1 === Hengband Magic System ===
4 The magic system of Hengband is a modified version of Zangband's, with many
5 new features added. There are two kind of magic in Hengband: Spellbook
6 magic, similar to the normal magic system of Zangband, and class-specific
7 magic, similar to Zangband's mindcrafting.
9 There are nine different realms of spellbook magic; Life, Sorcery,
10 Nature, Chaos, Death, Trump, Arcane, Craft, and Daemon. Players of
11 each class can study and cast spells from spellbooks using one stat;
12 intelligence, wisdom, or charisma. For spellcasting, you must always
13 carry spellbooks which include spells which you want to cast. You can
14 choose either one or two realms, depending on class. In Hengband, you can
15 change your second realm in the middle of the game (Simply study ('G') from
16 a spellbook of the new magic realm).
18 There are eleven classes which use class specific magic (or techniques);
19 Mindcraft (Mindcrafter),
21 Device-Eating-Magic (Magic-Eater),
24 The Force (ForceTrainer),
25 Blue-Magic (Blue Mage),
27 Smithery (Weaponsmith),
28 Mirror-magic (Mirror Master), and
32 In addition to the above, each class has one or two special techniques
33 called Class Powers, which may be used by typing ("U", or "O" in the
34 roguelike keyset). Class powers are different from magic, but are explained
35 in this text together with magic.
37 You might not be able to understand the function of every magic spell
38 by reading its name or casting it a few times. In Hengband, spells have
39 descriptions. Use the browse command ("b"/"P") and choose a spell from
40 the list to see its description.
43 ***** <ClassSpellAbil>
44 === Class Spell Ability ===
47 Warriors cast no spells. They hate magic. In fact, they even gain
48 experience for destroying high level spellbooks. They have a
49 class power - 'Sword Dancing' - which allows them to conduct a melee
50 attack in six random directions.
53 Mages have the least restrictions in choosing and learning
54 spells. They can freely choose any two realms when a character
55 is created: in the current version, all seven realms are
56 available, although their natural inclination makes Life
57 magic fairly hard to learn. Otherwise, a mage tends to learn and
58 cast all the spells in his or her realms better than any other
59 character. The ability to choose second realm of magic has a
60 special meaning in Hengband; only second realm can be changed in
61 the middle of the game. You can change second realm by studying
62 ("G") from a spellbook of new realm. They have a class power
63 - 'Eat Magic' - which absorbs mana from wands, staves or rods.
64 Intelligence determines their spellcasting ability.
68 Priest can select from Life, Death, or Daemon as a first realm, and
69 choose second realm almost freely. But two kinds of pair selection
70 - Life/Death and Life/Daemon - are not allowed. Priests can learn
71 all spells in the selected realms, even if not as efficiently as
72 mages. However, when learning spells, priests cannot voluntarily
73 decide which spells to study: they are rewarded with new prayers
74 by their patron deities, with no money-back satisfaction
75 guarantee. Priests which select the Life realm have a class power
76 - 'Bless Weapon' - which blesses any edged weapon to be suitable
77 for priests to wield. Every priest which select Death or Daemon
78 realms have a class power - 'Evocation' - which damages, scares and
79 banish all monsters in sight.
80 Wisdom determines a priest's success at praying to his or her deity.
83 Rogues can select one realm from Sorcery, Death, Trump, Arcane, or
84 Craft. All Rogues have certain limitations on which spells they
85 can learn, and they do not learn new spells very quickly. Rogues
86 are very good at both melee and shooting and, for them, magic is
87 secondary. They have a class power - 'Hit and Away' - which allows
88 them to attack in melee and teleport away from there at once.
89 Intelligence determines a Rogue's spellcasting ability.
92 All rangers are trained in Nature magic, and all Nature spells
93 are available to them. They even learn these spells almost as
94 fast as mages. They can also select a secondary realm (from
95 Sorcery, Chaos, Death, Trump, Arcane, and Daemon), but they are
96 slow learners here, and may find themselves unable to learn
97 some of the highest level spells. They have a class power -
98 'Probe Monster' - which allows them to know a monster's HP,
99 speed, and experience required to evolve.
