inside a room near an exit that leads to another room that has the stairs or is a shop. On the other hand, Attraction/Gathering can surround you with monsters, so if you can stand somewhere where few monsters can stand next to you, or stand on the stairs, that might be safer. (In a dead end hallway so you only have to fight one monster at a time? Might not work against Pumphantasms and even without Pumphantasms you'd probably have to fight your way out through many monsters.) It helps to have an emergency item handy such as Invincible Grass, Swift Grass, Warp Grass, or Hide Pot before reading an unknown scroll that could be Attraction/Gathering.
Gathering Scroll	集合の巻物	300	105	If you read it when there are allies on the same floor, you can draw them to your position. If you don't have any allies, then monsters will come instead.	Same as above.
Collection Scroll	道具寄せの巻物	300	105	Reading this will draw in all items on the ground on the same floor.	Great way to get prizes out of Pick-A-Choice shops without risk, after paying the shopkeeper 1,000 Gitan to generate the prize. Can be used repeatedly on the same shop, e.g. if you have a Blessing Pot full of Collection Scrolls and more Blank/Extraction Scrolls. A Collection Scroll can also be used to get all items on an island or draw all gitan bags out of a vault. Does not gather items owned by shopkeepers.
Oil Scroll	オイルの巻物	100	35	Dropping this will stick it to the ground. Monsters you step on top of it will get Tottering status. If flying creatures hover over it, they will take burning damage. (Monsters afflicted with Tottering status are immobile and have decreased defense.)	Scrolls that trigger by dropping them do not trigger in shops or boss fights. If you drop this in a boss fight, you get a message saying it doesn't work in "mystical places". Oil is useful as a rune ingredient.
Sanctuary Scroll	聖域の巻物	3,000	1050	If you drop this, it will stick to the ground. While you are on top of it you won't be directly attacked by monsters. If you place 2 of these on the same floor, the first one you placed will disappear.
Light Scroll	光の巻物	100	35	Drop it to make it stick on the ground. Rooms with this scroll will be brightly lit even during night. If you stick it in a passageway, only the tile you stuck it to will be brightened. After placing 5 of these on a floor, the ones you placed earlier will begin to disappear.
Recommend Letter	紹介状	100	35	A letter you present to Proprietor so they grant you access to the special store. (No need to read it yourself.)	The elite (yellow) shopkeeper will opens his store if you talk to him with this scroll in your main inventory. This uses up the scroll, but you can leave and reenter the store as often as you want. The elite store sells rare items. If you enter an elite store without having shown him this scroll, the alarm will sound.
Squid Sushi Scroll	いかすしの巻物	300	105	Squid sushi roll scroll. Eat the sushi to replenish fullness. This scroll will self-destruct after being read. What a waste!	Reading this has no effect. Select Eat instead of Read and it will restore 40 fullness.
Fixer Scroll	困った時の巻物	1,000	350	Read this to restore your HP to max value. Also, if you're surrounded by monsters, hungry, your equipment is Cursed, and it's night and there's no light anywhere, it will help you with one of those things. (May be read at night without light.)	Can apply several effects at once: (1) heal you to full HP if you're below max HP, (2) paralyze enemies around you if there is more than one, (3) fill your stomach if your fullness is 0, (4) exorcise cursed equipment if equipped, and (5) give you the equivalent of 10 bags of gitans if you have 0 Gitan.
Gambler's Scroll	バクチの巻物	1,000	350	What happens when you read this? You won't know until you read it.	You get one of the following effects at random: Level you up by 10 levels. Level all swords and shields in your main inventory up by 1 level. Like Extinction Scroll, but applied to a random monster (and its family) on the floor. Explosion, leaving you with 1 HP or killing you if you were at 1 HP. Haste all monsters on the floor. Take all your Gitans on hand, leaving you penniless. Teleport you ahead 5 floors.
