=== Introduction to the PernAngband (4.x.x) Magic System === In the official releases of Angband there are only two types magic spells: Magic spells and priestly prayers. If the character is a mage, ranger or a rogue (s)he can learn magic spells; if (s)he is a priest or a paladin, (s)he can learn prayers. All mages can learn the same spells and all priests can learn the same spells. PernAngband uses a more complex "realms of magic" system improved (or so we hope) from ZAngband, which in turn was inspired by the commercial fantasy strategy game Master of Magic (Microprose), which in turn supposedly borrowed it from the card game _Magic the Gathering_ (by Wizards of the Coast). The magic system, as it is implemented in PernAngband, consists of four major realms and eight minor realms. The major realms are Nether, Valarin, Shadow, and Magery. It may be convenient to think of the realms as being a wheel: Nether stands opposite of Valarin, and Shadow of Magery. Between Nether and Shadow lies the subtle Illusion realm, while the gap between Nether and Magery is bridged by the wizards' realm of Sigaldry. The Crusade realm lies between Valarin and Magery, and the harnessing of natural energies of the Tribal realm is between Shadow and Valarin. Aside from these, there are the realms of special magic, utilized by select classes such as Harpers or Mimics. ************************************* * REALMS OF PERNANGBAND * * * * Tribal * * * * | * * | * * Shadow | Valarin * * | * * Illusion - - - -+- - - - Crusade * * | * * Nether | Magery * * | * * | * * * * Sigaldry * * * * Illusion+ (Illusionists only) * * Music (Harpers only) * * Symbiotic (Symbiants only) * * Chaos (Chaos Warriors and * * Daemonologists only) * * Daemon (Daemonologists only) * * * ************************************* In standard Angband, the type of a character's spell ability was determined solely by the character class. In PernAngband, most spellcasting classes can select one (or even two) types from the realms of magic available. (See later for available realms/class.) The system of magic in PernAngband is similar to that of standard Angband, but with subtle, underlying differences that do make a significant difference. Spellcasters choose their realms, but are allowed only a set allotment of them. In standard Angband, there were 9 spellbooks for all spellcasters. In PernAngband, there are 9 each for the major realms and 4 each for the minor realms. The first four books of a major realm and the first two books of a minor realm can be bought in a store (Valarin and Crusade spellbooks in the town temple, the rest in the bookshop; of course the Black Market may stock any spellbook.) A character with one major realm and one minor realm might thus be carrying a whopping 13 spellbooks, while a character with only one half-realm of magic (rogues, rangers, paladins, and monks) will only need to carry four at the maximum. All major realms have 64 spells, dispersed throughout the books, and all minor realms have 32 spells, 8 in each book. It is important to note that the more spells studied in one realm, the more effective spells from that realm will be for the caster. This represents the relative proficiency of a spellcaster who specializes in one realm. === Character Classes and Spell Ability === WARRIORS: Warriors cast no spells. They hate magic. In fact, they even gain experience for destroying high level spellbooks. MAGES: Mages have the least restrictions in choosing and learning spells. Even then, they are still bound in certain ways. All eight realms are available to them, but the realms cannot be chosen upon a whim. Mages can learn up to 64 spells thus having to choose which spells tp learn. PRIESTS: Priests choose one or two related disciplines. If they opt for a major realm, they may take any except Magery. For minor realms, they may choose from the realms Illusion, Tribal, Crusade, and Tribal. Priests can learn up to 64 spells. However, they do not choose which spells they learn, but the spells are granted to them by greater powers (without a money-back guarantee). ROGUES: Rogues are not expert spellcrafters, but may nevertheless learn some minor magicks. They may choose any realm except Valarin but can only use the first four books. Rogues can learn 24 spells. RANGERS: At one with the wilderness, rangers may choose among the realms of Valarin, Illusion, and Tribal. They have no limitations as to which books they are allowed to use, but can learn only up to 32 spells no matter they realm choice. PALADINS: Paladins are holy warriors, and as such they may choose one devotion from among Nether, Valarin, and Crusade. The Nether Paladin is one of sinister aspect, wielding power over the undead. His