=== Hengband Magic System ===

The magic system of Hengband is a modified version of Zangband magic
system.  And many many new features have been added.  There are two
kind of magic in Hengband. First one is spellbook magic which is much
similar to normal magic system of Zangband. Second one is class
specific magic which is similar to Mindcraft of Zangband.

There are nine different realms of spellbook magic; Life, Sorcery,
Nature, Chaos, Death, Trump, Arcane, Craft and Daemon.  Players of
each class can study and cast spells from spellbooks using one stat;
intelligence, wisdom or charisma. For spellcasting, you must always
carry spellbooks which include spells which you want to cast.  You can
choose either one or two realms depend on class. In Hengband, you can
change second realm in the middle of game. (Simply study('G') from a
spellbook of new magic realm.)

There are eleven classes which use class specific magic(or technique);
Mindcraft(Mindcrafter), Imitation(Imitator),
Device-Eating-Magic(Magic-Eater), Music(Bard), Kendo(Samurai), The
Force(ForceTrainer), Blue-Magic(Blue Mage), Rage(Berserker),
Smithery(Weaponsmith), Mirror-magic(Mirror Master), Ninjutsu(Ninja)

In addition to the above, each class has one or two special techniques
called Class Power. The Class Power can be use by the racial/class
power command ("U"/"O"). Class powers are different from magic, but
explained in this text together with magic.

You might not be able to understand the function of every magic spell
by reading its name or casting it a few times. In Hengband, there is
in-game description of each spell. Use the browse command ("b"/"P")
and choose a spell from the list to get a description of each spell.


***** <ClassSpellAbil>
=== Class Spell Ability ===

Warrior
     Warriors cast no spells. They hate magic. In fact, they even gain
     experience for destroying high level spellbooks.  They have a
     class power 'Sword Dancing' which attacks in melee to six random
     directions at once.

Mage
     Mages have the least restrictions in choosing and learning
     spells.  They can freely choose any two realms when a character
     is created: in the current version, all seven realms are
     available to them, although their natural inclination makes Life
     magic fairly hard for them. Otherwise, a mage tends to learn and
     cast all the spells in his / her realms better than any other
     character.  The ability to choose second realm of magic has a
     special meaning in Hengband; only second realm can be changed in
     the middle of the game. You can change second realm by
     studying("G") from a spellbook of new realm.  They have a class
     power 'Eat Magic' which absorb mana from wands, staves or rods.
     Intelligence determines their spell casting ability.


Priest
     Priest can select from Life, Death or Daemon as first realm, and
     choose second realm almost freely. But two kind of pair selection
     Life-Death or Life-Daemon are not allowed.  Priests can learn all
     spells in the selected realms, even if not as efficiently as
     mages. However, when learning spells, priests cannot voluntarily
     decide which spells to study: they are rewarded with new prayers
     by their patron deities, with no money-back satisfaction
     guarantee. Every priests which select Life realm have a class
     power 'Bless Weapon' which bless any edged weapon to be suitable
     for priests to wield.  Every priests which select Death or Daemon
     realms have a class power 'Evocation' which damages, scares and
     banish all monsters in sight.  Wisdom determines their success at
     praying to his deity.

Rogue
     Rogues can select one realm from Sorcery, Death, Trump, Arcane or
     Craft.  All Rogues have certain limitations on which spells they
     can learn, and they are not too fast to learn new spells. After
     all, for Rogue who are very good at both melee and shooting, the
     magic is only auxiliary support.  They have a class power 'Hit
     and Away' which allows them to attack in melee and teleport away
     from there at once.  Intelligence determines a Rogue's spell
     casting ability.

Ranger
     All rangers are trained in Nature magic, and all Nature spells
     are available to them. They even learn these spells almost as
     fast as mages. They can also select a secondary realm (from
     Sorcery, Chaos, Death, Trump, Arcane and Daemon), but they are
     slow learners in them, and may find themselves unable to learn
     some of the highest level spells.  They have a class power 'Probe
     Monster' which allow you to know monsters' HP, speed and needed
     experience to evolution.  Intelligence determines a their spell
     casting ability.