Extinction Scroll	ねだやしの巻物	10,000	3,500	When thrown at a monster, all types of that particular monster are exterminated and will not appear for the rest of the adventure. If you try to exterminate another type of monster, the one that you previously exterminated will being appearing again.	Can be thrown at a shopkeeper to eliminate all shopkeepers currently on the floor, during a theft attempt, but they will continue to spawn. You will still be able to encounter shops and shopkeepers on later floors. Same goes with Maneaters. Reading this has no effect, but you must read one before you can write it on a Blank Scroll.
Expulsion Scroll	全滅の巻物	3,000	1,050	Read this to make monster in the same room vanish. When read in a passageway, you will make the monsters around you vanish.	All monsters are completely removed, not teleported away. The only way to get this scroll is to give the wandering calligrapher character a Blank Scroll when you already read every other scroll at least once (checkmarks in Scrolls section of the Item Book).
Blank Scroll	白紙の巻物	5,000	1,750	Write the name of a scroll you've read before, and you can use this scroll just like you used the original. Once you write to this scroll, it cannot be written on again.	Writing on the scroll does not take a turn, so you can create any scroll you need and use it immediately, so long as you've read that scroll at least once (in this run or any prior run). You cannot write Blank Scroll, Wet Scroll, or Piece of Paper. This scroll is always identified.
Coupon Scroll	タダの巻物	500	175	Reading this will make the storekeeper give you items for free.	All items on the floor become free. Sell everything you own before reading it to maximize the value of the scroll. This scroll is always identified.
Arbor Scroll	枝回復の巻物	1,000	350	Read this to heal a damaged branch somewhere in the world.	No effect.
Mate Scroll	夫の恵みの巻物	500	175	Read this to acquire a good mate. The effects you gain will be entirely dependent on the mate you receive.	This scroll has a random effect. One common outcome is to gain 1,000 gitan, which can happen from multiple mates. Less common outcomes include removing all monsters on the current floor or creating a Synthesis Pot at your feet.
Darth Scroll	他の恵みの巻物	500	175	Read this to make all items you didn't select stronger.	Increases the upgrade value of one random sword or shield in your main inventory other than the item you selected.
Pot Dog Scroll	壺増犬の巻物	500	175	Read this to make a dog bark and attract an elephant.	Summons several Absorbiphant family monsters around you, which then attack you. Dangerous on early floors. Could theoretically be used to remove a status ailment you can't wait to get rid of.
Nixer Scroll	国った時の巻物	1,000	350	Read this to confess your love to monsters. If your confession works, you'll get a token of their affection, but if it is rebuffed, you'll take damage. Rumor says that yelling your declaration into a mic helps your odds. This rumor was debunked.	Either gives you a monster license for the monster you are facing (if it is not confused, asleep, etc), or cuts your HP in half. Seems to have a 50% chance of either outcome. Either way, the monster will disappear.
Commend Letter	召介状	100	35	Show this to Proprietor at a special store to be able to buy food. You can read it yourself to buy food, too.	Reading this gives you a Large Onigiri but it also takes all your gitan on hand. It does not affect Gitan in the bank. Does not work if you have 0 Gitan.
Bankruptcy Scroll	金滅の巻物	3,000	1,050	Read this to make all the Gitan you have vanish into thin air.	Takes all the gitan you have on hand. It does not affect Gitan in the bank. There is no way to use this, besides selling it.
Wet Scroll	ぬれた巻物	10	3	If you try to read it, it will tear. After you've walked for a while, it'll dry out, and you'll be able to read it. If you put it in a pot, it won't dry.	Scrolls in your main inventory can turn into this if you walk on water tiles, and also after being swallowed by a Mixer. It takes a long time to dry out, and can only do so when kept in main inventory and only when you change floors. Keep scrolls you want to save in pots if you plan to walk on water.
Piece of Paper	ただの紙切れ	10	3	Reading this piece of paper has no particular effect.	The wandering calligrapher character can turn a Blank Scroll into this. Gyadon monsters can also turn scrolls into this.