Wild Surge

A Wild surge is an event that occurs 5% of the time when a Wild Mage attempts to cast a memorized spell, or 100% of the time when they attempt to cast through Nahal's Reckless Dweomer. It will also happen when any spell is cast in an area affected by wild magic (like some levels of Watcher's Keep or the Wild Forest). When a wild surge occurs, a 100-faced die is rolled and the mage's wild surge bonus is added to it. The result is compared to a table with rows numbered 1 to 101. If it matches one of the rows, the effect from that row replaces the spell that the mage was trying to cast. Otherwise the desired spell is cast properly and not replaced.
==Lore==
Wild Magic is a young school of magicWild Magic school - Forgotten Realms wiki born after the Time of Troubles, as scholars started to study the wild magic zones created from the descent of so many gods on Toril. In such places, the Weave, a "fabric" that serves as a convenient interface letting casters more easily and more safely manipulate raw magicRaw magic - Forgotten Realms wiki, has become damaged or distorted. Spells cast through the Weave in such a state behave differently, sometimes becoming more potent, sometimes being more difficult to aim as desired, or sometimes producing entirely unpredictable results.Wild magic zones - Forgotten Realms wiki
Soon enough, Wild Mages became able to reproduce this phenomenon in areas where the Weave is intact. Since it involves a more direct manipulation of raw magic, it is harder not to make mistakes, mistakes don't just result in spell failure, and there seems to be an irreducible part of chaos to the process. As the mage shapes magical energy into the desired spell, a mistake or that irreducible part of chaos may get in the way and force them to release the raw energy in a sudden surge called wild surge.
As a way to lift the limitations on spellcasting that go in hand in hand with a full reliance on the Weave, Wild Magic is a promising school. Research focused on improving raw magic manipulation and reducing risk enabled the creation of items such as the Robe of Goodman Hayes or the Thayan Circlet, and spells such as Chaos Shield, Improved Chaos Shield and Nahal's Reckless Dweomer.
==Nahal's Reckless Dweomer==
*With this spell, the mage purposefully makes the raw magical energy surge with the intent of shaping it into any spell they understand, memorized or not, way over their level or not. If it is in their spellbook, they can cast it.The dweomer itself aside, and in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, sequencer and contingency spells are excluded as well.
*Additionally, there is no issue with the residual energy that lingers around a mage or priest who just cast a spell: Through the dweomer, this energy is just re-used raw immediately, whereas normal spellcasting requires waiting for its dissipation before chanting another spell.
*Last but not least, because the surge was generated on purpose, odds that the mage will succeed in shaping the correct spell are increased by a value equal to their level.
Note: Casting this spell means a wild surge will occur, odds are not 5% but 100%.
==Mechanics==
Whenever a wild surge occurs, a D100 is rolled and the caster's wild surge bonus is added to it. If the result matches the ID of one of the 101 rows in the wild surge table, the effect in that row will replace the spell that the mage wanted to cast. If the result matches no row, typically because it is greater than 101, the mage will successfully cast the spell they wanted to in the way they wanted to.
All creatures have a wild surge bonus of 0, which can be modified by:
*The mutually exclusiveA bug in the original edition lets (Improved) Chaos Shields stack when shoved into a sequencer or contingency. Chaos Shield (15), Improved Chaos Shield (25) or Robe of Goodman Hayes (15)
*The Thayan Circlet (+15)
*The Wild Mage's level when casting through Nahal's Reckless Dweomer (+1 to +31)
For the most part, it can be considered that every point of wild surge bonus translates to an increase of 1 percentage point in the odds to cast the desired spell in the desired way. As the bonus increases, its other effect is to decrease the proportion of bad surges in the remaining pool of "incorrect spells". This is because the density of potentially troublesome surges is higher in the lower rows of the surge table, and those rows are eliminated first from the realm of possibilities as the wild surge bonus grows.
===Best casting odds===
 Maximum achievable chance to cast the desired spell, by game
Game 	Normal casting	Dweomer casting	Reason
BG1:EE	96.3% 	35% 	Level 9 and Chaos ShieldWe are not relying on Improved Chaos Shield in BG1:EE and SoD because it can only be cast through the Dweomer, and level 1 spell slots can't be conveniently refreshed. Still, the player could choose to reload or sleep until Improved Chaos Shield is cast on first try. That would increase max achievable odds by 10 percentage points for these games with the Dweomer, and by 0.5 with normal casting. Read the Tips section before using self-targeted spells. leave 65 "incorrect spell" values on the D100.We are counting Area effect #90 as a success, and Caster also targeted #21, Caster becomes target #31, Projectile changed #39 and Oops, wrong target. #48 as incorrect spells.
