Magic in DragonRealms is not as simple as waving a hand and making things blow up. The energy that powers a spell must come from somewhere, you must be able to handle it and bend it to your will, and direct it at its target effectively.

Energy (called mana) does not come from within your character. For Moon Mages, mana comes from the heavenly bodies; for all other spellcasters it comes from the local environment.

In order to use mana, you must harness it. Your skills and stats determine how efficient you are at harnessing, and how much you can harness without wearing yourself out. Every spell requires some minimum amount of mana; the more you put in above that minimum, the more powerful the spell becomes.

The simplest way to cast a spell is to PREPARE it, and then CAST it once you're ready. All the other details are taken care of automatically.

Optionally, you can take more steps -- HARNESSing mana, TARGETing your spell, and so on. Though a little more involved, it's often worth the extra effort to make sure your spells hit their targets and have the strongest effect you can manage.

There are many types of magic known in Elanthia:

Elemental mana is derived from the raw elemental energy in the area. Warrior Mages and Bards manipulate this raw energy into the specific elemental combination needed to achieve the desired magical effect. (However, Bards, through their Enchantes, manipulate mana differently than other spellcasters and are not discussed here.)

Holy mana is produced from the presence of the Immortals in the past, present, and perhaps the future. The true origins of holy mana are steeped in mystery, but it is known that the majority of spells fueled by the manipulation of this mana requires something more of the caster than
normal. This usually presents itself in a measure of the caster's devotion to a diety, or the purity of one's soul.

Life mana is the energy produced from the continuing struggle between order and chaos. Everything around you is in a state on the spectrum between total chaos, and total order. As each of these opposing forces act on an object, life mana is produced. In an area where these two forces are equal, there is relatively little mana. Conversely, in an area where one of these two forces prevails over the other, there is an abundance of life mana.

Moon magic puts the considerable energy fields of Elanthia's three moons (and other heavenly bodies) to work. An accomplished Moon Mage can use this energy to enhance her own mental powers, to forge light and shadow into tangible matter, and tear holes in the very fabric of reality.

You may sometimes see references to "Inner Magic" used by Barbarians and Thieves. Though its power is not to be denied, it is is not really magic as most scholars know it.

Learning from your Guild
Every few levels that you gain in your Guild will give you the opportunity to learn a new spell. The choices available to you are dependent upon your prior knowledge and training. You will want to study the Spell List and consider carefully, for once you have chosen a spell you cannot change your mind.

Learning from Scrolls
Some spells can also be temporarily learned by acquiring and reading a spell scroll, tablet, etc. However, deciphering a scroll requires sufficient training in Scholarship, and if your Harness (see below) drops below a certain minimum you will forget the spell.

Note that scroll spells do not count towards knowledge prerequisites. For example, learning Ice Patch by reading a scroll will not enable you to learn Veil of Ice (either from the guild or from another scroll).

Some spells are available only on scrolls. However, most scrolls are variations on guild-taught spells.

Mana is the power used when casting spells or charging certain types of magical devices. In DragonRealms, mana is an external source of energy which must be harnessed by the spellcaster.

Elemental, Life & Holy Mana
Elemental, Life and Holy mana are distributed throughout Elanthia in energy fields. Terrain and history may have some effect on the amount of available mana in an area -- for instance, a cursed but lush jungle might be strong in Life mana but weak in Holy mana -- but in general these fields are distributed in no particular pattern.

Moon Mana
Moon mana, on the other hand, is independent of location. The phase, visibility, and relative positions of the three moons Xibar, Katamba, and Yavash determine not only the amount of available mana, but which types of spells are favored.

Harness
In order to use mana, the spellcaster must Harness it. This is done automatically during CASTing and CHARGEing, and can be done manually using the HARNESS verb.

Typing HARNESS or MANA alone will show you your Maximum and Current Harness stats. This represents a kind of magical endurance. A low Current Harness means you are burned out and cannot harness much mana until you've had some time to recover.

Your character's Harness Ability skill is different -- it represents your efficiency with harnessing. It increases your Maximum Harness Stat a little bit, but the main effect is to use up less of your Current Harness for the same amount of mana.

The cost to your Current Harness depends on the amount of available mana. It is much more of a strain to cast a 10-mana spell where only 15 mana is available than it is to cast it where 500 mana is available.

Holding Mana
Ordinarily, mana is an external source of power. However, for short periods the caster can hold small amounts of mana within his own nervous system.

