Casting a spell is a two-part process. First, the spell must be "prepared" by the adept who taps the power of
other planes of existence in order to power the spell. Preparation of a spell is subject to certain limitations. Once
prepared, the spell is "loosed" by an expenditure of energy in the form of fatigue Points to direct the pent-up power
and give it the desired form. Once loosed, a spell will either impact or fail. If it impacts, it may take effect or it
may simply dissipate. If it fails, the spell may backfire. The spell may be especially effective in terms of range,
duration, or effect if it is cast particularly accurately.
The casting character's player announces that a spell is being cast, its nature and target (if any). He then
modifies the Base Chance of the spell as appropriate. The addition or subtraction of all values affecting the
cast from the Base Chance for that spell produces a Cast Chance. The player then rolls D100. If the
resulting dice roll number is less than or equal to the Cast Chance governing the cast, the spell impacts. If the dice
roll is 5% or less of the Cast Chance, the effect of the spell is tripled. If the dice roll is between 6 and 15% of the
Cast Chance, the effect of the spell is doubled. The Special Damage Table lists the dice rolls producing double or
triple damage. If the dice roll is more than 30 higher than the Cast Chance during combat, or 40 higher when not
involved in combat, the spell has not only failed, but has backfired and the Backfire Table is consulted. When a
spell impacts, any possible target may, if it has a Willpower value, make a Resistance Check. The target
character's player rolls D100. If the resulting number is equal to or less than the character's modified
Magic Resistance the spell dissipates and has no effect on the character.
It costs 1 Fatigue Point to cast a General Knowledge Spell and 2 Fatigue Points to cast a Special
Knowledge Spell. The distinction between General and Special Knowledge were discussed earlier. If a character
is in area designated as "Mana Rich" by the GM, the cost to cast a Special Knowledge spell is 1 and there is no
cost to cast a General Knowledge Spell. Such areas are, however, rare and include primarily locations where
human sacrifice is practiced regularly or where the boundary between dimensions is weak so that large amounts of
mana leak through. Often mountaintops or clearings in deep jungle will contain such "portals." These areas are
likely to be well guarded by beasts and individuals attracted by their magic, including a larger than usual proportion
of Fantastical Beasts. Even in mana rich areas, a character must pay the Fatigue Cost to cast a spell upon loosing
it or it has no effect. If the character is in area designated "mana poor" by the GM, the Fatigue Cost to cast a spell
is doubled. Such areas will be much more common and will often include the more civilized and densely-inhabited
parts of the world.
A magic user may not cast a spell unless he has sufficient Fatigue Points to pay the cost of casting
the spell. Unless otherwise specified, the Fatigue Cost to cast a spell is assumed to be 1 for General Knowledge
spells and 2 for Special Knowledge spells. However, a GM need not tell an Adept in advance that an area is mana
rich or mana poor, and an Adept could thus attempt to cast a spell without knowing that the cost was at variance
with the norm. In such cases, the Adept would have to either pay the any additional cost to cast the spell or give up
the attempt. If the area is mana rich, he pays the cost to cast the spell in a mana rich area, not the normal cost for
the spell. The GM tells a character only after the spell has been prepared (at the moment when the
character is about to pay the Fatigue Cost to cast the spell) that the area is mana poor or mana rich. A
character may always choose to abandon the attempt in such cases, but any time (and, in combat, Pulses) spent
preparing the spell is lost.
A character always expends the necessary Fatigue Points to cast a spell whether the spell is effective or not. At
the moment the character's player rolls D100 to make the Cast Check to see if the spell impacts, the Fatigue is
expended. A character may not change his mind about the spell once it is being cast and the check is being
implemented. Regardless of the results of the Cast Check or any succeeding Resistance or Damage Checks, the
Fatigue is expended. There is no Fatigue Cost to prepare a spell.
SPELL CASTING
A spell must be used immediately upon being prepared or it is dissipated and the preparation must be
repeated before it can be used. A character prepares a spell immediately before use. He cannot keep a spell
prepared for any length of time. Once he announces that the spell is ready, the character must immediately loose
it or the spell is dissipated. Only one spell can be prepared at any one time.
A character must remain immobile and may engage in no other activity while preparing or casting a
spell. If a character moves, attacks, attempts to remain aware of his surroundings (by, say, listening for intruders)
or even speaks to another player or the GM about something not related to a point of information about the spell,
the preparation is interrupted and the character must begin over again.
A character's chances of effectively casting a spell may be increased or decreased by a variety
of factors. The following modifiers are added to the character's Cast Chance.
Each point the caster's MA is greater than 15 +1
Each point the caster's MA is less than 15 -1
Each Rank the character has with the spell they are casting +3
Each hour (maximum of 10) the character spends preparing the spell +3
It takes one Pulse to prepare and loose a spell as part of the Tactical Procedure. The details of spell
casting in combat are discussed in that section. Due to the lack of time for proper preparation, spells have a
greater chance of backfiring in combat than normally.
There is always a chance that a character can successfully resist a spell even after the spell has successfully
impacted on the character. The character's player makes a Resistance Check by rolling D100 and if the result is
less than or equal to the character's modified Magic Resistance, the spell does not take effect even though it did
impact on the character. The Resistance Check is modified as described later in this section. . A spell resisted in
this manner does not produce a backfire result. It is simply treated as a failed spell.
THE EFFECTS OF SPELLS
Spells that are successfully cast and that are not resisted immediately take effect on the character(s) or object(s)
over which they were cast. In some cases, the duration or severity of damage due to a spell, or some other aspect
of the spell, will have to be determined by the GM or via a die roll. All such determinations are mentioned in the
description of the spells. If double or triple effect is achieved using a spell, the casting character's player must
choose the attribute of the spell that will be doubled or tripled.