SoD 	96.3% 	37% 	Level 11 and Chaos Shield leave 63 incorrect values.
BG2:EE	97.55% 	77% 	Level 31, Improved Chaos Shield and the Thayan Circlet leave 23 incorrect values.
BG2 	99% 	100% 	Level 23 and a Chain Contingency with 3 Improved Chaos Shields leave no incorrect value through NRD.
===Confusing aspects===
Wild surges can be confusing at first, so it can be useful to be aware the following:
*Random, harmless visual and sound effects occur on both caster and target whenever a wild surge occurs, even if the desired spell is cast.
*All surges have an associated message that the combat log will display, for example if surge #3 happens, the log will read "". Any surge below #1 or above #101 allows the desired spell to be cast on target. The combat log will report a blank string when that happens, ie. "". The actual ID of the surge is never displayed, only the message.
*The target of the desired spell is retained or modified to fit the surge spell, following a set of rules described below. Understanding targeting rules is one of the keys to minimizing risk and making good use of a low-level Wild Mage.
==Targeting==
Most of the 101 wild surges described in the surge table below entirely replace the spell that the Wild Mage was trying to cast. But there is one element that remains: the target.
A spell target can either be a creature or container, or a point on the ground. Single-target spells such as Blindness expect the former type, whereas AoE spells like Grease expect the latter type.This is true for spells cast through the combat interface by the player -- AI is more flexible. A sub-type of single-target spells expects that the target creature be the self -- the caster -- like Mirror Image.
When a Wild Surge occurs and replaces the desired spell, the spell target may not be appropriate to the surge spell selected by the D100. Surges use the following rules to address that concern.
 Target effectively used by a surge depending on the original spell's target type
Spell target type	Surge target type	Target selected in the end
Self 	Self 	The original Self target is used as-is
Self 	Creature 	The original Self target is used as-is
Self 	Point 	The original Self target is used as-is
Creature 	Self 	The caster becomes the target
Creature 	Creature 	The original Creature target is used as-is
Creature 	Point 	The original Creature target is used as-is. The surge projectile follows it around, so it's not its position that is being targeted but truly the creature itself.Note: In Enhanced Editions, Burst #76 will fail silently when the creature is not the caster.
Point 	Self 	The caster becomes the target
Point 	Creature 	The original target changes completely, even when it was a creature's exact position. A random creatureContainers cannot be randomly selected. in a radius 150% the size of the caster's visual rangeBy default that's a 42-foot radius, nearly 3 times a Fireball's. will be selected as the new target.The selection area ignores walls, meaning the spell will reach the new target through any obstacle. Unlike other types of target modifications described in this table, this one actually changes the original spell itself. The original spell's target is now the random creature and its target type is now Creature, not Point. This distinction only matters to multi-roll surges #24, #46 and #63, where the original spell's features are used for multiple surges.
Point 	Point 	The original Point target is used as-is. Exceptions: Burst #76 will fail silently if the original target is not the caster's position, and Invisible #29, Held #61 and Color change #98 will fail silently in all cases.They should be Creature surges but behave like Point surges, i.e. their projectile is thrown at a point on the ground and they can do nothing with it. They can only work with an original target of type Self or Creature.
==Wild surge effects==
===Legend===
In the surge table, the Block or remove column uses shorthand icons to convey ways to either block or remove all of a surge spell's effects. The following icons mean that their associated spell(s) are effective against a surge:
 	Abjuration	Alteration	Conjuration	Enchantment	Evocation	Illusion	Necromancy
Spell Immunity:	 	 	 	 	 	 	
* All sources of Protection From Evil
* Reflected Image and Mirror Image
* Stoneskin and Iron Skins
* (Minor) Spell Deflection, (Minor) Spell Turning, Spell Trap and Shield of the Archons
* Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Globe of Invulnerability and Protection From Magic
* Globe of Invulnerability and Protection From Magic, but not Minor Globe
* Protection From Magic, but not the Globe spells
* All Spell protection removers
* All sources of Dispel Magic, including Protection From Magic *if* used after the surge spell took effect
Notes to help read the other columns:
*In green are surges that let the desired spell be cast in desired conditions
*In orange are surges that need particular attention. With bad saves, some more surges deserve attention.
