Below you’ll find bits and pieces that were gathered from several sources, like the Old LI Updates, The Tome, and The Chronicler’s Corner. Let three points be noted here:
* Spells that are recorded as “Method=Strength” always need to overcome the MAR of the target, whether character, force or province! Also if it is not explicitly stated in the individual spell description.
* Reports like “PC gets hot and cold”/”gets headache”/”hears whispering”/ etc. indicate that a spell was cast on the PC (succesfully or not!), but there is no relation between type of message and type of spell.
* When the Target is an item or ingredient, do not forget to put down the “I” before the id#.
Spells
#1-4: For Shells of Protection, look at the special subject file on Shells on this website.
#14: The Wizard Staff gives free points to any spell cast by a Wizard, whether the spell is inside or outside the Wizard discipline.
#21: The amount of mana received cannot be more than the base mana pool (= his arcane level without adds from items) of the target.
#23: A stoned character can still do Basic Orders (like Unequip), but no Character actions. When returned to flesh, he will have the same wounds that he had at the moment when he was turned to stone; so he is frozen in time, and does not deteriorate (outside the possibility of slowly healing at production). Poison, however, does rot him.
#26: has the same restrictions as spell #243, meaning that the teleporter must have movement above zero, better not have mounts in his possession slots and no prisoner in his charge.
#29 to #32: A combat slot’s morale cannot go above 150 or below 50.
#31+#32: can only be used against Legions, not against Locations.
#43: Insane PCs cannot do orders T1/T15, have a 30% chance of Character actions working, experience insane random effects (+50% to -50%) when doing combat, and negative effects when doing most character orders.
#48: All Charm spells (#48, #49) use ‘pure’ Base Prestige (=without any adds from Marks, Titles, etc.). NB: The Charmed target can do only one action for the whole month!
#49: Applies to Monster races (#281+) and to Monster statusses (Undead etc.). As you cannot assign NPCs to combat slots (B8), you can only assign a monster when you have control over it, e.g. when it is Charmed at the moment you issue the B8 order. And when the Charm wears off? Then you’ll have to run… as it could turn against you, after checking who annoyed him last… Actually there are two different situations. (a) When it finds itself in a Party or other non-location when it comes to its senses, then there is “a hefty chance that it will bite your leg off, eat your warhorse, take some of your stuff, and head for the hills ….” (David Wrobel, MG). So take care not to be around when the Charm wears off; just put it in a force all by itself, and hope it will not desert, so you can send it marauding into your neighbour’s yard. (b) When you assigned it to a location, however, it is presumed that you were able to chain it securely to a walll, in which case it will resign itself to the inevitable, and be a loyal moat monster! NB: You can cast the spell on a prisionner, so if you have caught a monster in a lair battle, don’t release him first before trying this spell. NB: Usually, monsters in ruins are the best targets for this spell, provided they do not own a party in a ruins. In other words, your chances are best if you spot a ruins party with 3 monsters, and pick on the two beasties listed last (as they will not have big prestige, unlike ruins party owners or lair monsters).
#52: Blend Location is to be used for hiding villages, lairs etc; for as soon as the location gets fortifications and more than 2000 population, the spell is not really effective.
#56: It has also a +25% missile attack add, not only +25% AF.
#83: Remember that a character with over 50% wounds has a very, very good chance of retreating from a battle before the Magical Attack Round. But there is a very small chance that he will cast any battle/duel spell anyhow, and than retreat (or not retreat, if healed by spell #83). So putting very wounded spell casters in safe reserve slots could pay. For the front slots, doing a Rest or drinking a Draught to get wounds just below 50%, and then hit with Emphatic Selfcure, seems the wiser option. NB: This at least is the official (Midnight Games) standpoint. But most veterans (me included!) would state with emphasis that wound checks are made after the Surprise missile round and after the Magical round, meaning that as long as you avoid surprising your foe, you will always cast your spells, also Emphatic Selfcure if you have 99% wounds…!
#85-#89: You can rite someone who is of a Hated race, so they can train troops of their race, however, they may also rip your throat out, defect, and do other hostile things.
