MAGIC

Magic lies at the heart of fantasy and so it does in ODD. Of greatest importance for the players is the acquisition of magic spells and an explanation of how spells are used in the game. The following is a list and brief description of terms regarding magic in ODD with which the players and Referee should be familiar.

ARCANE MAGIC: The type of magic learned by wizards and illusionists. Wizard and illusionist spells are referred to as arcane spells.

DIVINE MAGIC: The type of magic granted to clerics and druids by a deity or other mystical forces. Cleric and druid spells are referred to as divine spells.

SPELL: The formula a character uses to harness magic and give it form, and the casting of which results in a specific magical effect.

SPELL SLOTS: The number of spells (at each spell level) that a character can prepare each day, as reflected on the character class tables.

BONUS SPELLS: Additional spells that can be cast each day as the result of a high score in the related attribute.

KNOWN SPELLS: The spells in a wizard’s spell book or the spells allowed by a cleric or druid’s deity, from which a character can select and prepare spells each day.

PREPARED SPELLS: The spells memorized or prayed for that are ready for a character to cast.

SPELL RESISTANCE: A special ability possessed by certain monsters and characters that may negate spells cast against them.

THE NATURE OF MAGIC

In ODD, two classes can classes cast spells: Clerics and Wizards. Before addressing the specifics spells or their use and acquisition by characters of these classes, it is important to understand the fundamental nature and differences between the magic they utilize.

The magic used by clerics is classified as divine because it is granted to them after prayer or supplication to a deity or other powerful entity or elemental force. In most cases, clerics receive their magic from deities, who may limit or place special restrictions on its use. Thus, clerics act as a conduit, channelling and focusing magic originating from a higher entity. This similarity can be seen in the replication of specific spells, or types of spells, in their spell lists.

The magic used by wizards is classified as arcane because it is learned from ancient knowledge, and passed down from one generation of magic-users to the next, either through apprenticeship or textual record. Wizards, unlike clerics, share very few spells in common – the two forms of arcane magic are quite distant from one another. Wizards use their mystical knowledge to create and give form, or to enhance or physically alter form.

Even when the same spell appears on both the wizard and illusionist spell lists, the casting and effect of the spell is different. Wizardly magic deals with the real and concrete. Even though a wizard may alter reality, that reality is typically perceived in the same way by everyone. These differences affect game play in different ways, but at the least create a fundamental difference between the two spell casting classes. Players, and more importantly Referees, need to keep these differences in mind.

PREPARING SPELLS

Methods for preparing and casting spells is generally the same for characters of all spellcasting classes. Spellcasters must prepare their spells for casting on a daily basis and they utilize roughly the same process to do so.

WIZARDS

Wizards learn complex, arcane formulas to harness magic and give it effect. Their spells are known as arcane spells, and both classes inscribe them, in their own unique language, in a spell book. Each wizard begins play possessing an arcane tome of spells containing those spells they know how to prepare and cast. The number of spells of each level in the book is equal to the number of spells of that level the caster can prepare at one time (including bonus spells).

A wizard’s spell book is typically quite large in size and thickness, averaging about four pages per spell. New spells may be learned and added to spell books through gaining a level, by copying from another spellbook or from scrolls and through research.

Each day, wizards memorize and prepare the spells they intend to cast during the day. A character’s level limits the number of spells the character can prepare and cast each day, although a high or low intelligence score might grant bonus spells or take away from the typical number of daily spells gained.

A wizard must have access to a spell book to study, and sufficient light to read in order to prepare the spells. A character can use a borrowed spell book or a spell book written by another magic-user to prepare a spell the character already knows and has recorded in the character’s own spell book, but read magic must first be cast in order to decipher the writing in the book (see below).

