Iosue
Legend
Spells
Ah, spells! The attraction of D&D and its bugaboo. We start with Vancian magic, as Moldvay describes it:
To re-memorizing a spell, the character must be "well-rested, usually an uninterrupted full night's sleep." Characters need hands and voice free to cast spells, but there are no vocal, somatic, or material components. Spells that are reversible are marked with an asterisk, but rules for reversing spells are saved for the Expert rules.
Here's Holmes' on spells in Moldvay:
Cleric Spells - Like equipment, I think Moldvay's Basic (and Cook's Expert, for that matter) have the perfect balance of variety and quantity. Each spell lists the name, range, duration, and short description. Sometimes, rereading B/X spells and comparing them to AD&D spells, I wonder why the AD&D spells are so long.
Because clerics don't get 2nd level spells until 4th level, only 1st level Clerical Spells are listed. There are eight: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Light, Protection from Evil, Purify Food and Water, Remove Fear, and Resist Cold. Some notes:
Detect Evil - I like this: "The exact definition of 'evil' is left to each referee, and players should discuss this point so that all are in agreement; 'Chaotic' is not always 'evil'."
Protection from Evil - Last twelve turns, so 2 hours. Provides a +1 to saves, and a -1 to opponents' to-hit. Enchanted creatures can't attack. But if the cleric breaks the protection by attacking the enchanted creature, they still keep the +1 and -1. Interestingly, here 'evil' is defined as "attacks from monsters of some alignment other than the cleric's". A literal reading suggests that a Chaotic cleric would then be able to use this against Lawful opponents.
Purify Food and Water - Very holy and cleric-y. But seems of limited use in a dungeon adventure.
Remove Fear - In the Basic set, seems very out of place except as a role-playing kind of spell. There are no monsters that cause magical fear, so it's really only applicable to regular fear.
Ah, spells! The attraction of D&D and its bugaboo. We start with Vancian magic, as Moldvay describes it:
That's a nice succinct, slightly flavorful way of describing it. The fact that the spell was "printed" on their mind and then "erased" seemed quite magical to me. But truth be told, the first few times I played this with my sister, I completely skipped over this part. I'm sure I skimmed it, but the fact that a wizard could only cast 1 spell per day was completely passed over. My first level magic-user spammed magic missile. Sure, it always hit, but OTOH my magic-user had no armor! Rereading the book one day I finally went, "Ohhhhhhh....."Moldvay said:A spell is a formula for collecting and using magical energies with a memorized set of words and hand motions: the spell. Each spell has its own set of words and gestures. Only magic-users, elves, and clerics can learn these formulas, and thus only they may cast spells.
Spells must be memorized before an adventure begins. The character will remember the spell for any length of time until it is used. When a magic-user, elf, or cleric memorizes a spell, the words and gestures are printed on his or her mind, much in the same way that writing is put on a blackboard. When the spell is cast, the writing is "erased", and he or she may cast that particular spell again. A spell caster may, however, memorize the same spell twice if he or she is of high enough experience level to do so. If so, only one is "erased" when the spell is cast; the other remains and may be used later. As characters increase in level the number and type of spells they may memorize increases (their space on the blackboard increases).
To re-memorizing a spell, the character must be "well-rested, usually an uninterrupted full night's sleep." Characters need hands and voice free to cast spells, but there are no vocal, somatic, or material components. Spells that are reversible are marked with an asterisk, but rules for reversing spells are saved for the Expert rules.
Here's Holmes' on spells in Moldvay:
Holmes said:Magic and spells: The new rules specify that if an adventure lasts longer than a day, the Magic-User can get his or her spells back through a period of rest and concentration. I’m glad to see this securely placed in the rules. All of us who act as Dungeon Masters have had to allow this on longer adventures. Actually, the “spell book” is often a needless complication and can be dispensed with. Of course, a particular DM can make spell books a vital part of the game— suppose evil Magic-Users hired a high-level Thief to steal the player characters’ books?
Cleric Spells - Like equipment, I think Moldvay's Basic (and Cook's Expert, for that matter) have the perfect balance of variety and quantity. Each spell lists the name, range, duration, and short description. Sometimes, rereading B/X spells and comparing them to AD&D spells, I wonder why the AD&D spells are so long.
Because clerics don't get 2nd level spells until 4th level, only 1st level Clerical Spells are listed. There are eight: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Light, Protection from Evil, Purify Food and Water, Remove Fear, and Resist Cold. Some notes:
Detect Evil - I like this: "The exact definition of 'evil' is left to each referee, and players should discuss this point so that all are in agreement; 'Chaotic' is not always 'evil'."
Protection from Evil - Last twelve turns, so 2 hours. Provides a +1 to saves, and a -1 to opponents' to-hit. Enchanted creatures can't attack. But if the cleric breaks the protection by attacking the enchanted creature, they still keep the +1 and -1. Interestingly, here 'evil' is defined as "attacks from monsters of some alignment other than the cleric's". A literal reading suggests that a Chaotic cleric would then be able to use this against Lawful opponents.
Purify Food and Water - Very holy and cleric-y. But seems of limited use in a dungeon adventure.
Remove Fear - In the Basic set, seems very out of place except as a role-playing kind of spell. There are no monsters that cause magical fear, so it's really only applicable to regular fear.