Encyclopedia Magical: Wizardry Rules

Wizardry

Many forms of magic exist in the realities, wizardry is one of them.  Some say it is closely related to spirit magic, others say it is a stunted version of sorcery practiced by those who know no better.  In any case it is acknowledged as a powerful form of magic which practiced in some lands.

Who can learn wizardry?

Anyone with the proper amount of will power (POW 15), of strong mind and access to wizardry can learn spells. Shamans do not have the proper mind sets to be able to learn wizardry. Sorcerers do not learn wizardry since most consider it inferior and find that it is taxing on their presence.  Theists regard wizards similar to sorcerers and tend to avoid it.

Learning Wizardry

A wizard "learns" a spell by inscribing it into his spell book. This can be done in one of four ways.

By Scholarly Research

This option requires a library, and a character needs to be able to read the languages in which the books are written.  The libraries of the best reputation are associated with wizardry schools, but various wizards, scholarly groups, and individuals also may posses fine private libraries.

Each library possess a multiplier from x1 to x3; the higher the number the better the source. A character may research in the library to discover a spell that may exist or be implied in the somewhere in the library material. The number of weeks needed to learn a spell is equal to 1d10 - 1 week per each 50% of relevant languages the character can Read/Write, but never less than 1 week.

At the end of this period the chance of successfully inscribing a spell in the spell book is equal to the characters INT times the libraries multiplier.  Failure indicates the character must start from the beginning to try another INT. roll.

If research is aimed at creating a new spell a successful Magic Lore roll.

By Studying Other Spell Books

Though mostly thought of as a bound books, a spell book may be a scroll, a staff carved with runes, or some sort of record, protected perhaps by being in cipher or being set down in form not quickly recognizable.

There are no limits, other than physical space, to a number of spells which could be inscribed in spell book. A duplicate spell book can be started at any time.

A character must be able to read the writing to be able to learn from it. If the Read/Write skill is less than 90% in the appropriate language, then a roll must be made to judge comprehension.

Once the material is read, to learn a spell from another's spell book, a character attempts an INTx1 roll once for every week of study. A successful roll indicates a spell has been inscribed in the characters spell book.

By Being Taught Wizardry

Learning a spell from another wizard is usually quicker than researching it in a library or puzzling it out from another source. A character being taught gets an INTx3 roll every week he is taught.

By Being Gifted

A deity or other "over-lordly" being may imprint knowledge of a spell in the memory, or in the spell book, of a character. Such gifts often have strings attached to them.

Memory Limits

Wizards, like sorcerers and shamans, require free intelligence to remember their spells. Each spell consumes one point of free INT, regardless of how many times it is memorized. To memorize a wizardry spell while at Free INT limit, a character must forget another spell from memory. This process called is readying. This is relatively time consuming, and is done well in advance of casting the spell. Once cast, a spell must be readied again for use.

Each school of Wizardry has an associated <wizardry school> Lore skill. The level of a spell which can be readied is determined by the corresponding Lore skill divided by 10. The number of spells of a particular level, which can be readied can be determined by dividing the Lore skill by the level of a (spell x 5). There is no limit on the number of 0 level spells which can be readied.

Readying a spell from a spell book, takes 10 minutes for each level of spell to be cast and a successful Memorization check. A spell can be readied more than once, but each additional spell of the same type accrues a cumulative -10% penalty to the Memorization skill. For example, were a spell of 6th level, then the wizard would need an hour to ready it. At the end of this time the wizard would need to succeed in his Memorization roll. If he were to try to ready another spell of the same type it would take another hour and the Memorization would be at -10%.

For example: Jorash has an Conjuration Lore of 30% and INT 15. Jorash can therefore ready up to 15 different Wizardry spells. He could therefore, ready: 3 - one point Conjuration spells, 1 - two point Conjuration spell, and 1 - three point Conjuration spell. If he chooses to ready three of the same one point spell, then these spells would only take up 3 points of INT.

Spell Casting

A spell can affect one or more person, entity, or thing. All Wizardry spells take SR equal to the points of the spell to cast, unless specified otherwise in the spell description.

Casting a spell requires a roll of:

100 + STR - enc

Where STR is the casters Strength, and enc is his total encumbrance. After the spell is begun, the caster can do nothing else and must make a Concentration roll in order to finish it if he takes damage or is under adverse conditions. If a casters Concentration is broken or the casting roll is failed the spell is never the less gone from memory and must be readied again.

Wizardry spells can not be boosted with additional magic points to help them overcome magical defenses. Spells of one type can be stacked. Stacked spells are considered as only one spell for purposes of overcoming defensive magic, dispelling, and time to cast. Additional stacking adds 1/2 their points to the effective magic points of the spell. For example a 4 point spell will be stopped by a Countermagic 6, but three stacking of a 4 point spell count as a 8 point spell and will easily penetrate that same Countermagic 6. The exact effects of stacking are listed in each spell's description.

Unless otherwise specified wizardry spells have a Range of 20 meters and last for 1 minute.

Once cast, and unless specified otherwise, a spell needs no maintenance, and continues in effect whether or not the target then moves out of range.