100 Intelligence determines a Ranger's spellcasting ability.
103 Paladins can select a realm from Life and Death. Like priests,
104 they cannot select which prayers to learn, but are rewarded with
105 new prayers by their deities. They can learn all spells, but not
106 as fast as priests. They detest paganism so strongly that they
107 will even gain experience for destroying high-level pagan spell-
108 books: 'pagan' means Life spellbooks for a Death Paladin and
109 all spellbooks other than Life for a Life Paladin. Depending on
110 their realm, they have a class power - 'Holy Lance' or 'Hell Lance'.
111 Wisdom determines a Paladin's success at praying to his or her deity.
114 Warrior-mages begin the game with Arcane magic, and they can
115 freely select another realm of magic. Although they do not gain
116 new spells as fast as regular mages, they will eventually learn
117 every spell in both realms, thus making them a very competitive
118 choice for players who appreciate Arcane magic. They have two class
119 powers - 'Convert HP to SP' and 'Convert SP to HP' - which allow
120 them to heal HP using mana or gain mana using HP. Intelligence
121 determines a Warrior-Mage's spellcasting ability.
124 Chaos Warriors can select a realm from Chaos and Daemon. They
125 are not interested in any other form of magic. They can learn
126 every spell. They have a class power - 'Confusing Light' - which
127 stuns, confuses, and scares all monsters in sight.
128 Intelligence determines a Chaos-Warrior's spellcasting ability.
131 The different sects of monks are devoted to different areas of
132 magic. They select a realm from Life, Nature, Craft, and Death.
133 They will eventually learn all prayers in the discipline of their
134 choice. They have two class powers - 'Assume a Posture' and
135 'Double Attack'. They can choose different forms of postures in
136 different situations, and use powerful combinations of attacks
137 for the finishing blow.
138 Wisdom determines a Monk's spellcasting ability.
141 Although the powers of a Mindcrafter may seem like magic, this is
142 not -- strictly speaking -- the case. They are mental powers,
143 independent of the ordinary sources of magic. Consequently,
144 Mindcrafters are not interested in spellbooks. They gain new mind-
145 crafting powers and their existing ones become stronger as they
146 gain levels. They can use their power even when blinded. They
147 have a class power - 'Clear Mind' - which allows them to rapidly
148 regenerate their mana.
149 Wisdom determines a Mindcrafter's ability to use his or her powers.
152 High-mages are mages who specialize in one particular field of
153 magic and learn it very well -- much better than the ordinary
154 mage. For the price of giving up a second realm of magic, they
155 gain substantial benefits in the mana costs, minimum levels, and
156 failure rates of the spells in their speciality realm. They
157 have a class power - 'Eat Magic' - which absorbs mana from wands,
159 Intelligence determines a High-Mage's spellcasting ability.
162 Tourists are always seeing more of the world to add to their stock
163 of information; no other class can compete with their identification
164 skills. They have two class powers - 'Take a Photograph' and
165 'Identify True'. Their magic is based on Arcane, and - aside from
166 identify - is very weak indeed.
167 Intelligence determines a Tourist's spellcasting ability.
170 Imitators use a unique technique - 'Imitation' - which imitates
171 monster spells/techniques include whose damage/duration value.
172 When monsters in view use spells, they are added to a temporary
173 spell list which the imitator can choose among. Spells should
174 be imitated quickly, because timing and situation are everything.
175 An imitator can only repeat a spell once each time he observes
176 it. They only have a small long-term memory for spells, which
177 ranges from one to three, depending on their level. When they
178 memorize more spells than this, they will forget the oldest
179 spell in the list. They have a class power - 'Double Revenge' -
180 which allows them to imitate spells at double damage or duration.