A character needs to sleep and rest for a total of 8 hours each day before preparing spells. The character need not slumber for every minute of that time, but must refrain from movement, combat, spell-casting or any other fairly demanding physical or mental task during the rest period. If the character’s rest is interrupted, each interruption adds one hour to the total amount of time the character has to rest, in order to clear his or her mind. A character must have at least one hour of rest immediately prior to preparing spells for the day. If the character does not need to sleep for some reason, the
character still must have eight hours of restful calm each day before preparing any spells. When the character prepares spells for the coming day, all spells the character has cast within the last eight hours count against the character’s daily limit.

In addition to the complete hour of rest immediately prior to preparing spells for the day, it takes 15 minutes per spell for a character to study a spell book and memorize the spell for the day. A character need not prepare a full complement of spells allowed per day, but preparing even one spell takes at least one hour of rest and 15 minutes of study.

To prepare any spell, the character must have enough peace, quiet and comfort to allow for proper concentration. The character’s surroundings must be free from overt distractions, such as nearby combat or other loud noises. Exposure to inclement weather might prevent the necessary concentration, as would any injury or failed saving throw the character might suffer while studying.

Until a character prepares spells from a spell book, the only spells available to cast are the ones that the character already had prepared from the previous day and has not yet used. During the study period, a wizard chooses which spells to prepare. If a character already has spells prepared from the previous day that have not been cast, the character can abandon some or all of them to make room for new spells.

A character can prepare the same spell more than once each day. Each preparation counts as one spell toward the character’s daily limit for each spell level. If a spell has multiple versions, the character must choose which version to use when the character prepares it, unless the spell description specifies that the choice is made upon casting.

When preparing spells for the day, the character can leave some spell slots open. Later during that day, the character can repeat the preparation process as often as the character likes, time and circumstances permitting, to fill these unused spell slots. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least one hour and 15 minutes of game time. The character cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared spell to replace it with another one, or fill a slot that is empty because the character has cast a spell in the meantime. That sort of preparation can only be done during the first study period after resting.

Once a character prepares a spell, it remains in the character’s mind until the character triggers it through casting or until the character abandons it. Upon casting, the spell is purged from the character’s mind. Certain other events, such as the disruption of a spell during casting, the effects of magic items or special attacks from monsters can wipe a prepared spell from a character’s mind.

If a character dies, all spells stored in the character’s mind are wiped away.

CLERICS

Clerics prepare their spells in largely the same manner. They choose and prepare spells ahead of time, just as a wizard or illusionist would, but clerics do not require spell books. Instead, clerics select and prepare spells ahead of time, through prayer and meditation, at a particular time of day.

Some deities set the time or impose other special conditions for granting spells to their clerics. If some event prevents the character from praying at the proper time, the character must do so as soon as possible thereafter. If the character does not stop to pray for spells at the first opportunity, the character must wait until the next day to prepare spells.

The time required for a divine spellcaster to prepare spells is the same as for a wizard. There must be eight hours of rest each day before prayer, and at least one hour of that rest must be immediately prior to prayer. It takes 15 minutes per spell to pray for and receive the spell. There must be a relatively peaceful environment in which to pray. Unlike arcane magic-users whose choice of spells is limited to those in their spellbook, a cleric may pick any spell from the applicable spell lists unless the character’s deity imposes a restriction.

As with arcane spells, at the time of preparation, any spells cast within the previous eight hours count against the number of spells that can be prepared.

Like arcane magic-users, a divine spellcaster does not have to prepare all of his or her spells at once. However, the character cannot fill a slot that is empty because the character cast a spell or abandoned a previously prepared spell at any time other than during the first daily spell preparation. In all other respects, the spell preparation rules for wizards and illusionists apply to clerics.

ACQUIRING NEW SPELLS

Spellcasters, both arcane and divine, seek to add new spells to their repertoire but the process for adding new spells is different for each group.

WIZARDS

Most arcane spellcasters desire, beyond all other treasure, the acquisition of new spells for their spell books. Wizards and illusionists learn and add new spells through several methods.