In some cases, it will be necessary to make a Damage Check as a result of a successful spell cast. Whenever a
character is affected by certain spells, the effects of those spells will include damage to either Fatigue or
Endurance. In such cases, the damage is determined by making a Damage Check in the same manner as for
damage due to physical combat. Normally a spell cannot damage both fatigue and endurance, but if a
double or triple effect causes damage that exceeds the combined fatigue and endurance of a target it
is killed. The casting character's player determines what effect a multiplication of a spell's power will have on the
spell. There are three characteristics of a spell that can be multiplied by the caster as a result of a spell taking
double or triple effect: range, duration, and damage. Range is the maximum distance (usually given in feet) over
which the spell can be cast (i.e., between the caster and his target). Duration is the length of time in minutes,
hours, days that a spell will last. Damage represents the amount of injury a spell can do as a result of being
successfully cast against a character or object expressed in terms of Damage Points. Whenever a spell is cast
for double its normal effect, the casting character's player has the option to double either the range,
duration, or damage of the spell. Not all spells are ranged (i.e., can be cast over a distance), have a set
duration, or do damage. An attribute that does not apply to a particular spell cannot be multiplied.
Whenever a spell is cast for triple effect, the casting character's player has the option of tripling
either the range, duration, or damage done by the spell or of doubling any two of these three
characteristics or of decreasing the target character's Magic Resistance by 20.
A character may not attempt to cast a spell at a target that is not within a range in hopes of achieving a double
or triple effect. HOUSE RULE: 01 is always triple effect on a spell.
The description of each spell lists its specific effects, range, duration and other appropriate material. Each spell
is fully described under the College to which it belongs. The following information is included.
Range: The maximum radius in feet within which the caster can make the spell take effect.
Duration: The maximum length of time in minutes, hours, or days that the spell remains in effect.
Experience: The multiple used in conjunction with the rank to be achieved to determine the cost of increasing a
character's Rank with a particular spell.
Base Chance: The basic percentage chance of causing the spell to take effect on a particular object or person
within a circumscribed area.
Resistance: The conditions under that the workings of the spell can be resisted by a being subject to its effects.
Effects: The general purpose and consequences of the spell. Includes potential damage as well as special effects.
The following 7 sections dealing with the Colleges of Magic employ a number of conventions common to most
fantasy role-playing games. It is important that the reader grasp these conventions. The following list touches on
the most important of them.
1. Range is always given as the distance from the Adept. It can be a linear measurement between Adept and
target or it can be a radius within which the Adept can cast a spell. In some cases, ranges and radii cannot be
depicted entirely accurately on the Combat Display due to the anomalies of the hex grid. When converting range
measurements to the hex grid, each 5 foot increment of range is considered a hex. Thus, a spell with a range of
35 feet would have a range of 7 hexes on the Tactical Display. If only part of a hex is within the effective radius of
a spell's range, the entire hex is automatically considered to be in range. The same is true of the area affected by
a spell. For example, a Wall of Stone cast as a circle around a character and his companions and having a 10 foot
radius, would protect all characters within 2 hexes of the Adept (one intervening hex). All hexes 3 or more hexes
away from the Adept would be outside the wall. Measurements are always taken from the middle of the hex, and so
a 10 foot radius would include 2'/2 feet of the Adept's hex.
2. Duration is a measurement of how long a spell lasts after it is cast. In some cases, it will have an immediate
effect and then dissipate. In others, the effect will linger longer. When converting minutes into Pulses, each minute
a spell lasts equals 12 Pulses. If a spell is cast in the middle of a Pulse, that Pulse still counts as a full 5 second
increment in the duration of the spell, regardless of how much time remains in the Pulse. Sometimes a spell must
be concentrated upon in order to continue having an effect. In such cases, the Adept takes Pass Actions while
concentrating. For the most part, though, spells which would endure for more than one Pulse remain in effect
regardless of what may happen to the Adept after the spell has been loosed.
3. Spells fall into two separate groupings: those directed at specific targets and those which cover an entire area,
affecting all targets within that area. Some spells can be used in both ways. For example, a spell which could be
employed against a single target +1 additional target per Rank might, at Rank 6, be employed against a single
target or against 7 targets (which would give it much the same practical effect as an area spell). Sometimes, a
spell will take effect even if resisted. In such cases, the spell may have a reduced (usually halved) effect.
4. Often range, duration, and damage from spells will be given as "x+y additional per Rank." The translation of this
arcane phrase is simply that the particular attribute of the spell lasts for x minutes or has a range of x feet and that
this number is increased by y minutes or feet for every Rank that the character has achieved with that spell.
Unless otherwise noted, the unit of measurement added per Rank will be the same as the unit of measurement
used in the base range of the spell.
5. Often the Base Chance will be equal to some characteristic of the Adept or some multiple of that characteristic.
In such cases, the characteristic or multiple is treated in all ways as a normal Base Chance and may be modified
accordingly. All modifications are applied after any multiplication of the appropriate characteristic.
6. A Difficulty Factor will sometimes be given for resisting a spell. This is always a number (which may increase or
decrease according to Rank) by which the character's Willpower (or any other operative characteristic) is
multiplied.
7. Most of the magic in DragonQuest is designed to be flexible in application and requires that the GM determine
exactly how he wants a spell to work in his world. In addition, the effects and procedures given are meant to apply
to humanoid characters and characters of human size. An Incinerate Spell that should fry a human might do little
more than make a dragon uncomfortable, for example. To close every loophole and fully explain every application
would be impossible. Therefore, these matters of interpretation have been left in the game and guidelines have
been provided in the form of the spell descriptions.
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