181 Dexterity determines an Imitator's general imitation ability, but
182 a stat related to the specific action is often also taken into
186 Beastmasters use Trump magic to make good use of their monster
187 domination and riding abilities. They are very good at summoning
188 living creatures, and they learn summoning spells quicker than
189 Mages. However, they cannot summon non-living creatures. They
190 have two class powers - 'Dominate a Living Thing' and 'Dominate
192 Charisma determines a Beastmaster's spellcasting ability.
195 Sorcerers are the all-around best magicians, being able to cast
196 any spell from most magic realms without having to learn it. On
197 the downside, they are the worst fighters in the dungeon, being
198 unable to use any weapon but a Wizardstaff. They have a class
199 power - 'Eat Magic' - which absorbs mana from wands, staves or rods.
200 Intelligence determines a Sorcerer's spellcasting ability.
203 Archers are to archery what a warrior is to melee. They learn no
204 spells. Archers have a class power - 'Create Ammo' - which creates
205 stones or shots from pile of rubble, and arrows and crossbow bolts
209 Magic-Eaters can absorb the energy of wands, staffs, and rods, and
210 can then use these magics as if they were carrying all of these
211 absorbed devices. Mana and changes of absorbed devices are
212 regenerated naturally by a Magic-Eater's power, and speed of
213 regeneration is influenced by their intelligence. They have a
214 class power - 'Absorb Magic' - which is used to absorb magic devices.
215 A Magic-Eater's prime statistic is intelligence.
218 Bards use music rather than magic. Songs are found in four songbooks,
219 of which two are sold in town. There is a special feature of music;
220 many songs continue to be sung until either the Bard chooses to stop,
221 or he runs out of the energy required to sing that type of song.
222 Bards have a class power - 'Stop Singing'.
223 Charisma determines a Bard's singing ability.
226 Red Mages are similar to Warrior-Mage; they are decent fighters and
227 spellcasters. Red-Mages can use almost all spells from lower rank
228 spellbooks of all realms: first and second spellbooks of all
229 realms and third and fourth Arcane spellbooks, without having to
230 learn it, but they cannot cast spells from higher rank spellbooks;
231 third and fourth spellbooks for all realms other than Arcane.
232 Since they use all realms at once, they are extremely slow learners
233 in them, and spells cost more mana to cast. They have a class power
234 - 'Double Magic' - which allows them to cast two spells at once.
235 Intelligence determines a Red-Mage's spellcasting ability.
238 Samurai use the art of the blade called Kendo (or Bugei). Books
239 of Kendo are similar to spellbooks, but Samurai don't need to carry
240 them around; the books are needed only when they study new combat
241 techniques. Samurai need a weapon wielded to use the techniques of
242 Kendo, and most techniques will add powerful special properties to
243 their blows; such as flaming, poisoning, vampiric, etc... Their
244 maximum spellpoints don't depend on their level but solely on
245 wisdom, and they can use the class power 'Concentration' to tempo-
246 rarily increase SP beyond its usual maximum value. They have one
247 more class power - 'Assume a Posture'. They can choose different
248 forms of posture in different situations.
249 Wisdom determines a Samurai's ability to use the special combat
250 techniques available to him.
253 ForceTrainer use both spellbook magic and the special spiritual
254 power called the Force. They can select a realm from Life, Nature,
255 Craft, and Death, just like Monks. To use The Force, you select
256 it just as if it were spellbook 'w'; which means you need to
257 press 'm' and then 'w' to select the Force. The most important
258 spell of the Force is 'Improve Force'; each time a ForceTrainer
259 activates it, their Force power becomes more powerful, and
260 their attack power in bare-handed melee fighting is increased
261 temporarily. The strengthened Force can be released at one stroke
262 when a ForceTrainer activates some other Force spell, typically
263 an attack spell. They prefer fighting with neither weapon nor
264 armor, and wielding weapons or wearing heavy armor disturbs use
265 of the Force. They have a class power - 'Clear Mind' - which
266 allows them to rapidly regenerate their mana.
267 Wisdom is a ForceTrainer's primary stat.
270 A Blue-Mage can learn and cast monster spells/techniques as
271 their own spell; this technique is called Blue magic. Unlike
272 Imitators, Blue-Mages remember their spells permanently, but they
273 must learn spells from monsters by activating their class power
274 'Learning', and they can learn only attack and summoning spells.