Paladin
     Paladins can select a realm from Life and Death.  Like priests,
     they cannot select which prayers to learn but are rewarded with
     new prayers by their deities. They can learn all spells, but not
     as fast as priests. Since they detest paganism so strongly that
     they will even gain experience for destroying pagan high-level
     spellbooks: 'pagan' means Life spellbooks for a Death Paladin and
     all other spellbooks than Life for a Life Paladin.  Each of them
     have a class power 'Holy Lance' or 'Hell Lance'.  Wisdom
     determines a Paladin's success at praying to his deity.

Warrior-Mage
     Warrior-mages begin the game with Arcane magic, and they can
     freely select another realm of magic. Although they do not gain
     new spells as fast as regular mages, they will eventually learn
     every spell in both realms, thus making a very competitive choice
     for players who appreciate Arcane magic.  They have two class
     powers 'Convert HP to SP' and 'Convert SP to HP' which allow them
     to heal HP using mana or gain mana using HP.  Intelligence
     determines a Warrior-Mage's spell casting ability.

Chaos-Warrior
     Chaos Warriors can select a realm from Chaos and Daemon.  They
     are not interested in any other form of magic. They can learn
     every spell.  They have a class power 'Confusing Light' which
     stuns, confuses and scares all monsters in sight.  Intelligence
     determines their spell casting ability.

Monk
     The different sects of monks are devoted to different areas of
     magic. They select a realm from Life, Nature, Craft and Death.
     They will eventually learn all prayers in the discipline of their
     choice.  They have two class powers 'Assume a Posture' and
     'Double Attack'. They can choose different forms of posture in
     different situations. And use powerful successive combination of
     attacks for finish blow.  Wisdom determines a Monk's spell
     casting ability.

Mindcrafter
     Although the powers of a Mindcrafter may seem like magic, this is
     not -- strictly speaking -- the case. They are mental powers,
     independent of the ordinary sources of magic. Consequently,
     Mindcrafters are not interested in spellbooks. They gain more
     number of Mindcraft and each Mindcraft becomes more powerful as
     they gain more levels. They can use their Mindcraft even when
     blinded.  They have a class power 'Clear Mind' which allows them
     to rapidly regenerate their mana.  Wisdom determines ability to
     use Mindcraft.

High-Mage
     High-mages are mages who specialize in one particular field of
     magic and learn it very well -- much better than the ordinary
     mage. For the price of giving up a second realm of magic, they
     gain substantial benefits in the mana costs, minimum levels, and
     failure rates in the spells of the realm of their specialty.
     They have a class power 'Eat Magic' which absorb mana from wands,
     staves or rods.  Intelligence determines their spell casting
     ability.

Tourist
     Since Tourists are always seeing more of the world to add to
     their stock of information, surprisingly they can cast Arcane
     magic. But their spell casting ability is very low; they cannot
     use any attack spells and cannot use the highest level
     spells. There is one exception; they are very good at identify
     spell.  They have two class powers 'Take a Photograph' and
     'Identify True' which is used to gather more and more knowledge
     of the world!  Intelligence determines a tourist's spell casting
     ability.

Imitator
    Imitators use unique technique 'Imitation' which imitates monster
    spells/techniques include whose damage/duration value. When
    monsters in line of sight use spells, they are added to a
    temporary spell list which the imitator can choose among. Spells
    should be imitated quickly, because timing and situation are
    everything. An imitator can only repeat a spell once each time he
    observes it. They have only small number of long-term memory,
    ranging from one to three which depends on their level.  When they
    memorized spells more than this number, they will forget the
    oldest spell in the list each turn.  They have a class power
    'Double Revenge' which allows them to imitate spells at double
    damage or duration.  Dexterity determines general imitation
    ability, but a stat related to the specific action is often also
    taken into account.