*In blue is the one failed surge that's most often better than the desired spell
*An Area in the Target column means the surge affects the entire area and works regardless of spell target
*An Upheld in the Target column means the actual spell is going to be cast with its actual target unchanged
*A 15-foot radius describes an area the size and shape of a Fireball spell
*This table was built on BG2EE 2.5.16.6. Some surges are slightly different in BG1EE
===Wild surge table===
Roll 	Message 	Effect 	Target 	Save or MR 	Block or remove 	File
1 	Wild color changes 	Caster shines and flickers for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM102
2 	Wild color changes 	Caster shines and flickers for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM102
3 	Squirrels... Everywhere squirrels! 	Summons 8 allied squirrels around caster for 2 turns 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM103
4 	I'm so itchy 	Caster suffers a -2 penalty to casting time and weapon speed factor for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM104
5 	It's so bright! 	Saturated colours on caster for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM105
6 	Area effect 	The effects of the desired spell are applied to all creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on caster. Spells with an area of effect that triggers several times only get to have one trigger. 	Self 	 	 	
7 	Sex change 	Caster's gender is reversed for 100 rounds (aka 10 turns or 2 in-game hours) (see Bugs section) 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM107
8 	Color change 	Caster turns golden for 1 turn 	Self 	MR 	 	SPWM108
9 	 What was that? Over there! Explosion? 	All in a radius twice the caster's visual range face towards the same point, that can be quite far away, where a "soul rising" animation is played 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM109
10 	Explosion? 	Harmless fire effect on caster 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM110
11 	Entangled 	Movement speed set to 0 and -2 AC penalty on caster for 1 turn 	Self 	MR 	 	SPWM111
12 	Slowed 	Slow effect to all in a 15-foot radius centred on Point, for 1 turn 	Point 	No 	No 	SPWM112
13 	Polymorphed 	For 70s, target is affected by: ① Polymorph Spirit Wolf: Base AC 0, Cold & Elec. resistances 100%, 16 STR, 20 DEX ② Create weapon: Magical +1, 3 APR, plus Normal Haste in BG2 or +50% mov. speed in BG1. Casting disabled, Innates excepted. 	Creature 	MR: ① 	: ① 	SPWM113
14 	Held 	Caster affected for 70s by Hold in BG2 or Hold 2 in BG1 	Self 	MR 	 	SPWM114
15 	Hastened 	Caster affected by Normal Haste for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM115
16 	Polymorphed 	Caster turns Squirrel for 40s in BG2, 1000 hours in BG1: Casting disabled, HP 5, STR & DEX 3, APR 1. See Bugs for BG2. 	Self 	vs PolyMR 	 	SPWM183
17 	Gold Destroyed! 	80% of party gold is destroyed 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM117
18 	Weakened 	Target suffers -6 Strength for 1 turn 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM118
19 	Burst 	The Sunfire spell bursts out from caster 	Self 	Spell ½ MR 	 	SPWI523
20 	Legs... so... heavy. 	Caster's movement rate reduced by 4 for 1 turn. (Base rate for player characters is 9.) 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM120
21 	Caster also targeted 	The desired spell is cast twice: ① On target, ② On caster, where it affects all creatures in the potential AoE. 	① Upheld② Self	 	 	
22 	Held 	Caster is affected by Hold Creature for 1 turn if they are humanoid 	Self 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM122
23 	Fear 	All creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on Point are affected by Panic for 14 rounds. The caster is never affected. 	Point 	Spell -4MR 	 	SPWM123
24 	Roll twice more 	Roll twice more. If the desired spell expects a Point target, it can be overwritten by a Creature surge. Subsequent surges will believe the desired spell expected a Creature type of target all along, and will receive the creature randomly selected by the preceding surge as the actual target. It is the only case where a surge inherits from another surge. 	 	 	 	
