Magic overview

For a list of spells, see Spells.

Spells are the appendages and organs of extraplanar beings (or, as some scholars surmise, of a singular being), protruding into our world through dimensional rifts. They manifest as pure concept, and can thus be 'captured' by perfectly describing them. Thus a magic scroll binds a living spell into it. However, spells are also not replicable, and so they cannot be copied; they can only be transferred from one receptacle into another.

Possible receptacles for a spell include:

* Ioun stones. These are the 'natural' form of a spell. In order to memorize or transcribe the spell, the stone must be shattered permanently.
* Parchment inscribed with magic ink. Runes written in a secret language (decipherable via the Read Magic skill) can contain a spell's essence; writing one and then breaking an ioun stone allows for the creation of these scrolls, which can also be bound into books.
* Human brains. 'Memorizing' a spell transfers it from its medium into the mind. The brain is a fragile vessel, and overloading it is risky, but memorized spells can be cast more readily than written ones and are harder to steal. The death of a great wizard means a race to steal his brain and extract the lost spells.
* Spell staves. Spells can inhabit vessels of carved wood, which imbues them with exceptional power.

## Memorizing spells

Casting spells from memory has several advantages over casting from scrolls or ioun stones: the spells can be re-used; they don't take up inventory space; and they can be cast more quickly.

You can memorize a spell from a scroll simply by reading it, which leaves you with a blank parchment. A successful Read Magic check is required, or the spell escapes and is forgotten.

You can safely memorize spells whose total rank does not exceed your Intellect score. Each time you memorize a spell that would cause you to exceed this limit, you have a random chance to suffer brain damage.

## Spellcasting

To cast a spell, you must have it to hand. This changes the outcome of the casting:

* If the spell is **memorized,** you can cast it with the usual failure chance.
* If the spell is **written on a scroll or in a spellbook,** you cast it with a 100% success chance, but the page is blanked as the spell escapes.
* If the spell is embedded in an **ioun stone,** you can crush the stone to release it. It has double effect and never miscasts, but the spell is then lost.
* If the spell is **stored in a spellstave,** you can cast it as long as the stave is equipped, with a +30% success chance.

The following factors affect success chance:

* Your **skill** with the spell's school.
* Adjacent enemies each inflict a -10% penalty by default.
* Your armour's DV penalty, if any, at a rate of -20% per point.

If you fail to cast the spell, you then have a 50% chance to miscast it as well.

## Miscast effects

If it was memorized, a miscast spell is always forgotten by its caster. It will also have a miscast effect. Each spell school has its own miscast table; then a random number is chosen via the formula:

1
d
10
(
2
x
S
p
e
l
l
R
a
n
k
)
−
S
k
i
l
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R
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{\displaystyle 1d10 + (2 x Spell Rank) - SkillRank}

### Conjurations miscasts

 1-5
 6-10
 11-12
 13-14
 15-16
 17-18
 19+

## Forgetting spells

A memorized spell is forgotten if it is miscast; or if the caster exercises their will to forget the spell, perhaps by drinking strong liquor. Forgotten spells lie dormant in the brain and cannot be cast, but will re-awaken if the caster rests or uses stimulants. Forgotten spells can also be extracted more easily.