BeastMaster
    Beastmasters use Trump magic to make good use of their monster
    domination ability and riding ability.  They are very good at
    summoning living creatures, and they learn summoning spells
    quicker than Mages. But they cannot summon non-living creatures,
    and cannot learn such spells.  They have two class powers
    'Dominate a Living Thing' and 'Dominate Living Things'.  Charisma
    determines a Beastmaster's spell casting ability.

Sorcerer
    Sorcerers are the all-around best magicians, being able to cast
    any spell from most magic realms without having to learn it. On
    the downside, they are the worst fighters in the dungeon, being
    unable to use any weapon but a Wizardstaff.  They have a class
    power 'Eat Magic' which absorb mana from wands, staves or rods.
    Intelligence determines their spell casting ability.

Archer
    Archers don't use magic like Warrior. They have a class power
    'Create Ammo' which creates stones or shots from pile of rubble,
    arrows and crossbow bolts from bones.

Magic-Eater
    Magic-Eaters can absorb the energy of wands, staffs, and rods, and
    can then use these magics as if they were carrying all of these
    absorbed devices. Mana and changes of absorbed devices are
    regenerated naturally by a Magic-Eaters power, and speed of
    regeneration is influenced by their intelligence.  They have a
    class power 'Absorb Magic' which is used to absorb magic devices.
    A Magic-Eater's prime statistic is intelligence.

Bard
    Bards use Music magic. System of Music magic is almost same as
    system of spellbook magic, but only Bard can use Music. Bards use
    songbooks to study and to sing magical songs. There are four
    songbooks, and first and second songbooks is sold at town.  There
    is a special feature of song; many songs continue to be sung until
    either the Bard chooses to stop, or he runs out of the energy
    required to sing that type of song.  They have a class power 'Stop
    Singing'.  Charisma determines their singing ability.

Red-Mage
    Red Mages are similar to Warrior-Mage; they are decent fighter and
    spellcaster.  Red-Mages can use almost all spells from lower rank
    spellbooks of all realms, first and second spellbooks of all
    realms and third and fourth Arcane spellbooks, without having to
    learn it, but they cannot cast spells from higher rank spellbooks;
    third and fourth spellbooks for all realms other than Arcane.
    Since they use all realms at once, they are extremely slow
    learners in them, and have major disadvantage in the mana costs,
    They have a class power 'Double Magic' which allows them to cast
    two spells at once.  Intelligence determines their spell casting
    ability.

Samurai
    Samurai can use the art of the blade called Kendo or Bugei. Books
    of Kendo is similar to spellbooks, but Samurai don't need to carry
    it around; the books is needed only when they study new combat
    techniques. Samurai need a weapon wielded to use techniques of
    Kendo, and most techniques will add powerful special properties to
    their blows; such as flaming, poisoning, vampiric, etc... There is
    special treatment about their spellpoints; usual maximum of SP
    doesn't depend on their level, but depend solely on wisdom, and
    they can use the class power 'Concentration' to temporarily
    increase SP beyond its usual maximum value.  They have one more
    class power 'Assume a Posture'; They can choose different forms of
    posture in different situations.  Wisdom determines a Samurai's
    ability to use the special combat techniques available to him.

ForceTrainer
    ForceTrainer use both spellbook magic and their special spiritual
    force called the Force. They can select a realm from Life, Nature,
    Craft and Death like Monks. To use ordinary spellbook magic, you
    can use the cast a spell command("m") normally.  And to use The
    Force, you can select it just as if it is spellbook 'w'; which
    means you need to press 'm' and then 'w' to select the Force.  The
    most important spell of the Force is the 'Improve Force'; each
    time a ForceTrainer activate it, their Force power become more
    powerful, and their attack power in bare-handed melee fighting is
    increased temporary. And then the improved Force can be released
    at one stroke when a ForceTrainer activates some other Force
    spell, typically an attack spell. They prefer fighting with neither
    weapon nor armor, and wielding weapons or wearing heavy armor
    disturbs use of the Force.  They have a class power 'Clear Mind'
    which allows them to rapidly regenerate their mana.  Wisdom is a
    ForceTrainer's primary stat.