25 	Area explored 	The entire area is now explored 	Area 	No 	No 	SPWM125
26 	Globe of Invulnerability 	For 7 rounds, target becomes immune to all effects of power level 1, 2 and 3 	Creature 	MR 	 	SPWM126
27 	Silence 	The Silence, 15' Radius spell is cast, centred on caster 	Self 	Spell -5MR 	 	SPPR211
28 	Dizzy 	Caster suffers from 100% spellcasting failure and -4 penalty to THAC0 for 1 turn. Innate abilities can still be used. 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM128
29 	Invisible 	The Invisibility spell is cast on Creature target. Nothing happens if the desired spell used a Point target. 	Point 	No 	 	SPWI206
30 	Pretty sparkles 	One of eight visual effects occurs on caster, while a harmless blue projectile flies towards Point 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM130
31 	Caster becomes target 	The desired spell is cast but on caster, and all creatures are affected within the potential AoE 	Self 	 	 	
32 	Invisible 	The Invisibility spell is cast on caster 	Self 	No 	 	SPWI206
33 	Colors! 	The Color Spray spell is shot away from caster and towards Point 	Point 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWI105
34 	I've always said that bird magic is the most difficult.	Summon 8 non-selectable birds on Point, they vanish after 2 turns 	Point 	No 	No 	SPWM134
35 	Shouldn't this spell do something? 	Only the visual and sound effects of the desired spell are "cast" on Point. 	Point 	No 	No 	
36 	Gems! 	After a one-second delay, caster receives 3 to 5 gems among Aquamarine, Garnet, Horn Coral, Pearl and Sphene 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM136
37 	Berries in my pocket. 	The legendary Goodberry spell is cast 	Self 	No 	No 	SPPR207
38 	Berries in my pocket. 	The legendary Goodberry spell is cast again and solves world hunger 	Self 	No 	No 	SPPR207
39 	Projectile changed 	A different projectile carrying the effects of the desired spell is hurled towards the Creature target. AoE spells become single target and friendly fire becomes possible if it wasn't. 	Creature 	 	 	
40 	What's this in my pocket? 	Rich random treasure created on caster 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM141
41 	What's this in my pocket? 	Rich random treasure created on caster 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM141
42 	Combat ready! 	All creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on caster receive a +2 bonus to THAC0 and damage for 1 turn 	Self 	MR 	 	SPWM142
43 	Combat ready! 	All creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on caster receive a +2 bonus to THAC0 and damage for 1 turn 	Self 	MR 	 	SPWM142
44 	*hiccup*... *hic*... 	All creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on Point get hiccups, suffering -1 penalties to THAC0 and weapon speed factor for 1 turn 	Point 	No 	 	SPWM145
45 	*hiccup*... *hic*... 	All creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on Point get hiccups, suffering -1 penalties to THAC0 and weapon speed factor for 1 turn 	Point 	No 	 	SPWM145
46 	Roll twice more 	Roll twice more. If the desired spell expects a Point target, it can be overwritten by a Creature surge. Subsequent surges will believe the desired spell expected a Creature type of target all along, and will receive the creature randomly selected by the preceding surge as the actual target. It is the only case where a surge inherits from another surge. 	 	 	 	
47 	Polymorphed 	For 70s, caster is affected by: ① Polymorph Spirit Wolf: Base AC 0, Cold & Elec. resistances 100%, 16 STR, 20 DEX ② Create weapon: Magical +1, 3 APR, plus Normal Haste in BG2 or +50% mov. speed in BG1. Casting disabled, Innates excepted. 	Self 	MR: ① 	: ① 	SPWM113
48 	Oops, wrong target. 	The desired spell is cast, aiming at a random creature selected within a radius 150% the size of the caster's visual range. Potential AoE is upheld, but friendly fire becomes possible if it wasn't. This surge is independent from targeting rules, it is not affected by any kind of external target data and does not affect other surges in multi-rolls #24, #46 or #63.	Independent 	 	 	
49 	I feel refreshed. 	The desired spell doesn't happen. Instead, caster recuperates as if they rested. 	Self 	No 	No 	
50 	Monsters summoned 	The Monster Summoning II spell is cast on Point 	Point 	No 	No 	SPWI407
51 	Is that snow? 	If outdoors, it starts snowing. If indoors, turns into surge #46 Roll twice more. 	Area 	No 	No 	