275 Intelligence determines a Blue-Mage's spellcasting ability.
278 Like Warriors and Archers, the cavalry don't use magic. Since
279 they are very good at riding, they have a class power - 'Rodeo' -
280 which allows them to forcibly saddle and tame wild monsters.
283 Berserkers use a unique system of techniques called 'Rage'. They
284 gain more techniques as they gain levels. They use no magic:
285 indeed, they cannot use any magic devices or activate any artifacts,
286 and cannot read scrolls. To offset these great disadvantages,
287 Berserkers are allowed to have two important class powers -
288 'Satisfy Hunger' and 'Recall'.
291 A Weaponsmith can improve weapons and armors. They extract the essen-
292 ces of special effects from weapons or armors which have various
293 special abilities, and can add these essences to another weapon or
294 armor. Normally, each equipment can be improved only once, but they
295 can remove a previously added essence from improved equipment to
296 improve it with another essence. To-hit, to-damage bonus, and AC can
297 be improved freely up to a maximum value depending on level.
298 Weaponsmiths have a class power - 'Judgment' - which allows them to
299 identify (later *identify*) weapons and armor.
302 Mirror-Masters can create magical mirrors, and employ them in the
303 casting of Mirror-Magic spells. They gain more spells and each
304 spell becomes more powerful as they gain levels. They can use
305 their spells even when blinded. For Mirror-Masters, the arrange-
306 ment of mirrors is very important: Some attack spells reflect from
307 mirrors, and some other spells are effective only against monsters
308 standing on a mirror. A Mirror-Master standing on a mirror has
309 greater ability and, for example, can perform quick teleports.
310 The maximum number of magical Mirrors which can be controlled
311 simultaneously depends on the level, and breaking unnecessary
312 mirrors is important work for them. They have two class powers
313 - 'Break Mirrors', which breaks all mirrors in current dungeon level
314 and 'Mirror Concentration', which allows them to rapidly regenerate
315 their mana on a mirror.
316 Intelligence determines a Mirror-Master's spellcasting ability.
319 A Ninja can use Ninjutsu for lurking and surprise attacks.
320 They gain more Ninjutsu techniques as they gain levels. They
321 have a class power - 'Quick Walk' - which makes their walking
323 Dexterity determines a Ninja's ability to use Ninjutsu.
328 === The Realms of Magic ===
331 Life magic is 'good' magic; it relies mostly on healing and
332 protective spells. It does have a few attack spells as well, but
333 these are mostly used for harming and banishing foul minions of
334 evil, especially undead monsters. The fail rate of Life spells
335 goes up if the caster's alignment tends towards evil.
338 Sorcery is a `meta` realm, including enchantment and general
339 spells. It provides superb protection spells (such as Teleport
340 spells for fleeing and even Globe of Invulnerability), spells to
341 enhance your odds in combat (Slow Monster, Haste Self, Confuse
342 Monster) and, most importantly, a vast selection of spells for
343 gathering information: in addition to the usual detection and
344 identify spells, one of the standard spellbooks has a spell called
345 Identify True, which gives you full knowledge of a given object!
346 In the rare books, there are spells with which you can enchant
347 your items or turn unwanted items to gold. However, Sorcery has
348 one weakness: it has no spells to deal direct damage to your
352 Nature magic makes you a master of the elements; it provides
353 protection, detection, curing and attack spells, and most
354 importantly, spells that change surrounding geographical features.
355 Nature also has offers Herbal Healing, which is the only
356 powerful healing spell outside the realm of Life magic. Fail
357 rate of Nature spells goes up when the caster's alignment becomes
361 Chaos is the very element of unmaking, and Chaos spells are
362 the most terrible weapons of destruction imaginable. From Magic
363 Missile and Acid Bolt to the medium level Fire Ball and Doom
364 Bolt, and finally to the awesome spells of Invoke Logrus, Mana
365 Storm and Call the Void, Chaos offers an unsurpassable arsenal of
366 attack spells. Chaos is the only realm which provides the
367 *Destruction* spell. The caster can also call on the primal
368 forces of Chaos to induce mutations in his/her opponents and even
369 him/herself, but otherwise, Chaos has no protective spells.