GAINING A LEVEL: Just as a fighter constantly practices with his weapons, a wizard or illusionist spends time researching and learning about arcane magic and spells. When a character gains a new level, he chooses one new spell to add to his spell book. The spell chosen must be of a level the character can cast. For example, upon attaining second level, a wizard may add one additional first-level spell to the character’s spell book. The wizard automatically knows the spell and can prepare it.

DECIPHERING SPELLS: To decipher spells in another’s spell book or a scroll, a character must first cast read magic on the spell to be deciphered. Once the character successfully casts read magic, the character can learn or attempt to learn a new spell and add it to a spell book. The rules for adding new spells to a spell book depend upon the source of the spell. Even reading spells already known by a character contained in another’s spell book requires the casting of read magic, because no two spells are inscribed alike. Once a wizard deciphers a spell book or scroll, the character does not need to decipher it again to read it at a later time. Deciphering a magical writing allows the reader to identify the spell and gain some idea of its effects although the character must still learn the spell in order to cast it. If the magical writing is a scroll, the wizard can use the scroll.

LEARNING AND COPYING SPELLS: A character must first decipher the spells contained in a spell book or scroll as described above. Thereafter, the character can learn the new spell from the book by spending one day plus one day per level of the spell being learned in study of it. If the person who created the spell book is on hand to help the reader, the reader can learn the spell in one-half the normal time. The number of days necessary to learn the spell is reduced by a number of days equal to the character’s intelligence modifier, with a minimum of one day. The Referee may choose to require the character to make a successful intelligence check to learn a new spell (after the necessary days of study). Once the new spell is learned, the character can copy it into a spell book, as described below. The process of copying leaves the spell book or scroll from which it was copied unharmed.

WRITING SPELLS: Once a wizard understands a new spell, it can be copied into a spell book. The process requires one day plus one additional day per spell level. Zero-level spells require one day. A spell takes up 2 pages of the spell book per spell level, except zero-level spells, which take up a single page. A normal spell book has 100 pages. Materials for writing a spell cost 100gp per page, per level of the spell.

REPLACING SPELLBOOKS: The same procedure for learning a spell is used to reconstruct a lost spellbook. If the character already has a particular spell prepared, the character can write it directly into a new book at a cost of 100 gp per page. The process wipes the prepared spell from the character’s mind, just as casting it would. If the spell is not prepared, the character may not reconstruct it from memory but can prepare it from a borrowed spellbook and then write it into a new book. Duplicating an existing spellbook uses the same procedure as replacing it, except that the time requirement and cost per page are halved.

RESEARCH: A character can also research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell from the spell list or creating an entirely new one. At the end of the process, the character must write the spell into a spell book as described above.

EQUIPMENT

READING A SCROLL INTO A SPELL BOOK: A character must first decipher the spell contained on a scroll by casting read magic. Because a scroll is magical, and the reduction of the spell to the scroll involves all the necessary components for casting the spell from the scroll, a character can simply read a scroll into a spell book. Doing so copies the spell to the character’s spell book, but destroys the scroll in the process.

CLERICS

Characters who can cast divine spells undertake a certain amount of study of divine magic between adventures. Each time a character receives a new level of divine spells, the character learns the new spells from that level automatically. For example, a cleric reaching third level is granted knowledge of all spells on the second-level cleric spell list by their deity.

Additionally, a cleric or druid can research a spell independently. Only the creator of such a spell can prepare and cast it, unless the character decides to share it with others. Some such creators share their research with their churches, but others do not. The character can create a magic scroll (provided they are high enough level) or write a special text, similar to a spell book, to contain spells the character has independently researched.

Other divine spellcasters who find the spell in written form can learn to cast it, provided they are of sufficient level to do so and are of the same class as the creator. The process requires deciphering the writing (see Divine Magical Writings, below).

DIVINE MAGICAL WRITINGS: Divine spells can be written down and deciphered just as arcane spells can, except read magic is not used to do so. Instead, the character can decipher and learn the new spell from the book by spending one day plus one day per level of the spell being learned in study of it. Only characters who have the spell in question on their classbased spell lists can cast a divine spell from a scroll.

