Location: Home / Aardwolf V3 / Skill and Spells

Note: This information is as-of the V3 release on March 6th 2008. Enchancements made to the game since go-live are not covered here - they can be found in the news archive or 'history' helpfiles within the MUD

Spells, Skills and Magic

The most important change to skills and spells is that many attack spells, heals and some skills can no longer fail. Heal spells and most attack spells will always cast successfully with the benefit they provide based on percent practiced in the skill. For example, if you have 50% fireball, casting fireball will never fail but only do 50% of the damage. If you have 50% heal, heal will never fail but only restore 50% of its usual amount.

Wands, Staves, Scrolls: When you cast spells from wands, the spell is cast with the percent practiced used being your % practiced in wand. Same with staves and scrolls.

Area Attacks: Most area attacks will still initiate combat with immune mobs - you still tried to hurt them, after all.

Skills command: The filters that work for the 'spells' command now also work for 'skills'. We'll add new categories specific to skills later.

Spells filters: New skill/spell filters. 'Nofail' shows spells that don't fail but vary based on % practiced. 'Affected' and 'Unaffected' speak for themselves.

Qspells: New command intended for spellup scripts. Shows a simple list of spells. Uses all 'spells' filters.

Bad Affects: Most skills/spells that add bad affects will no longer constantly add to the duration of the affect, but refresh it to its original duration.

Magic Words: When you see others cast spells, if you have below 75% practiced in that spell the spell name will not be seen quite right. How much the spell name is 'mixed' depends on how low your percentage is. If you are close to 75% and think you see a typo in a spell name cast by someone else, it probably isn't.

Individual Skill/Spell changes (alphabetical order)

There are a lot of cosmetic and minor changes to skills/spells not reported. These are the changes worth noting:

Acid Breath: Acid breath does not exist. The 'acid wave' spell replaces it.

Angelfire: The amount of alignment shift is lower, otherwise the same.

Animate Object: Shows as (animated) in the room. Once a corpse/item has been animated, it cannot be animated again after being killed.

Blindness: Resistance to Light helps reduce the chance of a blind, making some mobs easier/harder to blind based on their race/resistances.

Bodycheck: Level affects the outcome less, otherwise the same.

Call Lightning: Call lightning is pclass ranger only and much more powerful. It can only be used outside during a storm, but when available is a nice spell to have.

Call Warhorse: The command is now simply 'warhorse'.

Calm: The calm spell has been replaced with 'pacify'.

Change Sex: Useable only from spells, does not exist as an item affect.

Charge: Mobs don't like being charged, they get angry about it.

Complete Healing: Complete healing hasn't been 'complete' for a long time so is now called 'incomplete healing' and will never restore to max hp, only one below it. Having a 'not quite full heal' is more useful than it will first seem, btw.

Control Weather: Does not exist. There is no replacement.

Create Water: Create water is different - creates a drink source in the room more like the old 'create spring' spell.

Demonfire: The amount of alignment shift is lower, otherwise the same.

Dispel Magic: The order in which spell dispels are attempted is no longer fixed but based on the order they are cast.

Enchant Armor: With AC removed from the game, enchant armor now adds resists.

Energy Drain: Removed. There is no replacement. Only mobs had access to this.

Enhance Armor: Removed. There is no replacement.

Faerie Fire: The Faerie Fire spell does not exist. The 'rune of ix' spell is similar.

Fire / Camp: The campfire/tent last longer, otherwise the same. Campfires also add to light level in the room.

Fireproof: Removed. There is no replacement. The only items formerly protected by Fireproof that can be still destroyed via others' attack spells are potions with cone of cold.

Flame Blade: Weapon stats based on level of the cast not level of the caster, meaning you'll get a better item with 3 moons up.

Forging: Does not exist. Will be replaced in Blacksmith subclass.

Frost Breath: Frost breath does not exist. The 'ice cloud' spell replaces it.

Gas Breath: Gas breath does not exist. The 'toxic cloud' spell replaces it.

Infravision: Infravision no longer exists. Classes/races that had this have 'night vision' which is more powerful.

Know Alignment: Shows the newer/wider range of alignment names.

Lightning Breath: Lightning breath does not exist. The 'shock aura' spell replaces it.

Plague: Plague does not exist. Disease is now an affect similar to poison but is not spreadable.

Protection from Fire: Heat Shield replaces Protection from Fire.

Recharge: Recharge fully recharges an item, but can only be used once.

Scribe: A scroll can now potentially hold 5 spells, but it will be difficult to do.

Sense Life: More accurate during last minute before repop, otherwise the same.

Skin: Adds resists instead of AC. Stats are the same. When used by a Craftsman can add random magical resists also.

Slow: Slow now affects players. May need a recovery to it, we'll see.

Stun: Target's CON will help more in resisting stuns.

Survey: Removed the need to be in combat. Still makes more sense to use 'scan' though - scan is free.