#91-97: When Gathering Resources by Unseen Servants, you will get 10 units of resource per spell point, up to the resource capacity of the province. Should you try to gather more than this capacity in one month then the spell could backfire by reducing (with at most 33%) the permanent rating of the resource in the province. So: one summoning per month up to the the resource capacity is safe. But summoning above the capacity, either by doing one excessive casting, or two castings in one turn or month who together exceed the province’s capacity, will have a good change of having some permanent resource level being blown away. Note that this only applies to tapping resources by spells; any tapping by miners in the same month is not relevant.
#106-110: Elementals tend to know Production Secrets (the only thing they are apparantly good for).
#111: Check out the subject file about Familiars on this website.
#112-125: Imps tend to be coverts (thief, rumormonger, assassin), and the same goes for the Djinns (spy); Efreets and Daemons are at best fighters, and the latter will nearly always wound the summoner.
#127: Is not an ‘overall bonus’ (no DF add), and the +50% bonus only applies to the Charge round.
#129: Will also reduce SEI.
#143: The Read Character spell (#143) reports the Effective Prestige (=with Marks, Titles, etc.) of the target, as well as most of his statistics (but not MAR/SAR).
#151-153: If the scry on a force was cast from within that same force, the MAR of that force will still count as shell and needs to be overcome; ditto for guilds. Only if the target is a character inside that force, then the force’s MAR will not add. So what you must look at is what the direct object of the spell is. Think of the MARs as shells and if you are under one and looking to a smaller target within, then the shell above you does not hinder you, but if you are trying to look at it from above and the target is the place you are in, then you have to pierce the shell that is protecting both you and the target. See the file on Shells on this website.
#155: Target may be the id# of any of the two ingredients, either precious gems or cinderoak. It gives free points to any spell cast by the Seer, for spells inside and outside of the Seer discipline.
#160-#174: These spells are capped at a 100% increase, i.e. they may not increase the characteristics beyond an amount equal to the ‘pure’ base value (=without adds from statuses and items) of the relevant statistic.
#185: Only works on status #371, not on other statusses of the status tree.
#214: Check out the subject file about Blessings on this website.
#217: Cannot be cast on Cloud Castles.
#226: Will only take effect on the province in which the caster is .
#240: Only gives id# of forces present; will only take effect on the province in which the caster is.
#243: When overburdened, a Teleport spell will fail – to be able to teleport, one needs to be mobile, but can be overburdened. In other words: your burden must be less than twice your Carrying Capacity. Your mount just adds to your CC, as with normal movement, and doesn’t become ‘dead weight’, provided the animal is Equiped; then it freely teleports along with you. Mounts (and wagons) in possession slots, however, do not add CC but become dead weight!
This is another matter than activating an item that teleports you, in which case you’ll have the wanted success even if you’re overburdened!
Powerpoints are scattered randomly (also in lakes or sea) – expect 1 in 20 provinces (or worse).
#247: Target is province, Qualifier is direction.
#257: Target is either Silver I #419 or the id# of the Holy Symbol. Take care that you have a possession slot free to receive the symbol: it cannot pop up in the slot in which the used silver was.
#259-#270: Summons a Lesser Demigod with Priest skill and 5 actions.
#285: This is the equivalent to Charm Character, and thus cannot be used on Monsters or people with a monster status! Note that unlike with Charm, prestige does not have to be overcome by Geases.
#288+#290: These spells will also affect prisoners and PCs in guilds.
#294: you can convert prisoners, but you cannot convert dead characters.
#431-437, #441-444: You can also summon soldiers when you are not in the target force (e.g. when you are in a guild, and the target is a legion outside the city gates).
You may only summon into an empty slot of a force you own. If you have set that slot to accept transfers from someone else the spell will cancel that order and revert the slot to be owned by you. So summoning soldiers in a slot you do not own (in a force you do own!) will not fail, nor will the soldiers go to the other player, but you will have ownership of the slot revert back to you.
This article is reproduced with kind permission from “Aayko’s The Legends Corner”.