counterpart, the Valarin Paladin, focuses on harnessing the powers of good to aid him. The Crusade Paladin is a more warlike fighter, using his spells to enhance his skill in battle. Paladins may learn up to 32 spells. WARRIOR MAGES: Warmages begin the game with Sigaldry, and they can freely select any other minor realm of magic. They can eventually learn 48 spells. CHAOS WARRIORS: Chaos Warriors are, as one might expect,trained in Chaos magic. They are not interested in any other form of magic. They can learn every Chaos spell. MONKS: The different sects of monks are devoted to different areas of magic. The typical monk utilizes his internal powers, and uses the Tribal realm. A monk who serves the greater powers can choose the Valarin realm, while monks who deal with the phantasmal can take the realms of Shadow or Illusion. Nativist monks could take the Tribal realm. Monks who take one of the major realms can only learn from the first four books. Monks can learn up to 24 spells. MINDCRAFTER: Although the powers of a Mindcrafter may seem like magic, this is not -- strictly speaking -- the case. They are mental powers, independent of the ordinary sources of magic. Consequently, Mindcrafters are not interested in 'magic' and learn no spells. HIGH MAGES: High mages can learn only 48 spells but they learn them better than the normal mages. They can chose a Major realm or two Minor realms. BEASTMASTER: They use no realms of magic. Instead they have a powerfull summoning ability that allow them to call for help some pets and to gain experience from their kills. WIZARD: This is the old mage from Angband. They don't use realms of magic. They have their own realm and 9 books. PRIOR: This is the old priest from Angband. They don't use realms of magic. They have their own realm and 9 books. SORCERER: The Sorcerer can't fight with a weapon unless it's a Mage Staff. But they can use every spell of every magic realm(that mean they can't use the harper's books for exemple since those are songs). ALCHEMIST: Alchemists are extremely proficient with all kinds of magical devices, and have made a fine art of extracting, storing, and using these objects' magical energies. Because they neither fight well nor cast powerful spells, alchemists rely on their craftsmenship to cope with the dangers of the dungeons. They will quickly learn to create damage-dealing wands, rods, and staffs, forge powerful weapons and armour, make highly useful objects of other kinds, and eventually will understand the perilous art of artifact creation itself. The alchemaic techniques are accessed using the 'm' key. An alchemist may then 'E'xtract power, 'A'dd power, or (when sufficiently experienced) 'C'reate an artifact. Many (but not all) potions, scrolls, wands, staffs, rods, rings, and amulets contain useable magical energies. An alchemist taps that energy, using the technique "'E'xtract power" to create one or more essences of a type appropriate to the original object. The drained object itself is now called "of nothing". Unlike any other kind of object, it can have new magics added to it. An alchemist can add power to such items by using essences he made or found. He does this with the technique "'A'dd power". He can then select a kind of essence, then the object he wishes to restore magic to. If he has enough essences, and the object does not already have magics in it, the alchemy succeeds. A few pointers: -Recipies are - usually - logical. Acid essences don't make Dragon Weapons. -Not all objects or ego-item types can be made using alchemy. -Alchemy is partially reversible. Anything but weapons and armour that can be enchanted using essences will also create them if drained, but extra wand and staff charges have no effect. Some Recipies: Any alchemist worth his salt knows lots of recipes. Here are some to get the beginner started, and others may be discovered by trial and error. essences of Acid: 8 essences + any ordinary weapon = acid branding 8 essences + Ring of Nothing = Ring of Acid 2 essences + Wand of Nothing = Wand of Acid Bolts 2 essences + Wand of Acid Bolts = one additional charge 5 essences + Rod of Nothing = Rod of Acid Bolts 1 essence + Scroll of Nothing = Scroll of Curse Armour 2 essences + Amulet of Nothing = Amulet of Resist Acid HARPER: While any class can use musical instruments, only harpers can tap the power of voice to aid themselves and hinder, dismay, and kill their foes. Unlike the spells of other classes, some songs can be persistant - if the harper is prepared to continue making the considerable effort needed to keep some tunes going. This means that a low-level harper can have a lulling song playing in the background while he uses beams of concentrated sound to slay the critters