CASTING SPELLS

A character who wishes to cast a spell announces his intention to the Referee during the character’s initiative turn. A character must make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, etc.) when the character begins casting, unless the spell specifies otherwise. The character must make some choice about whom the spell is to affect or where the effect is to originate, depending on the type of spell. The Referee applies whatever results a spell entails using the spell’s description .

To cast a spell, the character must be able to speak (if the spell has a verbal component), gesture (if it has a somatic component), and manipulate the material components or focus (if any).The spell descriptions indicate which components are necessary. Additionally, the character must concentrate to cast a spell (see below). If something interrupts the character’s concentration while casting, the spell is lost and marked off the character’s list of prepared spells. If the character ever tries to cast a spell in conditions where the characteristics of the spell (range, area, etc.) cannot be made to conform, the casting fails and the spell is wasted.

Many spell durations are measured in rounds, minutes, hours, or some other increment. When the duration expires, the spell’s effect ends.

CONCENTRATION

To cast a spell, the character must concentrate. If something interrupts the character’s concentration while the character is casting, the spell is lost and marked off the character’s list of prepared spells. Sometimes, the Referee may allow a concentration check (against the appropriate ability, typically intelligence or dexterity) to see if the spell is simply disrupted (and not lost) or even not interrupted (casting is completed).

Getting hurt or being affected by hostile magic while trying to cast a spell can break the character’s concentration and ruin a spell. If while trying to cast a spell the character takes damage, fails a saving throw or is otherwise successfully assaulted, the character’s casting is disrupted unless the Referee allows a concentration check. The interrupting event strikes during spellcasting if it comes during the time when the character starts and completes a spell (for a spell with a casting time of one full round or more).

Anything that could break the character’s concentration when casting a spell can also break the concentration necessary to maintain a spell. A character can’t cast a spell while concentrating on another one.

The only spells the character can cast while grappling or pinned are those without somatic components and whose material components the character has in hand at the time. Even so, the Referee will often require a concentration check for the character to cast the spell. Vigorous motion, such as from riding a mount, the rocking of a small boat in rough water or simply being jostled in a similar fashion, might necessitate a concentration check.

USING SCROLLS

Scrolls are spells reduced to a portable form. Not only does a scroll contain the text of a spell, all the necessary components, except verbal, have been magically incorporated into the scroll. Before using a scroll, a character must decipher it by casting read magic. The character can then read the scroll aloud, casting the spell contained on it just as if the character had the spell prepared.

The spell’s casting time, range, area of effect, duration and all other details and limitations are no different. A spell contained on a scroll may only be cast once. When a spell is cast from a scroll, the spell disappears or destroys the scroll.

There are some limitations on the use of scrolls, of course. A character must be of a class that can cast the type of spells contained on the scroll. For example, a cleric cannot cast wizard spells from a scroll.

A character can cast a spell from a scroll that they have not learned, recorded in their spell book, or is not on their spell list. However, the character must be of a high enough level to cast the level of spell found on the scroll. For example, a 2nd level wizard finds a scroll and casts read magic on it, revealing that it contains the 1st level spell magic missile. The wizard had not previously learned magic missile, and does not have it recorded in his spell book. The wizard, however, can cast 1st level spells and thus can cast magic missile from the scroll.

A character can attempt to use a scroll to cast a spell of a level they are not normally able to cast, but they must first make an intelligence check to do so. A penalty to the intelligence check equal to the level of the spell is applied to the roll. Failure indicates that the spell fails and the scroll is destroyed.

For example, the 2nd level wizard deciphers a scroll bearing teleport, which is a 5th level spell the wizard cannot normally cast. The wizard attempts to cast the spell from the scroll, but he must first make a successful intelligence check with a challenge level of five.

Spells can be learned and copied from scrolls normally, and doing so does not destroy the scroll.

« Index « Back