Spells

Each mage class has a class skill associated with it that affects how well a member of that class can use his or her spells. These skills include Wizardry (Wizards), Sorcery (Sorcerers), Mysticism (Mystics), Sagery (Sages), and Necromancy (Necromancers).

Any character, regardless of class, can train in these class skills. However, there are adjustments to the cost in training points necessary to earn a new level in a given skill based on the character's class and Cognition as follows:


Criterion Adjustment
Character is the same class as the class skill None
Character is a different mage class, and the level in his own class skill is equal to or greater than the level of the class skill to be trained None
Character is not a mage and/or the level in his own class skill is less than the level of the skill to be trained Double
Character's Cognition is less than 18 Doubled for each point less than 181
Character's Cognition is greater than 18 Halved for each point over 182

To summarize: any character, including those that are not mages, can learn any class skill. However, your class and Cognition score make a big difference as to how much it will cost you to learn that class skill and thus how effective that class skill will be to you.

When first starting it is only necessary to learn the difference between class skills and casting skills, how to cast your spells, how to use magic items, and get a basic understanding of the capabilities of the spells at your disposal. You can then come back later to learn how to use scrolls, etc.


Casting Skills

While class skills give one an overall understanding of the spells available to a given mage class, one must train in the casting skills for that class if they wish to cast the spells of that class unaided by items.

A most significant aspect of class skills is that you must be at a given level in your class skill before you can learn any casting skills in that class at that level. In other words, if your Fireball skill is at level 6 and you wish to learn it at level 7, you cannot do so unless your Sorcery skill is already at level 7 or higher. Most casting skills have a requirement in another stat (Strength, Constitution, etc.) as well.

When you learn a given casting skill, you get the ability to cast the spells requiring that skill. In some cases this may be just one spells, but in most cases multiple spells are gained (for example, learning the Fire casting skill grants Fireball as well as ProtFire and Firewalk). The complete list of casting skills is included below.

Casting Spells and Using Items

  1. Spells that are available to you (i.e., the ones you are at least level 1 in), as well as any other special abilities you might have, are listed in the 'C' (Character commands) pulldown menu. To cast a spell, enter the name of the spell followed by a) the name of the target, or b) no parameters. The difference between these choices depends on the particular spell. You can type the spell and any parameters in, get it from the pulldown menu by clicking on that menu and then moving the mouse down to that spell and releasing, or by using a macro. For targets, just click on the rectangle for that target and the name will be placed on the command line. For spells that you use a lot in combat, it is usually a good idea to set up macros so you will be able to get these off as fast as possible when the time comes.
  2. To cast a spell, you must be wearing no armor, must have one hand empty, and the other hand can at most be carrying a scroll, wand, staff or similar magic item. If these conditions are not, the spell will fail. These restrictions do not apply to spells that are cast on oneself or in the square that you are standing in, cast by touching the target character, all informational spells, or those cast via use of a scroll or other magical item.
  3. If you cast a spell with no parameters, its effects depend on the particular spell. For some spells, this means attacking all critters attacking you, or all hostile critters in sight. Otherwise, if the spell is offensive, then it affects the last critter that you attacked or the last critter that attacked you. If the spell is defensive, then it affects you only.
  4. If you have a scroll or item in your primary hand and cast a spell that is contained on that scroll or in the item, then you are considered to be reciting the spell from that scroll or item. Otherwise, you are considered to be reciting the spell from those you know. Rings or other items worn but not contained in the primary hand (Sense rings, etc.) are only checked if you attempt to cast a spell that you otherwise do not know.
  5. If you cast a spell that has a duration and the target is already under the effect of that spell, then the effect is cumulative - the spell takes over as soon as the other effect wears off. However, this assumes that the level of the spell cast is at the same level as the spell already affecting the target. If the level of the new spell LESS, then nothing happens. If the level of the new spell is GREATER, then it replaces the other effect immediately.
  6. When a spell is cast, there is a loss in Karma fatigue. The amount depends on the spell and the level at which it is cast, and this is shown on the Karma bar as dark brown. spells are always cast at maximum level by default; if you do not have enough Karma, you will cast it at a lesser level depending on how much unfatigued Karma you currently have. Karma fatigue is recovered at the rate of one-eighth of your total Karma per turn. As this occurs just after the start of a turn, you will typically have a bit more Karma to work with to cast a spell than is shown on your Karma bar graph.
  7. In most cases, when a hostile spell (i.e., a spell from an enemy) is cast, the target gets a saving throw. This is resolved by the comparing the level of the attacking spell plus a random number from 0 to 9 to the target's character level plus its Empathy minus 10 (So, spell level + (0-9) vs. character level + Empathy - 10). If the target's number is greater than or equal to the attacker's, then the target is said to have made its saving throw and suffers a dimished effect as indicated in the discussion for the particular spell. In some cases, a stat other than Empathy is used - see spells, below, for more details.
  8. Sometimes a situation will arise where two spells conflict with each other (Remove vs. another spell, e.g.). In this case, the level of 'attacking' effect is compared to the level of the 'defending' effect; whichever is higher "wins" (defending effects always win ties).