370 Beware! Chaos spells are known to backfire easily and produce
374 There is no fouler nor more evil category of spells than the
375 necromantic spells of Death Magic. These spells are relatively
376 hard to learn, but at higher levels the spells give the caster
377 power over living and the (un)dead. Poison, vampirism, death
378 spells, and even hellfire can be directed by the caster, but the
379 most powerful spells need his/her own blood as the focus, often
380 hurting the caster in the process of casting. Should a Death
381 wizard find the legendary tome Necronomicon, he can expect to
382 gain very great powers indeed, but at a cost: few that have
383 studied that accursed tome have retained their sanity. The Fail
384 rate of Death spells goes up for casters aligned to good.
387 Trump magic seems an independent source of power, although its
388 supposed association with Chaos magic has been mentioned in
389 several places. Although it lacks the unpredictable chaotic
390 side-effects of Chaos magic, it has a few spells whose exact
391 effects seem more or less random. One such spell is Shuffle: the
392 Trump spellbooks actually consist of decks of trumps, and the
393 Shuffle spell allows the caster to shuffle the deck and pick one
394 card at random. The effect depends on the card picked, and is not
395 always pleasant. In the Amber universe, the Trump gateways are
396 also a major method of transportation: Trump magic has an
397 admirable selection of teleportation spells. Since the Trump
398 gateways can also be used to summon other creatures, Trump magic
399 has an equally impressive selection of summoning spells. However,
400 not all monsters appreciate being drawn to another place by a Trump
401 user. The only summoned creatures whose loyalty is guaranteed are
402 the Phantasmal Servants, who lack a will of their own (but can
403 develop one, if you treat them badly).
406 Even more than Sorcery, Arcane magic is a general purpose realm of
407 magic. It attempts to encompass all 'useful' spells from all
408 realms, and almost succeeds, with the probable exception of
409 *Identify*. This is the downside of Arcane magic: while Arcane
410 does have all the necessary 'tool' spells for a dungeon delver, it
411 has no ultra-powerful high level spells. As a consequence, all
412 Arcane spellbooks can be bought in town. It should also be noted
413 that the 'specialized' realms (i.e. other than Arcane) usually
414 offer the same spell at a lower level and cost. Arcane magic is
415 therefore not usually recommended as one's only realm of magic,
416 but it should be a very nice addition to fill up the gaps in the
417 selection of utility spells in another realm.
420 Craft magic is an original realm in Hengband. It provides spells
421 which reinforce the casters physical abilities, including offensive
422 power, defensive power, speed, regeneration, infravision, etc..
423 The 'Regeneration' and 'Walk through Wall' spells are especially
424 powerful for their spell levels. Craft magic doesn't provide
425 detection spells, but does offer a temporary telepathy spell.
428 Daemon magic is an original realm in Hengband. It offers powerful
429 attack spells with the properties of Fire or Nether. There are a
430 few detection spells which provide a map of the nearby area or
431 temporary telepathy. Daemon magic also provides temporary trans-
432 formation spells which allow caster to become a Demon or a Demon
433 Lord. The fail rate of Daemon spells goes up for casters aligned
438 ***** <CastingSpells>
439 === On Casting Spells ... ===
441 Players who select spellcasting characters may notice a few unusual
442 phenomena during the course of the game. Here are a few hints and
443 hints on what may be happening.
445 --- Armor and Spell Casting ---
447 All spellcasting classes are penalized for wielding armor above a
448 certain total combined weight. The threshold varies between 30lbs
449 for a mage and 40lbs for a paladin. Typically, the more reliant on
450 spells/prayers your class is deemed to be, the lower your weight
451 allowance. If you exceed your weight limit, your mana will drop.
