Chapter II:
Spells

Arcane and phantasmal spells are acquired as a result of long study and diligent practice. To cast a spell, the illusionist or magic user must have the spell scribed in his or her spell book and have prepared it for casting.

Clerical and druidic spells, on the other hand, are acquired as a result of faithful religious service. To cast a spell, the cleric or druid must have spent time in prayer and meditation to prepare it for casting.

In either case, the procedure for memorising a spell is the same. Spell memorisation requires a minimum rest period of 4 hours, which must be spent in a quiet place without interruption. Once this period has expired, it takes fifteen minutes per level to memorise spells; in other words, a character memorising one 3rd, two 2nd and four 1st level spells would require a further (45+30+30+15+15+15+15=) two hours and forty-five minutes of memorisation time.

Spells, once cast, are lost from the casting character’s memory and cannot be reused until the caster memorises them again. (Exception: It is possible to memorise the same spell twice or even more times if the caster has sufficient spell slots.)

Under “saving throw” the notation “none (neg.)” indicates the spell does not normally have a saving throw, but one is permitted for the spell’s reverse. For example, cure light wounds has no saving throw, but its reverse cause light wounds does have one.

Also under “saving throw,” the notation “half” indicates that if the saving throw is passed, the spell takes half-effect. For example, with fireball if the saving throw is halved, targets within the area of effect take half the damage shown on the die.

Spell Scrolls

Spells are also sometimes found written on scrolls. It is not possible to memorise a spell from a scroll, although magic users and illusionists may copy the spell from the scroll into their spell books, if they understand the spell. This process always erases the scroll. This is the primary means by which magic users and illusionists will acquire new spells for their spell books.

Alternatively, the spell may be cast directly from the scroll, in which case the scroll is erased as the spell is cast. In this case, it is not necessary for the caster to know the spell beforehand, and indeed it is possible to cast a spell from a scroll even if the caster does not know the spell or is of insufficient level to use the magic.

In extreme cases (such as when a character casts a spell from a scroll well above the level he or she could normally memorise) the GM will assign a chance that the spell will fail.

A character must be of the correct class to cast a spell from a scroll. Thus, only clerics or paladins may cast spells from clerical scrolls, only druids or rangers from druidic ones, and so on. (Exception: Thieves and assassins may attempt to cast arcane and phantasmal spells from scrolls.)

Explanatory Notes Concerning The Spell Descriptions

If the range of a spell is “0,” this indicates that the spell must be cast right at the caster’s location, but that it remains stationary (in other words, it does not travel). If the range is “caster,” this indicates that the spell moves with the caster.

Spell duration refers to the length of time that the spell’s magic remains “magical.” Thus a permanent duration means that the spell creates an enchantment (which can probably be dispelled). A spell with instantaneous duration is a spell that causes a permanent change in the world, but one that no longer requires a spell to maintain. The effect of a spell with instantaneous duration cannot later be dispelled. The cleric’s cure spells are an excellent example: once a wounded person is cured, the regained hit points cannot be removed with a dispel magic spell, but they are not magically protected from being removed with a sword stroke, either. The spell is simply complete once it is cast, and no more magic is active after that point. Spells marked with “Instantaneous (permanent)” under “duration” all have this property—they cannot be removed by being dispelled.

Spell components may be verbal (representing the words used to incant the spell), somatic (representing the gesture or gestures that must accompany the casting), and/or material (representing physical components that are normally consumed in the spell’s casting). Exception: Material components that are not normally consumed include a cleric’s holy symbol.

Spells with a verbal component may not be cast within the area of effect of a silence spell or if the caster is gagged. Spells with a somatic component will require that the caster has at least one hand free for the casting. Spells with a material component will usually require two free hands as well as the material component itself.

The precise nature of the material component for most spells has been left as a matter for the GM to determine, if relevant. Where such components are costly, an approximate cost is provided. Otherwise, the components should not usually be rare or difficult to acquire.

As typical examples, the spell fireball might require explosive materials such as charcoal or saltpetre, while the spell sleep might require a pinch of sand thrown towards the targets at the culmination of the spell.

It is possible for high level magic users and illusionists to research new spells. Such spells should be assigned a level by the GM which should be commensurate with the approximate power of the spell. The GM should always ensure that such spell research is difficult, demanding, dangerous and very, very expensive!

The spell names provided are generic, and may (or should) be adjusted for additional flavour and relevance to the particular campaign in question. Thus, for example, Animate Dead might be re-named Jaxon’s Fearsome Marching Corpse after the name of the mage who originally researched it in that particular campaign—or perhaps, after the spell’s most famous (or infamous) victim.

It should be noted that the spells listed below are far from being the only spells in existence. They are, however, the basic "canon" of spells, those that every practitioner will (or should) know the existence and general characteristics of.

Cleric Spells by Level

Druid Spells by Level

Magic User Spells by Level

Illusionist Spells by Level