If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Magic is more complicated, but is largely unchanged from edition to edition. Instead of slots, specific spells are memorised for less flexibility. Priestly and Wizardly magic are entirely different in principle but not in practice. Wizardly spells:

• The process of leaming the correct procedure to cast a spell is difficult and taxing to the mind.
• As the wizard learns spells, he records their arcane notes into his spell books. Without spell books, a wizard cannot memorize new spells.
• Once a wizard memorizes a spell, it remains in his memory until he uses the prescribed components to trigger the casting. Upon casting the energy of the spell is spent, wiped clean from the wiurd’s mind until the wizard studies and memorizes that spell again.
• Spell books are made, and there are rules for making them, and this should happen in downtime.

Thoughts emerging from this: Spell books take up inventory space, have a limited amount of space in them, and if not carried in inventory must be held in a library. But I don’t really feel like the guts should change.

Magic is cast by memorising syllables, and the brain can only accomodate a certain number at once. When the syllables are uttered, the spell disappears from the mind. Because of this limitation, wizards often store spells in scrolls and wands to enhance their power.

Spell books contain between 1 and 5 spells, depending on their level. Spell books are rare and must be sought out in tombs or stolen from towers, and each has its own name and history. The spells on their pages, the characters and formulae burning on the page, urgently attempt to leap from the page. You cannot make a spell book, but once you have one, you can learn the spells within it by researching a spell in downtime. You can either keep spell books in your inventory where they take up one inventory slot each, or you can keep them in a library when you go adventuring.

A wizard can take a watch to memorise spells, preparing the spells they expect to need the following day. They can release previously memorised spells from their mind if there is no further need for them. In order to do so, they must have access to a spell book containing the spell — they cannot memorise a spell whose spell book has been left in the library unless they are in the library. A wizard can memorise a number of spells equal to their level plus 2.

To cast a wizard spell, the wizard simply utters the syllables. If the wizard is interrupted, the spell is not cast, and the syllables are not released from their memory. Some spells have more syllables, and take more time to cast. Some spells require physical actions to work, for example a magic circle to be drawn. These specifics are notes in the description of the spell, and any components required have to be purchased in order for the spell to be cast.

This all feels neat and in the spirit of the game, while simplifying a lot. Wizards are seeking power, so they must find spell books. Spell books cannot be created, so they must carry spell books that are inefficient. But, they can choose their spells, and can make wands and scrolls. All very neat, vancian, it feels wizardly. There’s only one departure, and that’s making a spell book. I feel like that should be it’s own, epic-level downtime action, so I need to add wands, studying spells, and making spell books into downtime. Next up, priestly magic gets a makeover (it was originally in this post, but I got angry.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on wizardly magic, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

30th April 2022