52 	What's with the noise? 	The desired spell is cast on target with a faint thump 	Upheld 	 	 	SPWM155
53 	Double Hit Points 	The target's Hit points are doubled for 1 turn 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM153
54 	Oops, a gate... Is that a demon?! 	A Cacofiend-like spell is cast, centred on Point. But it lasts 20 rounds – Cacofiend lasts 15 rounds in EE. The Nabassu summoned is much more dangerous in Baldur's Gate I because it uses Aec'Letec's Death Gaze. 	Point 	No 	 	SPWM154
55 	What's with the noise? 	The desired spell is cast on target with a faint thump 	Upheld 	 	 	SPWM155
56 	Duration halved 	The desired spell is cast on target but the duration is halved where applicable 	Upheld 	 	 	
57 	Swirly things 	All creatures within a 15-foot radius centred on Point get a swirly smoke effect with a noise around them. It can repeat a few times but stops after 80s. 	Point 	No 	 	SPWM157
58 	Projectile speed halved 	The desired spell is cast on target but both the projectile and the shock wave speed are halved 	Upheld 	 	 	
59 	Weapons glow 	All wielded weapons in the area glow for 10s 	Area 	No 	 	SPWM159
60 	No Save 	The desired spell is cast on target and no saving throw is allowed against its effects 	Upheld 	 	 	
61 	Held 	Creature target is affected by Hold in BG2 or Hold 2 in BG1 for a little over 11 rounds (70s). Nothing happens if the desired spell used a Point target. 	Point 	MR 	 	SPWM114
62 	Detect magic 	Any creature within a 15-foot radius centred on Point gets highlighted if it is affected by dispellable magic. 	Point 	No 	 	SPWM162
63 	Roll 4 more times! 	Roll 4 more times. If the desired spell expects a Point target, it can be overwritten by a Creature surge. Subsequent surges will believe the desired spell expected a Creature type of target all along, and will receive the creature randomly selected by the preceding surge as the actual target. It is the only case where a surge inherits from another surge. 	 	 	 	
64 	Slowed 	For 45s, all creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on Point are affected by the Slow effect and a -4 penalty to AC and THAC0. See Bugs section. 	Point 	Spell -4MR 	 	SPWM164
65 	 Oops, wrong spell. Ooops wrong spell 	Instead of the desired spell, a different spell is cast on target, selected randomly from a pool of up to 11 spells, generally of the same level. This surge does no retargeting, so "wrong" spells that can't handle the desired spell's target type will have no effect. 	 	 	 	
66 	Lightning bolt. 	The Lightning Bolt spell is cast at the target. 	Creature 	Spell ½MR 	 	SPWI308
67 	Strengthened 	Target benefits from a +6 Strength bonus for a little over 11 rounds (70s) 	Creature 	MR 	 	SPWM167
68 	Heal 	An AoE version of the Heal spell is cast, affecting all creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on target 	Creature 	MR:• Heal• Cure Intox	 	SPWM168
69 	Entangle 	Movement speed set to 0 and -2 AC penalty on target for 1 turn 	Creature 	MR 	 	SPWM111
70 	Weakened 	Caster suffers -6 Strength for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM118
71 	Fireball 	The Fireball spell is cast, centred on Point 	Point 	Spell ½MR 	 	SPWI304
72 	Turned to Stone 	The Flesh to Stone spell is cast on target 	Creature 	SpellMR 	 	SPWI604
73 	Spell cast and I feel refreshed. 	The desired spell is cast on target and the caster recuperates as if they rested 	Upheld 	 	 	
74 	Heal 	An AoE version of the Heal spell is cast, affecting all creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on caster 	Self 	MR:• Heal• Cure Intox	 	SPWM168
75 	Dizzy 	Target suffers from 100% spellcasting failure and -4 penalty to THAC0 for 1 turn. Innate abilities can still be used. 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM128
76 	Burst 	The Sunfire spell bursts out from Point. In EE, nothing happens if Point is not the caster's position. Multi-roll #24, #46 & #63 are able to overwrite the target in case of Point spell ➜ Creature Surge ➜ #76. Burst might inherit the caster as a target then. 	Point 	Spell ½ MR 	 	SPWI523
77 	Held 	Target is affected by Hold Creature for 1 turn if they are humanoid 	Creature 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM122
78 	Blinded 	Target is affected by Blindness for 100 rounds (aka 10 turns or 2 in-game hours) 	Creature 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM178
