DEATH MUNCHKIN! Table of Contents & Legal Notices

8. Magic Spells

Last updated 2-October-2002

Table of Contents


8.1: Spells have an EP cost based on how powerful they are.

Spells are purchased with EP, just like Gifts are.  All spells have a "Base Cost", which is the minimum number of EP that must be paid to be able to cast the spell.  Some spells, however, allow extra EP to be spent to increase their capabilities.  For example, suppose Magrunt the Magician buys the Grow Spell (base cost: 7 EP) with an additional Strength/Mass Level (+9 EP), the ability to cast it on other willing creatures (+1 EP), and an extra 2 hours duration (+2 EP).  His total cost to purchase this spell would be 7+9+1+2 = 19 EP.

8.2: Spells must be cast to have any effect.

Casting a spell takes as much time as attacking someone in melee combat.

8.2.1: Casting a spell requires gesticulations to be made with at least one hand.

This means your caster must have at least one hand, attached to one arm, attached to his body.  Neither the hand nor the arm may be restrained.  However, the hand need not be empty; you can cast a spell while holding a sword, for example.

8.2.2: Casting a spell requires magic words to be spoken.

The precise magic words to use vary from spell to spell, and are listed in the spell descriptions below.  The caster must be able to speak the magic words when the spell is cast.

8.2.3: Casting a spell requires the caster to expend a number of Mana Points equal to the cost of that spell in EP.

To continue the example above, Magrunt the Magician's Grow Spell with an additional Strength/Mass Level, the ability to cast it on other willing creatures, and an extra 2 hours duration cost him 19 EP to purchase.  Thus, he must expend 19 Mana Points every time he wishes to cast it.

Mana Points are made available to the character by purchasing the Mana Points Gift.  If your character does not have enough Mana Points available to expend, he cannot cast the spell.

Spells do not have to be cast at full power, though.  The caster can save Mana Points by not using the various optional capabilities the Spell was purchased with when he casts it.  Even the most elaborate Spell may be cast at anywhere down to its Base Cost level.  Continuing the example with Magrunt the Magician: It normally costs him 19 Mana Points to cast his rather elaborate Grow spell.  However, Magrunt may elect to cast the spell on himself, rather than someone else, and only have it last for 2 hours.  A Grow spell with 2 levels of Strength/Mass Scale, castable only on oneself, with a 2 hour duration would only cost 17 EP to buy.  Therefore, Magrunt only needs to expend 17 Mana Points to cast it in this "lower powered" configuration, even though he actually spent 19 EP to buy a more powerful version of this same Spell.  The configuration of the Spell purchased with EP only represents the maximum power at which the Spell may be cast, not the power at which the spell must be cast each time.

8.2.4: Multiple applications of the same spell on the same creature or object do not add together.

If you have a Grow spell that increases the recipient's Strength/Mass Scale by 1, casting it on your buddy twice does not increase her Strength/Mass Scale by 2.  Multiple applications of the same basic spell do not "stack" together.  If two or more versions of the same spell are cast on someone or something, only the most powerful operates.  (If a more powerful version of a spell expires but a less powerful version still has some duration left, the less powerful version will take over from then on until it expires.)

8.3: All Spells have a Dispelling Difficulty based on how many Mana Points were used to cast them.

Dispelling Difficulty comes into play whenever a Spell is opposed by other magic spells, such as Dispel Magic or Magic-Nullifying Shell.  A Spell's Dispelling Difficulty is equal to the number of Mana Points expended when it was cast; a 1 Mana Point spell has a Dispelling Difficulty of Terrible, a 4 Mana Point spell has a Dispelling Difficulty of Fair, a 10 Mana Point spell has a Dispelling Difficulty of Legendary 3rd, etc..

Note that the Dispelling Difficulty is based on the Mana Points expended to cast the Spell, not the EP cost to buy the Spell in the first place.  In the Magrunt the Magician example above, his Grow spell cost 19 EP to purchase, but he cast it in a configuration that only required the expenditure of 17 Mana Points.  Its Dispelling Difficulty is based on the 17 Mana Points it took to cast, not the 19 EP it cost to buy.  Thus, its Dispelling Difficulty would be Legendary 10th.


8.4: List of Spells:


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