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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yuan-Ti" data-source="post: 2043912" data-attributes="member: 4483">Black Company MagicOnly characters of the class Wizard or with the Dabbler feat can cast spells in Black Company. Spellcasters have two means of creating magical effects. First, they have certain skills, such as Ghost Sounds, which allows them to create magical effects through skills, with higher DCs allowing more elaborate effects. Second, they learn talents. Talents represent the knowledge of casting a particular spell effect. There is a reasonable degree of flexibility in determining the particular effect of a particular casting. For example, a talent available after about 5th level allows wizards to cast fireball-like effects. However, the wizard determines the damage die, the number of die, the area of effect, the range, etc. of the spell. In essence, a talent allows a wizard to cast a whole series of similar spell effects. (These talents are in no way comparable to D&D spells and are not interchangeable with other d20 systems.)It should be said that the early talents available to a wizard have relatively minor effects when compared to D&D spells, forcing wizards to be creative in using their talents to affect the outcome of a mission, adventure or battle. Talents are acquired fairly slowly, although it is a feat, so wizards can choose to use feats to take additional talents or wait until they get free talents as they advance in level. However, a 10th level wizard is likely to only have access to 4 or 5 talents. The mechanic for casting is to determine a DC for the spell (based on how great an effect the wizard desires in terms of range, area of effect, degree of effect, etc.) based ont eh skill, Magic Use (Cha). Wizards get bonuses to their Magic Use as they go up in level, and can take feats which give them bonuses. The act of casting a spell causes considerable drain in the form of nonlethal hit point damage. The higher the DC of the spell in relation to the aptitude (tied to level) of the caster determines how much drain. Spellcasters have spell points which are primarily used to reduce drain (although they can be used to improve the Magic Use check, and a few other things). Spell points are based on level and constitution. Finally, the DC is compared to the aptitude and some bonuses to determine the length of the spellcasting. Typically this is considerably longer than typical D&D, generally being in the 2-3 round range, although higher level wizards will be able to cast spectacular effects on short notice. Likewise, casters can cast spells but hold the last bit so they can finish the spell later in a single action. For detailed examples, visit this topic on the Green Ronin forums:<a href="http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5918" target="_blank">http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5918</a></blockquote>

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