79 	Charmed 	Target is affected by Charm Creature for 50 rounds (aka 5 turns or 1 in-game hour). Elves have a 90% chance to be unaffected and Half-elves 30%. Contrary to most charm spells, blue-circled creature will not become hostile when this spell wears out. 	Creature 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM179
80 	Gems! 	After a one-second delay, 3 to 5 droppable but unstealable gems are created on target. See #36 for the list. 	Creature 	No 	 	SPWM136
81 	My legs! What have you done? 	Target's movement rate reduced by 4 for 1 turn. (Base rate for player characters is 9.) 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM120
82 	What's in my pack? 	Droppable but unstealable Rich random treasure created on target 	Creature 	No 	 	SPWM141
83 	Silence 	The Silence, 15' Radius spell is cast, centred on Point 	Point 	Spell -5MR 	 	SPPR211
84 	Silence 	The Silence, 15' Radius spell is cast, centred on Point 	Point 	Spell -5MR 	 	SPPR211
85 	Sex change 	Target changes gender for 100 rounds (aka 10 turns or 2 in-game hours). Many creatures will be unaffected. (See Bugs section) 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM107
86 	Explosion? 	Fake, harmless Flame Strike on target 	Creature 	MR:• Flame 	 	SPWM186
87 	Stinking cloud 	A spell identical to Stinking Cloud is cast, centred on Point. 	Point 	Death +2MR 	 	SPWM187
88 	COW! 	Cow falls from the sky for 3d10+3 crushing damage on target. The cow may explode on impact in a thunderous noise, dealing a shock wave blow to the target and all within a varying radius, for another 3d10+3.0, 40 and 135-foot radii were witnessed. Walls break the spread of AoE attacks. 	Creature 	MR 	:Spell deflection type of spells will only protect against the direct impact, not the shock wave.	SPWM188
89 	Dizzy 	Target suffers from 100% spellcasting failure and -4 penalty to THAC0 for 1 turn. Innate abilities can still be used. 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM128
90 	Area effect 	The effects of the desired spell are applied to all creatures in a 15-foot radius centred on Point. Spells with an area of effect that triggers several times only get to have one trigger. 	Point 	 	 	
91 	Itchy 	Target receives a -2 penalty to weapon speed factor for 80s.Note: The visual effect can be negated with an odd save vs Polymorph. 	Creature 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM191
92 	Hit Points doubled 	The caster's Hit points are doubled for 1 turn 	Self 	No 	No 	SPWM153
93 	Held 	Target is affected by Hold Creature for 1 turn if they are humanoid 	Creature 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM122
94 	Hastened 	Target affected by Normal Haste for 1 turn 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM115
95 	My gold! 	80% of gold on the target is destroyed 	Creature 	No 	No 	SPWM199
96 	Spell cast twice 	The desired spell is cast twice on target 	Upheld 	 	 	
97 	Spell cast, +4 save 	The desired spell is cast on target; victims make any Saving throws against it with a +4 bonus 	Upheld 	 	 	
98 	Color change 	The target creature's skin turns red for upwards of 3 years. Nothing happens if the desired spell used a Point target. 	Point 	vs SpellMR 	 	SPWM198
99 	Spell cast at double level 	The desired spell is cast on target, but at double the caster level. Note: The growth of most spells caps at level 20, but higher caster level makes them harder to dispel. 	Upheld 	 	 	
100 	Spell cast normally 	The desired spell is cast on target 	Upheld 	 	 	
101 (9B)	What was that? Over there! 	The desired spell is cast on target 	Upheld 	 	 	
==Tips==
===Saving throws===
The Wild Mage has a vested interest in improving their save vs Spell as quickly as possible, especially in Baldur's Gate I. A foolproof value for save vs Spell is -4, but a value of 1 coupled with a Vocalize spell memorized is great.
As an evil-aligned character, the Wild Mage gets a +2 save bonus against their own surges with Protection From Evil.
Before Baldur's Gate I's Chapter Four, the ways to improve saving throws vs Spell are Amulet of Spell Warding, The Claw of Kazgaroth, Robe of the Evil Archmagi, Spirit Armor, Ring of the Princes, Cloak of Protection +1, Protection From Evil, Improved Invisibility, Chant, Aid, and consumables Potion of Stone Form, The Horn of Kazgaroth and Potion of Magic Shielding. Blur could also be found as a random drop.
