The Magic System

Just beneath the surface of the commonplace and mundane lurks the 
unpredictable and magical. Some may access these forces, gaining great 
powers in the process. Others eschew the unexplained and unexplainable. 
Whether your player may use magic is up to you, and depends upon which 
class you choose to play. Hack and slash with the warrior, and magic 
may forever remain a mystery to you. Choose the life of a Mage, and who 
knows: You might eventually control the universe itself.

Magic is available in many forms. Often, a given spell or effect is 
available for a single use inside a potion you may quaff, or a scroll 
you may read. These forms of magic are discussed elsewhere, and anybody 
may use them. (Scrolls require correct pronunciation and intonation to 
invoke the effect, so the unmagical may struggle here as well). In 
addition, a given spell may be placed inside a wand, staff or rod for 
repeated use. Again, these spells are available to all, but require 
skill and magical understanding to use correctly. Finally, there are 
those that access the forces of magic directly, casting spells to slay 
and spells to heal. Spells to learn and spells to travel. Spells to 
beguile and spells to banish. And it is here, into the realm of the 
spellcaster, that we now shall journey.

There are two main kinds of spellcasters: Those that use ancient books 
of erudition to access the magical, and those that gain powers 
directly, through mental focus and concentration. The former must find 
(or purchase) the requisite books to learn while the latter tend to 
gain powers automatically as they grow in experience and understanding. 
The former must read their spells from books, and to do this, they must 
be able to see. The latter can invoke their magic in the dark or while 
blind. But both require a clear mind and a full concentration to access 
the magical.

Spellcasters that use spellbooks are the more common and include the 
Mage, High-Mage, Priest and Sorcerer. In addition, most of the hybrid 
classes use books as well, including the Ranger and the Paladin among 
others. There are many, many classes in the game, and I won't list them 
all here. But if your class uses spellbooks, then they use one or more 
Magic Realms which must be chosen during birth and are discussed in 
detail below.

Spellcasters that gain powers directly include the Mindcrafter, the 
Mirrormaster and the Timelord, among others. Unlike the book-based 
casters, these classes do not choose a magic realm. They simply learn 
spells as they gain experience.

There is also at least one class that is a hybrid of the two systems: 
The Forcetrainer. This class may learn a single chosen spell realm, but 
also has access to class specific spells of the force.

Finally, there are non-magical classes that learn techniques and 
function like spellcasters that use magic directly. These include the 
Ninja, the Weaponmaster and the Mauler, among others. While their 
powers are not necessarily magical, many of the rules of spellcasters 
apply to them as well (e.g., casting costs, fail rates, etc.).

Spellbook Magic

There are many realms of magic and each is discussed below. In 
addition, each class uses a single primary statistic to determine their 
ability to cast spells effectively. This is the spell stat and should 
be made clear to you during the birth process. This is the stat you 
will want to maximize if you are to survive and thrive in the world of 
magic. It determines how many spells you may learn as well as how 
easily you may cast them without failing. It also determines how many 
spells you may invoke before you need to rest and recover your mental 
energies (i.e., spell points or mana).

Some casters can choose two spell realms (e.g. the Mage and the Priest) 
and some only one. If you can choose a second realm, note that you 
won't be as proficient with its spells as you are in your first, or 
primary realm. You will have increased fail rates for one thing. 
However, players with a secondary realm gain the strong advantage of 
being able to change that realm during the game. To do so, simply Gain 
a spell from a book of the realm you wish to switch to. You will forget 
any spells you learned in the old realm, and you can only learn a fixed 
(though large) number of spells during the game, so use this power 
sparingly and wisely.

Which realms you may learn is determined by class and presented to you 
during birth. For example, Priests must choose their first realm as 
either good (Life or Crusade) or evil (Death or Daemon), and this 
choice will limit the realms they may access for their secondary realm 
(e.g., You can't choose Life and then Death). All of this will be made 
clear during player birth.

Finally, there are some classes with special rules. For example, the 
Sorcerer may cast spells from all of the magic realms provided they 
have the requisite book. They don't choose realms at birth and don't 
even need to learn spells to cast them! Another exception is the Red 
Mage who can cast spells from all realms, but only from the lower books 
of each realm. The class specific details should be discussed in the 
help file for each class.