Blue-Mage
    A Blue-Mage can learn and cast spells/techniques of monsters as
    their own spell, this magic system is called Blue magic. Unlike
    Imitators, Blue-Mages remember their spells permanently, but they
    must learn spells from monsters by activating their class power
    'Learning', and they can learn only attack spells and summoning
    spells; they cannot learn healing, speed or etc., because these
    spells don't hit Blue-Mages.  Intelligence determines their spell
    casting ability.

Cavalry
    Cavalries don't use magic like Warrior.  Since they are very good
    at riding, they have a class power 'Rodeo' which allows them to
    forcibly saddle and tame wild monsters.

Berserker
    Berserkers can use their system of unique techniques called
    'Rage'. They gain more number of techniques as they gain levels.
    They cannot use magic like Warrior, on the contrary, they cannot
    use any magic devices and activation of artifacts, and cannot read
    scrolls. For the relief of this big disadvantage, Berserkers are
    allowed to have two important class power 'Satisfy Hunger' and
    'Recall'. Why they can satisfy hunger in dungeon and recall from
    dungeon?  Don't ask me.

Weaponsmith
    A Weaponsmith can improve weapons and armors for him or
    herself. They can extract the essences of special effects from
    weapons or armors which have various special abilities, and can
    add these essences to another weapon or armor. Normally, each
    equipment can be improved only once, but they can remove
    previously added essence from improved equipment to improve it
    with another essence. To-hit, to-damage bonus and AC can be
    improved freely to the maximum value which depend on the level.
    They have a class power 'Judgment' which allow them to identify,
    or *identify* at high level, weapons and armor.

Mirror-Master
    Mirror-Masters can create magical mirrors, and employ them in the
    casting of Mirror-Magic spells. They gain more number of spell and
    each spell becomes more powerful as they gain more levels. They
    can use their spells even when blinded.  For Mirror-Masters,
    arrangement of mirrors is very important; Some attack spells
    reflect from mirror, and some other spells are effective only to
    monsters stand on a mirror.  A Mirror-Master standing on a mirror
    has greater ability and, for example, can perform quick teleports.
    The maximum number of Magical Mirrors which can be controlled
    simultaneously depends on the level, and breaking unnecessary
    mirror is important work for them.  They have two class powers
    'Break Mirrors' which breaks all mirrors in current dungeon level
    and 'Mirror Concentration' which allows them to rapidly regenerate
    their mana on a mirror.  Intelligence determines a Mirror-Master's
    spell casting ability.

Ninja
    A Ninja can use Ninjutsu for application to lurking and surprise
    attack.  They gain more number of Ninjutsu as they gain levels.
    They have a class power 'Quick Walk' which makes their walking
    speed very fast.  Dexterity determines a Ninja's ability to use
    Ninjutsu.


***** <MagicRealms>
=== The Realms of Magic ===

Life
     Life magic is 'good' magic; it relies mostly on healing and
     protective spells. It does have a few attack spells as well, but
     these are mostly used for harming and banishing foul minions of
     evil, especially undead monsters.  Fail rate of Life spells goes
     up when casters alignment tend to be evil.

Sorcery
     Sorcery is a `meta` realm, including enchantment and general
     spells. It provides superb protection spells (such as Teleport
     spells for fleeing and even Globe of Invulnerability), spells to
     enhance your odds in combat (Slow Monster, Haste Self, Confuse
     Monster) and, most importantly, a vast selection of spells for
     gathering information: in addition to the usual detection and
     identify spells, one of the standard spellbooks has a spell called
     Identify True, which gives you full knowledge of a given object!
     In the rare books, there are spells with which you can enchant
     your items or turn unwanted items to gold. However, Sorcery has
     one weakness: it has no spells to deal direct damage to your
     enemies.

Nature
     Nature magic makes you master of elements; it provides
     protection, detection, curing and attack spells, and most
     importantly, spells changing surrounding geographical feature.
     Nature also has a spell of Herbal Healing, which is the only
     powerful healing spell outside the realm of Life magic.  Fail
     rate of Nature spells goes up when casters alignment tend to be
     good or evil.