he slows down. Harpers have four spellbooks, and play songs the same way as other classes cast spells. The most important song in any book is the second one they learn: "Stop Singing". A harper will also appreciate a collection of musical instruments. All instruments activate for songs, which allows the harper to spend his precious energies on music that can only be found in spellbooks. Some rarer instruments increase Charisma (a harper's spell stat) and grant various resistances. Artifact instruments exist; they possess unique powers. POSSESSOR: The strange art of reanimating the corpse of a monster and making it one's own can be of extreme benefit to those skilled in it. The body the player possesses can grant powerful abilities, such as increased speed, summoning, healing, breathing, and various resistances, and often gives the player a large number of hit points. Possessing uniques is especially neat. Possessors leave their own body by using the 'm' command, and choosing "[I]incarnating powers". They then become a very vulnerable ghostly being which travels to where another corpse is lying on the floor, and possesses it by again using the 'm' command. Once possessed, many monster corpses allow the player to perform various special actions (such as blinking or summoning) by using the option "[U]se your race powers". All corpses alter the player's melee attacks. The player always gets one normal blow, but the next four (if present) are altered to those of the monster whose corpse the player is now possessing. While the player always has access to all of the monster blows, he will still lose four normal blows if the monster only has one. These modified attacks may be very powerful, and do various nasty things to your foes, but do not take advantage of plusses to hit or to damage. POWER-MAGE: Power-Mages can wreak an amazing amount of destruction, and they don't even need spellbooks to do it. As they gain levels (up to 40), they memorize new, randomly generated, attack spells. Note that they possess no guaranteed utility or alteration magics, and can never alter themselves. Power-Mages just kill. They use their magics through the 'm' key. They then select a general group of spells, followed by a specific spell. Power Mages can learn more about a specific spell by browsing it; this is very useful for chooosing the perfect spell for the occasion. Power-Magely spells can take the form of a bolt, a beam, a ball (either centered on the caster or targettable), a meteor shower (multiple balls in the vicinity of the caster), or an area (effects all monsters in line of sight). RUNECRAFTER: No other spellcaster can fine-tune magics quite like the Runecrafter, who combine runes that control magical type and effects, and then decides just how much effort the spell needs. Runecrafters can envoke the most powerful magics of any class, but are always desperately hungry for mana. They can get more mana by increasing Dexterity (their spell stat), and by wielding special Mage Staffs. Runecrafters combine runes using the 'm' command. They first select a rune that controls magic type, then apply one or more runes to fine-tune effects, (pressing ESC when done), and then input the amount of mana they wish to expend on the spell. Spell Types (Some kinds are not listed, and are left for the reader to discover...): Knowledge: Identify all objects in affected grids, Self-knowledge if Self rune is used. Life: Heals monsters in affected grids, heals player if Self rune is used. Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid: Casts magics of that element. Elements: Unresistable damage. Mind: A mind blast that badly effects intelligent monsters. Temporary ESP if Self rune is used. Gravity: A gravity spell that both does damage and wisks affected creatures around. Spell Effects (all are listed): Self: Effects the caster. This rune can be used with any other; if used alone, only the caster's grid is affected. Arrow: Spell will include a bolt effect. This allows aiming. Ray: Spell will include a beam effect. This allows aiming. Increases difficulty slightly. Sphere: Spell will end with a circular explosion. Increases difficulty a bit. Can be used alone, or with Self, Arrow, or Ray. Power Surge: Not currently recommended for use. Increases difficulty a lot. Armageddon: Hurls down meteors of the magical type in the vicinity of the caster. Increases difficulty noticably, but can do a great deal of damage. SYMBIANT: Symbiants rely on the partnerships they form, hypnotizing creatures and then "wearing" them: "I get by with a little help from my friends.". Depending on the monster, this does nothing except protect the player slightly (the worn monster takes some of the damage the player would