General Realms of Spellbook Magic

Life
  Life magic is very good for healing; it relies mostly on healing, 
  protection and detection spells. This realm has no direct damage 
  spells, at least against the living. It said that some high level 
  spell of life magic can disintegrate Undead monsters into ash. The 
  fail rate of Life spells goes up if the caster's alignment tends 
  towards evil.

Sorcery
  Sorcery is a utility realm, including enchantment and general spells. 
  It provides superb utility spells (such as Teleport spells for 
  fleeing and even Globe of Invulnerability), spells to enhance your 
  odds in combat (Slow Monster, Haste Self, Confuse Monster) and, most 
  importantly, a vast selection of spells for gathering information: in 
  addition to the usual detection and identify spells, one of the 
  standard spellbooks has a spell called Identify True, which gives you 
  full knowledge of a given object! In the rare books, there are spells 
  with which you can protect your inventory items or even turn unwanted 
  items to gold. However, Sorcery has one weakness: it has no spells to 
  deal direct damage to your enemies.

Nature
  Nature magic makes you a master of the elements; it provides 
  protection, detection, curing and attack spells, and most 
  importantly, spells that change surrounding geographical features. 
  Nature also offers Herbal Healing, which is the only powerful healing 
  spell outside the realm of Life magic. Since Nature seeks balance and 
  harmony, fail rates of Nature spells go up when the caster's 
  alignment becomes very good or evil.

Chaos
  Chaos is the very element of unmaking, and Chaos spells are the most 
  terrible weapons of destruction imaginable. From Magic Missile and 
  Fire Bolt to the medium level Fire Ball and Doom Bolt, and finally to 
  the awesome spells of Invoke Logrus, Mana Storm and Call the Void, 
  Chaos offers an unsurpassable arsenal of attack spells. Chaos is one 
  of the two realms which provides the Destruction spell. The caster 
  can also call on the primal forces of Chaos to induce mutations in 
  his/her opponents and even him/herself, but otherwise, Chaos has no 
  protective spells. Beware! Chaos spells are known to backfire easily 
  and produce undesired effects.

Death
  There is no fouler nor more evil category of spells than the 
  necromantic spells of Death Magic. These spells are relatively hard 
  to learn, but at higher levels the spells give the caster power over 
  living and the (un)dead. Poison, vampirism, death spells, and even 
  the forces of nether can be directed by the caster. Should a Death 
  wizard find the legendary tome Necronomicon, he can expect to gain 
  very great powers indeed, but at a cost: few that have studied that 
  accursed tome have retained their sanity. Since this is an evil 
  realm, the fail rates of Death spells go up for casters aligned to 
  good.

Trump
  Trump magic seems an independent source of power, although its 
  supposed association with Chaos magic has been mentioned in several 
  places. Although it lacks the unpredictable chaotic side-effects of 
  Chaos magic, it has a few spells whose exact effects seem more or 
  less random. One such spell is Shuffle: the Trump spellbooks actually 
  consist of decks of trumps, and the Shuffle spell allows the caster 
  to shuffle the deck and pick one card at random. The effect depends 
  on the card picked, and is not always pleasant. In the Amber 
  universe, the Trump gateways are also a major method of 
  transportation: Trump magic has an admirable selection of 
  teleportation spells. Since the Trump gateways can also be used to 
  summon other creatures, Trump magic has an equally impressive 
  selection of summoning spells. However, not all monsters appreciate 
  being drawn to another place by a Trump user. The only summoned 
  creatures whose loyalty is guaranteed are the Phantasmal Servants, 
  who lack a will of their own (but can develop one, if you treat them 
  badly).

Arcane
  Even more than Sorcery, Arcane magic is a general purpose realm of 
  magic. It attempts to encompass all 'useful' spells from all realms, 
  and almost succeeds, with the probable exception of *Identify*. This 
  is the downside of Arcane magic: while Arcane does have all the 
  necessary 'tool' spells for a dungeon delver, it has no 
  ultra-powerful high level spells. As a consequence, all Arcane 
  spellbooks can be bought in town. It should also be noted that the 
  'specialized' realms (i.e. other than Arcane) usually offer the same 
  spell at a lower level and cost. Arcane magic is therefore not 
  usually recommended as one's only realm of magic, but it should be a 
  very nice addition to fill up the gaps in the selection of utility 
  spells in another realm.