452 This penalty is fairly stiff for low level characters but can
453 generally be ignored by high level ones.
455 --- Mage-Types and Gloves ---
457 Spellcasters who cast spells from spellbooks using INT as the stat
458 determining their spellcasting ability, or Blue-Mages, will be penalized
459 heavily for wielding armor on their hands. The exception to this is
460 that wielding gloves, gauntlets or cesti which boost DEX or which
461 grant Free Action will result in no penalty. The rationale behind this
462 is that the hands are needed to perform intricate gestures that
463 accompany the casting of the spell and anything encumbering the hands
464 would interfere with this. The priest-type classes (priest, paladin
465 and monk) do not have the same restrictions as they are viewed as
466 invoking the power of their deity directly through prayer.
468 --- Casting Spells With Insufficient Mana ---
470 Occasionally, you may try (either by accident or in desperation) to
471 cast a spell when you have insufficient mana to do so. In these
472 circumstances you will be told by the game that you do not have
473 enough mana to cast the spell and then asked if you want to anyway.
474 Casting the spell under these conditions has a drastically reduced
475 chance of success and may also result in your constitution being
476 damaged. It may also cause you to faint from the effort which will
477 effectively paralyze you for several turns (even with free action).
478 The CON drain and the paralyzation may happen regardless of whether
479 the casting was successful or not.
481 --- Spell Durations ---
483 Some spells such as Haste-Self or Resistance grant an effect which
484 wears off after a certain period of time. With very few exceptions,
485 multiple castings of such spells are not cumulative in terms of the
486 duration of the spell. In other words, casting a spell which has a
487 duration of 20 turns three times will not result in a duration of 60
488 turns. Typically, subsequent castings will add only a small amount
489 to the total duration.
494 --- Bolts and Beams ---
496 A bolt spell is aimed in a direction or at a target but will hit the
497 first monster or obstruction in its targeted direction. This may or
498 may not be the intended target. Occasionally, you may note that your
499 bolt spell hits multiple targets along the line of fire. This is
500 because some bolt spells are granted a chance of 'beaming' which may
501 be either fixed or level-dependent. A beam will hit every target
502 within range along a 'straight' line in the direction in which it was
507 There are two things to remember about ball spells. Firstly, unlike
508 bolt spells, they can be aimed at a specific target which allows you
509 to target a specific monster as opposed to the first one in the
510 direction you are aiming. Secondly, they have a radius (which varies
511 from spell to spell). A radius value of one or more will result in the
512 spell affecting monsters (and possibly objects, etc) around the target
513 in addition to the target itself. When ball spells are directed at
514 monsters in walls, the ball will blow up at the front of the wall, and
515 the monster will take only half damage.
517 --- Line-of-Sight ---
519 Line-of-sight spells affect all monsters that that are currently in
520 sight of your character. This includes monsters that may not currently
521 be visible due to darkness but would be if it was light.
525 Area spells affect an area around the player. The size of the area can
526 vary considerably. For example, Light Area lights a single room while
527 Detect Traps and Mass Genocide affects within a circle of a specific
528 radius and normal Genocide affects the entire level.
533 === Hints and Tips ===
535 If you miss the `old` magic user, try picking Sorcery and Chaos magic
536 to get the most commonly used mage spells early on (Magic Missile,
537 Detect Monsters + Traps + etc, Identify).
539 It is generally a good idea to pick one defensive realm and one
540 offensive realm. For example try using life or sorcery with chaos or
541 death magic. Nature is somewhat neutral: it has both offensive and
542 defensive spells, but is not very generous with either, not at least
543 early in the game. Nature should work best with characters who can use
544 other means to survive until they get the more powerful high level
547 If you pick the realms always in the same order (e.g. nature as your
548 first realm and chaos as your second realm, not the other way around)
549 you will be less confused when trying to pick the correct spellbook to
550 use in the game. If you still get confused trying to select the
551 correct spellbook, try using macros (either the 'full' macros or
558 Updated : Zangband DevTeam
559 Updated : Hengband 1.0.11
OSDN Git Service