otherwise) or grant some very powerful attacks and summons. Symbiants only have two spellbooks, one found deep in the dungeon, but have more than enough spells to keep their symbiotic relationships strong. They cast spells normally, and can hypnotize adjacent creatures that cannot move by using the 'U' command ('O' for roguelike commands). The monster becomes an object, and can be worn. Symbiants, unlike any other class, don't have to worry about being attacked by the monster they are wearing. WIZARD & PRIOR They are just the old mage & priest from vanilla Angband ILLUSIONNIST Illusionnists focus on the strange Illusion realm and can't use any other realms, but they can use ALL the illusion spells(other class can only use the ones of the normal books) DRUID A druid is in communion with the nature and the primal mana flow of the earth which he can channel to it's own use. NECROMANCER Necromancers have very special powers(actived by 'U') and can use the nether realm. But their most special ability is that they can survive to their own death. A necromancer when killed become an undead, slowly rotting away and must kill a certain amount of monsters to drain life from them to come back to life. If he/she dies in the undead form he/she realy dies. DAEMONOLOGIST Daemonologists are trained in Chaos and Daemon magic, and they can learn every spells from these two realms. === Realms Description === CRUSADE: Drawing power from both divine and sorcerous sources, the Crusade realm seeks to aid the warrior in battle. Its spells are aimed at enhancement of fighting abilities as well as directly dealing damage to the enemy. Wielded by holy warriors, it is not as powerful as the major realms, but one who uses it can be a formidable threat to any monster. SIGALDRY: Employed by minor wizards and dabblers in the alchemical arts, Sigaldry focuses on drawing out relatively weak elemental and inner powers to both strike enemies and infuse energy into immobile objects. Associated strongly with the more potent magics of Wizardry, it serves adequately as an all-purpose spells school. VALARIN: The Valar, stewards of Eru, possess the inherent power of the world itself. Drawing out the enchantments of earth, water, and air, the Valarin realm harnesses light and life to aid its devotees. Having the fullest complement of healing spells, the primeval powers of the universe can also be unleashed in lightning and earthquake and even the rain of falling stars. The highest power given to followers allows them to become equal in power to the Valar themselves, albeit for a limited time. NETHER: The dominion of Morgoth has permanently altered the infra- structure of the earth, imbuing it with his native power that is the Nether realm. The powers of the undead and corrupted life are at the call of a Nether adept, as well as the invocations of haunting fear and eternal darkness. The lifeblood of the caster must sometimes be sacrificed to harness the awesome destructive potentials of the realm. === Notes on Summoned / Charmed Creatures === A friendly creature can be a mixed blessing. At first sight, one might think that they can make the game much easier. It is of course highly satisfying to send your pet Hell Wyrm into a Troll pit and wait outside, listening for the howls of agony and terror, the sounds of guts splattering, bones crunching and so on. But one should not expect to gain any experience for such a combat: you will only gain experience for creatures to whom you deliver the death blow yourself. New experiences require hazards, nobody gains experience by sitting home watching the TV. Secondly, friendly monsters are often so eager to destroy your opponents they may forget all about you, and you get trampled under their feet as they charge at your foe. They are not as smart as the regular monsters, since they have given up their free will to serve you. So don't stand next to that Snaga when your pet Cyberdemon brandishes its rocket launcher! Pets are also rather easily irritable. Once you do something which causes the slightest discomfort to them, they will revert to their normal behaviour and consider you their main target. This is something to think about before lighting up a room if you have pet orcs. Needless to say, nobody wants to be your friend if you are aggravating them. Finally, it takes a lot of mental energy to maintain the control over the charmed monsters. The first monster or the first few are 'free', but after that maintaining the control will start taxing your mana regain rate. The higher the sum of the levels of your pets the less mana you will be able to regain. Keep this in mind if you have a pet which can summon or otherwise produce more pets... Mainly written by Akhronath.