Without reliance on consumables, a +11 bonus can be expected before Chapter Four, leading to a save vs Spell of 1 at level 5 and below, and of -1 at level 6+. This doesn't account for Spirit Armor and Improved Invisibility (high level spells) or Blur (random drop), but does rely on a +2 bonus from Chant and Aid and on the Wild Mage being evil. 
===Spell scrolls===
Hunt for high level spell scrolls as early as possible, and keep an eye out for random treasures. What a random treasure will be is determined only once, either upon first entry into the area hosting the creature or container, or when a creature is first spawned.
In Baldur's Gate I, a lot of useful spells are sold in the High Hedge Estate, others can be stolen from Shandalar, Improved Invisibility is at Ulgoth's Beard Inn, and there are many great ones in containers of the labyrinth's 1st level under Durlag's tower. Domination and Polymorph Self are in the 2nd level, more difficult to reach early on.
For random loot, valuable scrolls may be pickpocketed or dropped by all kinds of Ogres, Basilisks, Gnolls, Ghasts, Doppelgangers, Ankhegs, Amnian Soldiers in NashkelIncluding those preventing the party from sleeping on the street and those fighting shoplifters., or the Skeleton Warriors from the 1st level of Durlag's labyrinth. Containers don't have random loot. 
In Baldur's Gate II, absurdly high level spells can be found as random loot in containers and on creatures right from the start of the game. Cowled Wizards are good target practise, but many containers in Athkatla qualify.
===Play style===
At low level, it is relatively safe to cast single target spells at enemies that are distant enough to cover the radius of a standard AoE (i.e. a Fireball's). That is because "Creature" spells cannot be retargeted unless it's a Self surge or #48 Oops, wrong target. "Point" spells, on the other hand, can get retargeted by both Self and Creature surges.
===Bring statistics to your side===
In Baldur's Gate I, Evermemory doubles level 1 spells. While the odds for a single NRD to cast the desired spell are low, it is very likely to happen when all NRDs are unleashed at once. If the nature of the desired spell is such that it could end the fight on its own, then the battle is very likely to be won in a single quick barrage of NRDs.
Keep in mind play style and saving throw advice to avoid risks.
===Other tips===
*It is safe to romance both Neera and Hexxat at the same time in a single playthrough, without consequence, which is possible because of the bug with surges Sex change #7 and #85. Since Hexxat only romances females and Neera males, it seems that Beamdog developers didn't bother writing a conflict for this pair.
* In the original Baldur's Gate II, the Fireshield (Blue) and Fireshield (Red) spells will never surge. If cast through the Reckless Dweomer, they will always get surge #100 Spell cast normally. That makes them level 1 spells that don't even need to be memorized.
*Wild magic areas such as the Wild Forest or the Tiefling room from the Teleport Maze have holes. Every 14 seconds, they apply two effects that last for 14 seconds to all creatures in the area if the protagonist is available. There is no way to block or dispel these effects, but if the protagonist is mazed for example, the area script will fail to apply them. Even when the spell succeeds, there's still a hole. The first effect forces the very next spell cast by an affected creature to surge. It works just like NRD, so Wild Mages benefit from their level. The second effect sets the initial wild surge bonus to 1 instead of 0. (Bug: This overrides both Chaos Shields in BG2:EE, so they have no effect in wild magic areas.) After these effects are applied, a creature's first spell will surge, but all subsequent spells will not until the area script re-applies the effects. Note that none of these flaws apply to items like The Brick, the Wild Sling or the Tunic of Blindeye, because they don't rely on an area script, they don't modify the wild surge bonus, and they force all spells to surge instead of only the first one.
*A Wild Mage may cast level 7 spells not normally available in Baldur's Gate I thanks to Improved Chaos Shield. This requires getting surge #65 Oops, wrong spell, which may replace the shield with e.g. Spell Turning, Protection from The Elements, Project Image, Cacofiend, Mantle or Spell Sequencer.
*Sequencers (ie Minor Sequencer, Spell Sequencer and Spell Trigger) don't surge when being prepared, but they do when being released (and they're all treated as unique level 1 spells). However, if a surge that doesn't allow the sequencer to release correctly occurs, said sequencer will only be expended momentarily and may be regained via resting. eg a Mage in a wild zone can prepare a Minor Sequencer with 2x Melf's Acid Arrow with no issues, but when said sequencer is released, surge #65 Oops, wrong spell can result in Color Spray, Burning Hands or a few other level 1 spells being cast instead, surge #6 Area Effect will result in nothing happening (so the spells contained in the sequencer don't matter) and surge #14 Held will attempt to hold the Mage. Whatever the surge, if the sequencer isn't actually properly released (like it would be with surge #100, for example), the Mage may then rest to regain that same 2x Melf's Acid Arrow Minor Sequencer and it will only ever truly be gone if it's released correctly, otherwise the Mage can continue to rest to regain it.