Craft
  As the realm of enchantment, Craft magic offers spells to enhance the 
  player and his equipment, and even to forge new powerful magical 
  objects. Player enhancements include extra resistance, speed, armor 
  and combat skills. Item enhancements include magical bonuses and 
  temporary elemental slays, which can be quite powerful when applied 
  to the right sort of weapon. Finally, forging or crafting turns an 
  existing object into a random ego item and is quite unique to this 
  magic realm. It is even said that Craft magic allows the caster to 
  enhance their offensive damage, using their own mana to power mighty 
  slays that none may resist. But this may just be a rumor...

Daemon
  Daemon magic offers powerful attack spells with the properties of 
  Fire or Nether. There are a few detection spells which provide a map 
  of the nearby area or temporary telepathy. Daemon magic also provides 
  temporary transformation spells which allow caster to become a Demon 
  or even a mighty Demon Lord. The fail rate of Daemon spells goes up 
  for casters aligned towards good.

Crusade
  Crusade is a realm of 'Justice'; It does have many attack spells 
  which are mostly used for harming and banishing foul minions of evil, 
  and these spells are not so effective for good monsters. The fail 
  rate of Crusade spells goes up if the caster's alignment tends 
  towards evil.

Armageddon
  Death. Destruction. Slaughter. This realm knows nothing else and 
  every spell is a direct offensive spell. From elemental attacks to 
  mighty breath attacks, this realm offers the ultimate in destructive 
  prowess. But it might be better to seek a more balanced approach, and 
  even Chaos magic offers some utility spells to complement the mighty 
  offense. Still, if you want the ultimate in destruction, then look no 
  further.

Class Specific Realms of Spellbook Magic

In addition to the realms listed above, there are a few class specific 
spell realms. These realms also use books to gain access to magic but 
might behave slightly differently than normal spellbook realms.

Music
  Unique to Bards, this realm grants power through song. As such, only 
  a single spell may be sung at a time, and the effects of the various 
  spells endure (and perhaps grow stronger) so long as the song is 
  continued. Reading a scroll, or quaffing a potion, interrupts the 
  current song, discontinuing its effects. It is said that certain 
  harps may enhance this form of magic.

Hex
  Unique to the High-Mage, Hex magic thrives on curses. Most of its 
  spells are cast continually, like the musical songs of the bard, but 
  they are chanted rather than sung. And multiple chants may be woven 
  at once, inter-weaving verse upon verse, and hex upon hex, allowing 
  the caster to get a few effects going at a time. But the number of 
  concurrent spells is strictly limited, increasing slowly with level. 
  And while their chants are interrupted by reading a scroll, I've 
  heard tell of Hex casters inhaling potions through their nose without 
  interrupting their foul chants in the least. But I find this rather 
  hard to believe and rather funny besides.

Burglary
  This is the preferred realm of the Rogue, and unique to that class. 
  Strong in detection and general sneakiness, this realm also offers 
  the ability to set traps, to pick pockets, to negotiate with thieves, 
  and to assassinate sleeping foes. Unlike normal detection, whose 
  range is fixed, burglary spells increase the area of effect with the 
  level of the caster, ultimately applying to the entire level of the 
  current dungeon. The true burglar has a good eye for danger and may 
  map out their escape route in advance. They can make haste to escape 
  a tricky situation. They may examine the proceeds of their thievery 
  (their loot) and consequently have a very good idea of the quality of 
  the treasures they ... ahem ... find. They are also well known to the 
  Black Markets of the world, and treated well as the principle source 
  of new inventory, but that is hardly a magical fact, so really 
  shouldn't even be mentioned here.

Necromancy
  Unique to the Necromancer, this is the foul realm of undeath allowing 
  the caster to communicate with, and ultimately control, the deceased. 
  And the dead have lots to offer, including knowledge of this world 
  and the objects it contains. As servants, they are hard to kill, 
  being dead already! In addition, this realm offers something quite 
  unique: The ability to touch their foes with deadly (undeadly) 
  powers. At first, the touch of the necromancer is weak, being cold, 
  or dark, or poisonous, but eventually the touch grows stronger, 
  stealing life little by little, and perhaps, maybe, eventually all at 
  once. But who knows for certain, as those that did learn the foul 
  necromantic secrets are with us no more?

Rage
  More technique than magic, this realm is unique to the Rage-Mage: 
  Sworn enemies of all that is magical. Talents are learned from books, 
  to be sure, but the ritual of gaining spells involves the destruction 
  of the book in the process, meaning the Rage-Mage can only learn one 
  spell from each book they find. And once learned, the book is no 
  longer required to cast the technique, which is perhaps fortunate. 
  This realm offers various combat techniques as well as talents to 
  shout down magical enemies. But it is not really magic after all, so 
  really should be discussed elsewhere.