Chaos
     Chaos is the very element of unmaking, and the Chaos spells are
     the most terrible weapons of destruction imaginable. From Magic
     Missile and Acid Bolt to the medium level Fire Ball and Doom
     Bolt, and finally to the awesome spells of Invoke Logrus, Mana
     Storm and Call the Void, Chaos offers an unsurpassable arsenal of
     attack spells. And Chaos is the only realm which provides
     *Destruction* spell. The caster can also call on the primal
     forces of Chaos to induce mutations in his/her opponents and even
     him/herself, but otherwise, Chaos has no protective spells.
     Beware, though, Chaos spells are known to backfire easily and
     product undesired effects.

Death
     There is no fouler nor more evil category of spells than the
     necromantic spells of Death Magic. These spells are relatively
     hard to learn, but at higher levels the spells give the caster
     power over living and the (un)dead. Poison, vampirism, death
     spells and even hellfire can be directed by the caster, but the
     most powerful spells need his / her own blood as the focus, often
     hurting the caster in the process of casting. Should a Death
     wizard find the legendary tome Necronomicon, he can expect to
     gain very great powers indeed, but at a cost: few that have
     studied the accursed tome have retained their sanity.  Fail rate
     of Nature spells goes up when casters alignment tend to be good.

Trump
     Trump magic seems an independent source of power, although its
     supposed association with Chaos magic has been mentioned in
     several places. Although it lacks the unpredictable chaotic
     side-effects of Chaos magic, it has a few spells whose exact
     effects seem more or less random. One such spell is Shuffle: the
     Trump spellbooks actually consist of decks of trumps, and the
     Shuffle spell allows the caster to shuffle the deck and pick one
     card at random. The effect depends on the card picked, and is not
     always pleasant. In the Amber universe, the Trump gateways are
     also a major method of transportation: Trump magic has, indeed, an
     admirable selection of teleportation spells. Since the Trump
     gateways can also be used to summon other creatures, Trump magic
     has an equally impressive selection of summoning spells. However,
     not all monsters appreciate being drawn to another place by Trump
     user. The only summoned creatures whose loyalty is guaranteed are
     the Phantasmal Servants, who lack a will of their own (but can
     develop one, if you treat them badly).

Arcane
     Even more than Sorcery, Arcane magic is a general purpose realm of
     magic. It attempts to encompass all 'useful' spells from all 
     realms, and almost succeeds, with the probable exception of
     *Identify*. This is the downside of Arcane magic: while Arcane 
     does have all the necessary 'tool' spells for a dungeon delver, it
     has no ultra-powerful high level spells. As a consequence, all
     Arcane spellbooks can be bought in town. It should also be noted
     that the 'specialized' realms (i.e. other than Arcane) usually
     offer the same spell at a lower level and cost. Arcane magic is
     therefore perhaps not recommendable as one's only realm of magic,
     but it should be a very nice addition to fill up the gaps in the
     selection of tools spells in another realm.

Craft
     Craft magic is an original realm in Hengband. It provides spells
     which reinforce casters physical ability, for example, offensive
     power, defensive power, speed, regeneration power, infravision,
     etc..  Especially, the 'Regeneration' and the 'Walk through Wall'
     are very powerful for considering its spell level.  Craft magic
     doesn't provide detection spell, but provides temporary telepathy
     spell.

Daemon
     Daemon magic is an original realm in Hengband. It offers powerful
     attack spells which has property of fire or Nether. There are a
     few detection spells which provide map of nearby area or temporal
     telepathy.  Daemon magic also provides temporal transformation
     spells, which allow caster to become a Demon or a Demon Lord.
     Fail rate of Nature spells goes up when casters alignment tend to
     be good.
    

***** <CastingSpells>
=== On Casting Spells ... ===

Players who select spellcasting characters may notice a few unusual
phenomena during the course of the game. Here's a few helps and
hints on what may be happening.

--- Armor and Spell Casting ---

All spellcasting classes are penalized for wielding armor above a
certain total combined weight. The threshold varies between 30lbs
for a mage and 40lbs for a paladin. Typically, the more reliant on
spells/prayers your class is deemed to be, the lower your weight
allowance. If you exceed your weight limit, your mana will drop.
This penalty is fairly stiff for low level characters but can
generally be ignored by high level ones.