Spell List



Acid

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Earth

Requirements: Cognition 18, Willpower 17

Spells: Acid, Acidstorm

These two spells represent the primary attack spells for the Earth Sorcerer. Acid draws acidic chemicals from the surrounding area and concentrates them on one square, causing significant damage to whoever is in that square.

Acidstorm is like Acid, except the area of affect is over a larger (3x3) area. The concentration of acid is not as great in any individual square, however, so it does less damage.



Air

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Air

Requirements: Cognition 18, Willpower 17

Spells: PCloud, ProtAir, FFall

These spells represent the most basic spells for the Air Sorcerer.

PCloud (Poison Cloud) creates a poisonous cloud in the target square, which remains there for a period of time, causing damage to any character that is in or moves into that square, and also inhibiting any melee attackers attacking into that square.

PROTAIR offers protection against all types of Air attacks, and if at the same level as PCLOUD completely
protects against the affects of that spell. Thus, these two spells used in conjunction represent a significant defene for the Air Sorcerer.

FFall (Feather Fall) offers protection against falling damage. If protected by this spell at a level
equal to or greater than one's character level, the character will fall one level per turn rather that all at once and will suffer no damage once reaching solid ground.



Blast

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Air

Requirements: Cognition: 18, Willpower: 17

Spells: Airstorm, Blast

These two spells represent the primary attack capabilities of the Air Sorcerer. Blast causes a concentration and then deconcentration of air to occur in the affected square, with the resultant concussion causing significant damage to whoever is in that square. The mechanism of the spell is such that squares outside the target square are not affected by the concussion.

Airstorm is like Blast, except it is over a larger (3x3) area with smaller blasts that deal less overall damage.



Blind

Class Skill: Wizardry

Dedication: Light

Requirements: Cognition 18, Agility 17

Spells: Blind, LBeam, ProtLight

These spells represent the primary attacks for the Light Wizard, as well as defensive capability.

Blind can be used with no parameters or targeted against an individual character. If the former, all characters attacking or targeting the caster are affected, and each attacker failing its saving throw is blinded for a duration dependent on the magnitude of the failed roll.

LBeam (Light Beam) is used like Blind, except that targets suffer stress damage to their Mana. In both cases, if an individual character is targeted, then the chances of the spell succeeding are increased. The main drawback with both of these spells is that a target that is already blinded or otherwise does not see in the first place is not affected.

ProtLight provides protection against the above two spells.



Darkness

Class Skill: Wizardry

Dedication: Light

Requirements: Cognition: 18, Agility: 17

Spells: Blackness, Darkness, Vision

These spells represent the basic defensive capabilities of the Light Wizard.

Blackness is similar to Darkness (see below), except in this case all light entering the square is absorbed also; characters in that square cannot see out, the square cannot be seen into or through, and no outlines can be seen. Characters in this square thus cannot see or be seen and cannot attack or be attacked.

Darkness causes all light sources in the target square to stop giving off light and causes no light to be reflected from anything in that square. Thus, characters in this square can see out but cannot be seen. However, the square can still be seen through and thus the outline of the character, and other objects in that square, can still be seen. In any case, this spell offers a significant defense for the Light Wizard.

Vision counters the affects of Darkness and Blackness, allowing the character to see into these squares with no negative affects. It does not, however, allow characters in a square affected by Blackness to see out.



Dispell

Class Skill: Wizardry or Sorcery

Dedication: None

Requirements: Cognition: 18

Spells: Dispell, Protmagic, Silence

These three spells, in total, encompass the main area of mage vs. mage (and mage vs. cleric) combat. If Silenced, the mage cannot cast any spells except Dispell (on himself). If successful, the Dispell will remove the silence.

Dispell, if successful, will remove any protection spells if cast on an enemy, any harmful spells if cast on oneself or a friendly character, and any effect in a square if cast into that square. Dispell is identical to the clerical prayer Remove.

