=== Hengband Magic System === The magic system of Hengband is a modified version of Zangband's, with many new features added. There are two kind of magic in Hengband: Spellbook magic, similar to the normal magic system of Zangband, and class-specific magic, similar to Zangband's mindcrafting. You might not be able to understand the function of every magic spell by reading its name or casting it a few times. In Hengband, spells have descriptions. Use the browse command ("b"/"P") and choose a spell from the list to see its description. --- Spellbook magic --- There are nine different realms of spellbook magic; Life, Sorcery, Nature, Chaos, Death, Trump, Arcane, Craft, and Daemon. Players of each class can study and cast spells from spellbooks using one stat; intelligence, wisdom, or charisma. For spellcasting, you must always carry spellbooks which include spells which you want to cast. You can choose either one or two realms, depending on class. In Hengband, you cannot be as proficient in the second realm as in the first realm. But you can change the second realm to another realm of magic even in the middle of the game. For that, you must choose a spellbook of the new realm in the study command ('G'). But beware! After changing realms, you will forget all spells of the old realm, moreover the forgotten spells still count towards the total number of spells you can learn, limiting the number of new spells you'll be able to study. Note that certain realms may be prohibited for some classes. In the table below, '1' indicates that the realm may only be the first choice, '2' indicates that the realm may only be the second choice and '1/2' indicates that it can be either. Classes that only have '1' options do not get a second realm. Classes with only one '1' option must choose this option as their first realm. Sorcerers and Red Mages are exceptions. They can use all magic realms and they don't need to study spells. --- Class/Realm Restrictions table --- Life Nature Death Arcane Daemon Class Sorcery Chaos Trump Craft Crusade --------------+-----+---+---+---+-----+---+---+---+-----+-----+-- Mage |1/2 |1/2|1/2|1/2|1/2 |1/2|1/2|1/2|1/2 |1/2 | Priest |1/(2)| 2 | 2 | 2 |1/(2)| 2 | 2 | 2 |1/(2)|1/(2)| Rogue | | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | Ranger | | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | 2 | | Paladin | | | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | Warrior-Mage | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Chaos Warrior | | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | | Monk | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | | 1 | | | High Mage | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Tourist | | | | | | | 1 | | | | BeastMaster | | | | | | 1 | | | | | ForceTrainer | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | | 1 | | 1 | Sorcerer | All realms Red Mage | All realms (Lower rank spellbooks only) --- Class-Specific Magics --- There are eleven class-specific magics (or techniques): - Mindcraft (for Mindcrafter) - Imitation (for Imitator) - Device-Eating-Magic (for Magic-Eater) - Music (for Bard) - Kendo (for Samurai) - The Force (for ForceTrainer) - Blue-Magic (for Blue Mage) - Rage (for Berserker) - Smithery (for Weaponsmith) - Mirror-magic (for Mirror Master) - Ninjutsu (for Ninja) - Shooting (for Sniper) - Hex (for High-Mage) See raceclas.txt#TheClasses [a] for more details. ***** === The Realms of Spellbook Magic === ***** --- Life --- Life magic is very good for healing; it relies mostly on healing, protection and detection spells. Also life magic has a few attack spells as well. It's said that some high level spells 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 `meta` realm, including enchantment and general spells. It provides superb protection 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 enchant your items or 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 has offers Herbal Healing, which is the only powerful healing spell outside the realm of Life magic. Fail rate of Nature spells goes 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 Acid 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 the only realm 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 hellfire can be directed by the caster, but the most powerful spells need his/her own blood as the focus, often hurting the caster in the process of casting. 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. The Fail rate of Death spells goes 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 --- Craft magic is an original realm in Hengband. It provides spells which reinforce the casters physical abilities, including offensive power, defensive power, speed, regeneration, infravision, etc.. The 'Regeneration' and 'Walk through Wall' spells are especially powerful for their spell levels. Craft magic doesn't provide detection spells, but does offer a temporary telepathy spell. ***** --- Daemon --- Daemon magic is an original realm in Hengband. It 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 a 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. ***** --- Hex --- Hex is an abomination of magic, closer to swordsmanship than spell casting. Some of the spells can be cast continuously, like songs, for more powerful effects. Hex spells are good at obstructing opponents and returning damage to those who have damaged the caster. The fail rate of Hex spells goes up for casters aligned towards good. ***** === On Casting Spells ... === Players who select spellcasting characters may notice a few unusual phenomena during the course of the game. Here are a few hints and hints on what may be happening. --- Armor and Spell Casting --- All spellcasting classes are penalized for wielding armor above a certain total combined weight. The threshold varies between 30lbs for a mage and 40lbs for a paladin. 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. --- Mage-Types and Gloves --- Spellcasters who cast spells from spellbooks using INT as the stat determining their spellcasting ability, or Blue-Mages, will 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. 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 can be aimed at a specific target which allows you to target a specific monster 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. ***** === Hints and Tips === If you miss the `old` magic user, try picking Sorcery and Chaos magic to get the most commonly used mage spells early on (Magic Missile, Detect Monsters + Traps + etc, Identify). It is generally a good idea to pick one defensive realm and one offensive realm. For example try using life or sorcery with chaos or death magic. Nature is somewhat neutral: it has both offensive and defensive spells, but is not very generous with either, not at least early in the game. Nature should work best with characters who can use other means to survive until they get the more powerful high level spells. If you pick the realms always in the same order (e.g. nature as your first realm and chaos as your second realm, not the other way around) you will be less confused when trying to pick the correct spellbook to use in the game. If you still get confused trying to select the correct spellbook, try using macros (either the 'full' macros or inscriptions). -- Original : (??) Updated : (??) Updated : Zangband DevTeam Updated : Hengband 1.7.2 ***** [a] raceclas.txt#TheClasses