--- Mage-Types and Gloves ---

Spellcasters who cast spells from spellbooks using INT as the stat
determining their spellcasting ability and Blue-Mage will be penalized
heavily for wielding armor on their hands.  The exception to this is
that wielding gloves, gauntlets or cesti which boost DEX or which
grant Free Action will result in no penalty. The rationale behind this
is that the hands are needed to perform intricate gestures that
accompany the casting of the spell and anything encumbering the hands
would interfere with this. The priest-type classes (priest, paladin
and monk) do not have the same restrictions as they are viewed as
invoking the power of their deity directly through prayer.

--- Casting Spells With Insufficient Mana ---

Occasionally, you may try (either by accident or in desperation) to
cast a spell when you have insufficient mana to do so. In these
circumstances you will be told by the game that you do not have
enough mana to cast the spell and then asked if you want to anyway.
Casting the spell under these conditions has a drastically reduced
chance of success and may also result in your constitution being
damaged. It may also cause you to faint from the effort which will
effectively paralyze you for several turns (even with free action).
The CON drain and the paralyzation may happen regardless of whether
the casting was successful or not.

--- Spell Durations ---

Some spells such as Haste-Self or Resistance grant an effect which
wears off after a certain period of time. With very few exceptions,
multiple castings of such spells are not cumulative in terms of the
duration of the spell. In other words, casting a spell which has a
duration of 20 turns three times will not result in a duration of 60
turns. Typically, the subsequent castings will add only a small amount
to the total duration. Some monsters such as wraith or ghost is often
floating in a wall. When ball spell is directed to such monsters, the
ball will blow up at the front of the wall, and the monster will take
only half damage compared to direct hit.


***** <SpellTypes>
=== Spell Types ===

--- Bolts and Beams ---

A bolt spell is aimed in a direction or at a target but will hit the
first monster or obstruction in its targeted direction. This may or
may not be the intended target. Occasionally, you may note that your
bolt spell hits multiple targets along the line of fire.  This is
because some bolt spells are granted a chance of 'beaming' which may
be either fixed or level-dependent. A beam will hit every target
within range along a 'straight' line in the direction in which it was
aimed.

--- Balls ---

There are two things to remember about ball spells. Firstly, unlike
bolt spells, they can be aimed at a specific target which allows you
to target a specific monster as opposed to the first one in the
direction you are aiming. Secondly, they have a radius (which varies
from spell to spell). A radius value of one or more will result in the
spell affecting monsters (and possibly objects, etc) around the target
in addition to the target itself.

--- Line-of-Sight ---

Line-of-sight spells affect all monsters that that are currently in
sight of your character. This includes monsters that may not currently
be visible due to darkness but would be if it was light.

--- Area ---

Area spells affect an area around the player. The size of the area can
vary considerably. For example, Light Area lights a single room while
Detect Traps and Mass Genocide affects within a circle of a specific
radius and normal Genocide affects the entire level.



***** <Hints>
=== Hints and Tips ===

If you miss the `old` magic user, try picking Sorcery and Chaos magic
to get the most commonly used mage spells early on (Magic Missile,
Detect Monsters + Traps + etc, Identify).

It is generally a good idea to pick one defensive realm and one
offensive realm. For example try using life or sorcery with chaos or
death magic. Nature is somewhat neutral: it has both offensive and
defensive spells, but is not very generous with either, not at least
early in the game. Nature should work best with characters who can use
other means to survive until they get the more powerful high level
spells.

If you pick the realms always in the same order (e.g. nature as your
first realm and chaos as your second realm, not the other way around)
you will be less confused when trying to pick the correct spellbook to
use in the game. If you still get confused trying to select the
correct spellbook, try using macros (either the 'full' macros or
inscriptions).


--
Original   : (??)
Updated    : (??)
Updated    : Zangband DevTeam
Updated    : Some other people
