Draft:Spellcasting
Spellcasting uses learned magic and mana to produce attacks, protections, information and travel effects. Omega has 41 spells. Research, organizations and special rewards expand your repertoire; individual spell pages explain their targets, effects and practical uses. Monster magic follows separate rules.[1]
Learning spells
There is no requirement to join a magical profession before using a spell you know. The available routes differ in predictability and in what happens when the spell is already known.[2]
| Route | What it teaches | If already known |
|---|---|---|
| Collegium research, noncursed scroll of spells, or manaburst remains | One randomly selected spell, subject to a research check | A successful attempt halves the current recorded cost, rounded up |
| Guild, religious and club rewards | The spell or spells specified by that reward | No cost reduction |
| Wish for Knowledge | One randomly selected spell, without the research check | Halves the recorded cost, rounded down, with a minimum of 1 |
| Identified Kolwynia | All 41 spells | No cost reduction |
Research includes already-known spells and does not let you choose a target. The Collegium accepts paid research from eligible outsiders as well as members; guild rewards instead give specific spells at particular ranks. A cursed scroll of spells removes knowledge rather than performing research. Kolwynia must be identified before use: using it unknown is fatal.[3]
Research difficulty
Let D be the selected spell's current recorded cost, and T = 4 × Intelligence + 8 × character level. Research compares T with a uniformly selected integer from D through 5D − 1, and succeeds only when T is larger.
| Condition | Research success chance |
|---|---|
| T ≤ D | 0 |
| D < T < 5D | (T − D) / (4D) |
| T ≥ 5D | 100% |
This chance applies after a spell has been selected from the 41 possibilities. It is not the chance of getting a particular desired spell. Learning a new spell grants 10D experience; making a known spell cheaper grants no experience. Research credit or a scroll is consumed even if the attempt fails. Positive blessing does not improve the research check.[4]
For example, at Intelligence 15 and level 0, T is 60. A cost-10 spell is certain to pass the research check if selected; a cost-20 spell succeeds half the time. This is a learning calculation, not a spellcasting failure rate.
Casting and targets
On a local map, press m, type enough of a known spell's name to distinguish it, then press Enter. ? lists matching known spells and their recorded mana costs. Escape at this spell-selection prompt cancels without spending mana or giving monsters the ordinary response to a command. The countryside command set has no direct spellcasting command.[5]
Fear prevents casting. Otherwise, after a valid selection the game checks mana, subtracts the actual cost, and applies the spell. The common casting action takes 12 clock ticks; spell-specific sequences can take additional time. There is no additional general roll for Intelligence, armor or a magical school at this command stage. Individual spells can still have their own hit checks, resistance, failures or unsuitable targets; wishing has a concentration check of its own.[6]
For a spell with a map target, move its cursor with the movement keys and confirm with .. An inventory-targeted spell instead asks for an accessible item. Mana is spent before these later prompts: cancellation or an ineffective target does not automatically refund it. Some target routines also handle Escape incorrectly; apportation and clairvoyance describe their specific limitations.[7]
Mana cost
The spell list and information cards give each spell's initial base cost. Research and Knowledge wishes can reduce the cost recorded for your character. The spell-selection menu displays that recorded value, before the moon's modifier is applied.[8]
| Lunar influence | Actual cost for recorded cost D |
|---|---|
| Favorable | floor(D / 2) |
| Ordinary | D |
| Contrary | 2D |
A recorded cost of 3 therefore costs 1, 3 or 6 mana. A recorded cost of 1 can cost zero under favorable lunar influence: the casting adjustment has no minimum-one clamp.[9]
The lunar check normally runs at midnight, using a 24-day phase cycle. Druid followers are favored at either half moon; sufficiently lawful characters (alignment greater than +10) are favored at full moon, and sufficiently chaotic ones (below -10) at new moon. Contrary influence applies to Druids at new or full moon, lawful characters at new moon, and chaotic characters at full moon, unless a favorable condition has already matched. Other cases are ordinary. These rules are evaluated at the lunar check, so a later alignment change is not an immediate recalculation.[10]
Replenishing mana
The ordinary mana capacity is Power × (character level + 1). This calculated capacity is not a hard cap on stored mana: some effects set the current amount above it.[11]
| Method | Result |
|---|---|
| Gain a character level | Refill to at least the new ordinary capacity, retaining a larger existing reserve |
| Circle's mana service | Refill to ordinary capacity; fee is 100 Au per character level, halved for members |
| Powtab | Set current mana to twice ordinary capacity |
| A Power wish | Set current mana to ten times ordinary capacity |
These are different operations: an effect that sets a fixed multiple can reduce an even larger reserve, whereas the Circle and a level gain preserve excess mana. The normal minute, ten-minute and hourly recovery checks do not provide routine passive mana regeneration; the regeneration status actually spends mana to heal wounds. Use the relevant service or item page for its access conditions and risks.[12]
Losing spell knowledge
Learned spells are not expended simply by casting ordinary magic. Specific effects can remove them: a cursed scroll of spells forgets a known spell, a village stone outcome can also do so, and Hecate's punishment for abandoning her can erase the whole repertoire. Wishing forgets itself after reaching its wish effect, so it must be learned again. These are knowledge changes, distinct from running out of mana.[13]
Strategy
Seek predictable teaching when a particular spell is central to your plan. Identification has early religious and college routes; object detection comes with thieves' membership; Return comes with the Explorers' Club. Random research broadens your options but cannot guarantee the one emergency spell you lack.
Check the lunar situation and your remaining reserve before an expedition. Relearning an expensive spell can make a large practical difference, while repeated reductions of an already cheap one offer less. Cheap reconnaissance may save the mana and health a blind encounter would cost, but repeated surveys of an unchanged area are wasteful.
Keep an alternative for effects you may need while afraid or out of mana. A potion or charged item spends a different resource, and its effect parameters may differ from the similarly named spell. Consult the independent spell and item pages rather than assuming they are interchangeable.
References
- ↑ spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 496–626; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 724–744; command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 489–518.
- ↑ command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 489–518.
- ↑ effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 271–307; guild2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 279–445; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 120–129; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 113–115; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 613–620; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 292–307; etc.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 120–225; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 235–260.
- ↑ effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 271–307; guild2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 417–441; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 120–129.
- ↑ command1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 75–77; command1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 255–329; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 432–442; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 724–852; command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 489–518.
- ↑ command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 489–518; command1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 75–77; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 8–25; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 194–235.
- ↑ aux1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 532–558; command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 503–514; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 501–517; effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 239–256; effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 547–559.
- ↑ spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 496–626; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 746–764; effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 295–298; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 613–620.
- ↑ command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 503–514.
- ↑ aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 284–305; aux3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 31–38; scr.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 40–54.
- ↑ char.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 172–175; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 585–588; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 412–417.
- ↑ aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 451–478; guild2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 599–623; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 412–417; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 585–588; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 186–280; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 340–447; aux3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 10–47.
- ↑ effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 275–285; aux3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1028–1035; priest.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 179–196; spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 8–25.