ProtMagic protects against Silence and Dispell.



Earth

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Earth

Requirements: Cognition: 18, Willpower: 17

Spells: Earthpass, Fumes, ProtEarth

These spells represent the basic abilities of the Earth Sorcerer.

Earthpass allows the caster to pass right through walls and other earth objects, but only where such walls or objects have been specially constructed to allow this.

Fumes causes the earth to open up in small cracks, allowing poisonous fumes to flow upward to completely fill one square, dealing damage to whoever is in it. Any character attacking into that square also suffers a penalty due to avoiding the poisonous fumes.

ProtEarth offers some protection against all Earth-based attacks; if cast at the same or higher level than Fumes, it will protect against the latter spell. The two in combination thus provide a significant defense
for the Earth Sorcerer.



EBolt

Class Skill: Wizardry

Dedication: Energy

Requirements: Cognition: 18, Agility: 17

Spells: EBolt, EHamm, ProtEn

These spells represent the primary attack spells of the Energy Wizard.

EBolt (Energy Bolt) draws electrical energy to be drawn from the surrounding area to strike the target, inflicting Mana damage. Since most targets do not have much mana, this is usually a very effective spell. If cast with no target indicated, then all hostile critters in the area are affected, but the damage inflicted is less.

Like EBolt, EHamm (Energy Hammer) is an energy-based spell, but in this case the energy is formed outside
the target and then strikes the target, much like a hammer. The damage inflicted here is thus Stamina damage; this is a more effective spell against targets with a lot of Mana, or in multi-player situations where the damage inflicted by others is also Stamina damage.

ProtEn (Protection from Energy) provides protection against the above two spells.



EShield

Class Skill: Wizardry

Dedication: Energy

Requirements: Cognition 18, Agility 17

Spells: EShield, MShield

These spells represent the primary defenses of the Energy Wizard.

EShield (Energy Shield) creates a shield of energy around the character, protecting against all types of melee attacks that might otherwise hit.

MShield (Missile Shield) also creates a shield of energy around the character, but this one protects against missile attacks, which otherwise cannot be blocked by weapons like the Wizard's staff.

In both cases the effectiveness of the spell is determined by comparing the level of the spell to the level of the target character (a higher spell level provides a better effect and longer duration). Also, the nature of EShield is such that it will at most give a +1 of protection to characters wearing any armor.



Fire

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Fire

Requirements: Cognition 18, Willpower 17

Spells: Fire, Firewalk, ProtFire

These spells represent the basic capabilities of the Fire Sorcerer.

The Fire spell creates a magical fire in the target square, which remains there for a period of time, causing damage to whomever enters that square, as well as negatively affecting any character trying to attack into that square.

Firewalk offers protection against normal fire, including hot coals, lava, and other hot ground that otherwise would cause damage if walked upon.

ProtFire offers some protection against any and all types of Fire attacks and completely protects against the effects of the Fire spell if cast at the same level. These two together thus offer a significant defense for the Fire Sorcerer.



Fireball

Class Skill: Sorcerey

Dedication: Fire

Requirements: Cognition 18, Willpower 17

Spells: Fireball, Firestorm

These two spells represent the primary attack spells of the Fire Sorcerer.

Fireball creates a ball of extremely hot fire in the target square, causing significant damage to whoever is in that square.

Firestorm is like Fireball, except the area of effect is over a larger (3x3) area and it deals less damage overall.



Ice

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Cold

Requirements: Cognition 18, Willpower 17

Spells: Cold, ProtIce, WBreathe

These spells represent the basic capabilities of the Ice Sorcerer.

Cold causes extreme cold, snow, and freezing rain to appear in the target square and remain there for a period of time, causing damage to any character in that square as well as negatively affecting any character trying to attack into that square.

ProtIce offers some protection against all types of Ice attack, and is sufficient at the same level as Cold to completely protect against the affects of that spell. These two spells used together thus provide a significant defense for the Ice Sorcerer.

WBreathe (Water Breathe) offers protection against drowning and allows any character whose level is equal to or less than the spell's level breathe underwater.



Iceball

Class Skill: Sorcery

Dedication: Ice

Requirements: Cognition: 18, Willpower: 17

Spells: Iceball, Icestorm

These two spells represent the basic attack capabilities of the Ice Sorcerer.

Iceball creates a large ball of solid ice, which strikes the character in the target square, causing significant damage.

Icestorm is like Iceball, except that it covers a larger (3x3) area but deals less damage overall.

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