Kendo
  Another technique realm, Kendo is unqiue to the Samurai, offering 
  powerful talents to directly enhance the effectiveness of 
  hand-to-hand melee. Talents are learned from books, but, once 
  learned, may be freely used without further reference to the book.

On Casting Spells

Players who select spellcasting characters may notice a few unusual 
phenomena during the course of the game. Here are a few tips and hints 
on what may be happening.

Armor and Spell Casting
  Most spellcasting classes are penalized for wielding armor and 
  weapons above a certain total combined weight. The Mage is most 
  sensitive to encumbrance since the weight calculation also includes 
  the full weight of their melee weapon. Paladins, on the other hand, 
  can "armor up" since their encumbrance calculation all but ignores 
  the weight of their melee weapon. Typically, the more reliant on 
  spells/prayers your class is deemed to be, the lower your weight 
  allowance. If you exceed your weight limit, your mana will drop. This 
  penalty is fairly stiff for low level characters but can generally be 
  ignored by high level ones ... Unless your end game priest attempts 
  to weild a 40lb Mace of Disruption!

Mage-Types and Gloves
  Spellcasters who cast spells from spellbooks using INT as the stat 
  determining their spellcasting ability will usually be penalized 
  heavily for wielding armor on their hands. The exception to this is 
  that wielding gloves, gauntlets or cesti which boost DEX or which 
  grant Free Action will result in no penalty. The rationale behind 
  this is that the hands are needed to perform intricate gestures that 
  accompany the casting of the spell and anything encumbering the hands 
  would interfere with this. The priest-type classes (priest, paladin 
  and monk) do not have the same restrictions as they are viewed as 
  invoking the power of their deity directly through prayer.

Casting Spells With Insufficient Mana
  Occasionally, you may try (either by accident or in desperation) to 
  cast a spell when you have insufficient mana to do so. In these 
  circumstances you will be told by the game that you do not have 
  enough mana to cast the spell and then asked if you want to anyway 
  (depending on your options settings: see [a]). Casting the spell 
  under these conditions has a drastically reduced chance of success 
  and may also result in your constitution being damaged. It may also 
  cause you to faint from the effort which will effectively paralyze 
  you for several turns (even with free action). The CON drain and the 
  paralyzation may happen regardless of whether the casting was 
  successful or not.

Spell Durations
  Some spells such as Haste-Self or Resistance grant an effect which 
  wears off after a certain period of time. With very few exceptions, 
  multiple castings of such spells are not cumulative in terms of the 
  duration of the spell. In other words, casting a spell which has a 
  duration of 20 turns three times will not result in a duration of 60 
  turns. Typically, subsequent castings will add only a small amount to 
  the total duration.

Spell Types

Bolts and Beams
  A bolt spell is aimed in a direction or at a target but will hit the 
  first monster or obstruction in its targeted direction. This may or 
  may not be the intended target. Occasionally, you may note that your 
  bolt spell hits multiple targets along the line of fire. This is 
  because some bolt spells are granted a chance of 'beaming' which may 
  be either fixed or level-dependent. A beam will hit every target 
  within range along a 'straight' line in the direction in which it was 
  aimed.

Balls
  There are two things to remember about ball spells. Firstly, unlike 
  bolt spells, they will always hit the specified target as opposed to 
  the first one in the direction you are aiming. Secondly, they have a 
  radius (which varies from spell to spell). A radius value of one or 
  more will result in the spell affecting monsters (and possibly 
  objects, etc) around the target in addition to the target itself. 
  When ball spells are directed at monsters in walls, the ball will 
  blow up at the front of the wall, and the monster will take only half 
  damage.

Line-of-Sight
  Line-of-sight spells affect all monsters that that are currently in 
  sight of your character. This includes monsters that may not 
  currently be visible due to darkness but would be if it was light.

Area
  Area spells affect an area around the player. The size of the area 
  can vary considerably. For example, Light Area lights a single room 
  while Detect Traps and Mass Genocide affects within a circle of a 
  specific radius and normal Genocide affects the entire level.


Original   : (??)
Updated    : (??)
Updated    : Zangband DevTeam
Updated    : Hengband 1.7.2
Updated    : PosChengband 4.0.0
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