==Technical details on Oops, wrong spell==
As seen in the table, surge #65 replaces the desired spell with another in a certain pool of candidates. But what does that pool contain? The game takes the desired spell's file name, usually in the form "SPWIxxx" — the x being digits, and replaces the last two digits with an integer randomly selected between 00 and 10. For example, if a player casts the level 9 spell Absolute Immunity (SPWI907) and gets this surge, the resulting spell could be Spell Trap (SPWI902), Spellstrike (SPWI903), Gate (SPWI905), Absolute Immunity (SPWI907), Chain Contingency (SPWI908), Time Stop (SPWI909) or Imprisonment (SPWI910).
That's, at least, how it goes with regular Mage, Cleric, Druid or Shaman spells whose file names start in SPWI or SPPR. There seems to be some kind of slightly different system when it comes to some Innate abilities (most of them result in SPIN1xx spells), Class abilities (like the Dark Moon Monk's Frozen Fist, some of them result SPCL1xx spells) or even outlier cases such as wishes cast by the genie from the level 9 spell Wish (something entirely different).
If the randomly selected number corresponds to no spell or the target is invalid, then no spell will be cast. For example, the level 9 spell Meteor Swarm never produces any result, as the spells from the pool listed above fail in the same way that Invisible #29, Held #61 and Color change #98 do when inheriting a Point target.
All of this also means that if the game is modded, then the Oops, wrong spell surge can cast spells installed by mods if they fit the criteria. For example, Sword Coast Stratagems adds Monster Summoning IX with the file name SPWI904, making it a valid candidate for a "wrong" spell.
Some creatures, abilities and spells may replace the desired spell with effects that constitute a bug or exploit, e.g. permanently granting Blackguard passive abilities, summoning Kangaxx or granting the Slayer ability. See the Wild Surge: Oops, Wrong Spell entry on the Exploits page.
== Bugs ==
*Burst #19 and #76: Like the real Sunfire spell, these surges will have no effect if the casting command is given while the character is walking and casting speed is 0.
*Entangle #11 and #69: When combined with #20 Legs... so... heavy. or #81 My legs! What have you done? on the same creature, can make them move at teleporting speed.
* Polymorphed #16: In both editions of Baldur's Gate II, the character turned into a squirrel will retain an effect that sets their Attacks per round to 1 even when back to human form. Since it lasts for 500 days, it is advised to dispel this effect. Dispel has a chance to fail, however. A player could verify that the effect has been removed by equipping a weapon that sets attacks per round to something else than 1. If APR remains 1, the effect was not dispelled. Any dart will do. Boomerang Daggers will not.
*Sex change #7 and #85: These surges can trigger companion romance if they affect the protagonist. This romance will continue even after the sex change is reverted.
* Slowed #64: When the victim succeeds in their save roll, all effects are negated. But in Original BG2 only, the slowed sound and portrait icon are still applied.
==Gallery==
OG WK TM Wild Magic.png|The party enters Watcher's Keep - Wild Magic? (AR3009) and Aerie casts a spell, which Wild Surges, leading to additional surges and chaos.
OG WK TM Quasit 3.png|A Quasit group's spell casting in Wild Magic room leads to random surge results. A COW! is incoming soon.
PG WK TM Cow.png|thumb|No one expects a COW to drop from above and explode in a shockwave of bovine bits.
==TODO==
*Confirm with further in-game tests the accuracy of the table's column Block or remove when casting each of Self, Creature and Point spells. 
*Check differences between the current data, which was researched on BG2EE 2.5.16.6, and the original edition of Baldur's Gate II with Throne of Bhaal. For instance, Burst #76 doesn't fail when the target is not the caster in the original edition.
*Check differences between the current data and BG1EE. For instance, Polymorphed #16 lasts for 1000 in-game hours in BG1EE.
Category:Bugs
Category:Game mechanics
Category:Random treasure
Category:Lists
Category:Illusion/phantasm spells
Category:Illusionary protections (spell type)