To begin holding mana, HARNESS <amount>. At any time while holding mana, you can always try to harness more.

The more mana you hold, the more likely you are to lose some percentage of it every few seconds -- and the more you lose at a time, the more damage is done to your nervous system. Harness Ability skill increases your capacity, although mana will always drain away eventually.

If you like, you can RELEASE held mana harmlessly. (See RELEASE HELP for other options.)

Some spells require you to hold a few mana points to maintain them. For example, Refractive Field keeps the caster nearly invisible as long as she holds enough mana. This could be virtually forever, as long as she keeps harnessing just enough to keep the spell going. The only real limitation is practicality.

Casting any non-held-mana spell will consume all held mana, using it to boost the spell's power (see below). Any held-mana spells will therefore end.

Sharing Mana
Held mana can be shared with other spellcasters. Type HARNESS SHARE ON or OFF to set your preference.

If the leader of a group of characters has Harness Share turned on, when he casts a spell he will use the mana held by any other people in his group who also have Harness Share on. This can give the leader access to much more mana than he would normally be able to harness, useful for intensive activities such as Resurrection.

Held mana is shared most efficiently between members of the same Guild, a little less efficiently between those of different guilds but the same Realm (i.e. a Cleric and a Paladin), and least efficiently between those of different realms (i.e. a Cleric and a Moon Mage).

The SPELLS verb will display your current repertoire of spells. Example:

You take a few moments to flip through your spellbook.

In the chapter entitled "Moonlight Manipulation," you have notes on the Shadows and Focus Moonbeam [fm] spells.

In the chapter entitled "Transduction," you have notes on the Telekinetic Throw [tkt], Burn, and Moonblade spells.

You have learned Glythtide's Gift [gg] from a scroll and must reserve 1 harness to keep it.

To prepare a spell for casting, PREPARE <spell> <mana>. For example, PREP TKT 10.

Spell names can be abbreviated according to the acronyms in [brackets], or by abbreviating each word in the name. The following abbreviations are all equivalent:

PREP FOCUS MOONBEAM 5
PREP FM 5
PREP F M 5
PREP FO MO 5

Each spell has a minimum mana requirement, which is for you to discover. Many spells become more powerful -- doing more damage, lasting longer, or causing additional effects -- when cast with more mana. However, they also become more difficult to cast. In this way, you never need to outgrow those "first circle" spells.

Primary Magic skill is important in overcoming the basic difficulty of the spell and the extra difficulty caused by the extra mana. Harness Ability skill determines how much of that extra mana is successfully applied to the spell. Therefore you need both skills to effectively boost your casting power.

You may attempt to CAST the spell at any time after you begin to PREPARE it. However, there is a difficulty penalty for casting before you see "You feel fully prepared to cast your spell."

Depending on the context of the spell, you may be casting it at something or someone, or just casting it in general. With few exceptions, the format is typically CAST or CAST <target>.

"Targetted" spells attack a target using a physical manifestation, such as a bolt of lightning or a hurtling rock. Such attacks have a chance of being evaded or blocked by the target as if it were a speeding arrow.

Just as AIMing a bow results in more accuracy than a snap shot, TARGETting this type of spell between preparation and casting will increase your accuracy.

The format TARGET <target> works with all targetted spells.

Many spells will also allow you to target a specific body part, for example TARGET GOBLIN LEFT LEG. This is considerably more difficult, however.

The timing of TARGET works similarly to PREPARE, and TARGET interrupts PREPARE just as CAST does. For the best chance of success as well as maximum accuracy, you should wait for PREPARE to finish before TARGETting, then wait until you see "You think you are targetting <target> as well as possible." before CASTing.

Once you have TARGETted your victim, you can simply CAST without specifying the victim again and the spell will know what to attack.

Resistance Contests
Non-targetted attack spells are essentially a contest between your spell and stats versus the target's stats. There are three types of contests:

Will vs. Will contests pit a combination of the caster's spell power, Discipline, with Wisdom and Intelligence against the target's Discipline, Wisdom and Intelligence.

Spell vs. Stamina contests put the caster's spell power up against the target's Stamina, Strength and Discipline.

The rare Spell vs. Agility contests are between the caster's spell power and the target's Evasion skill, Reflex and Agility.

The amount by which the caster wins (or loses) affects how severe the consequences are for the target (or how severe the backlash is for the caster).

Barbarians' Resistance
Members of the Barbarian Guild have a natural resistance to many kinds of spells cast at them -- whether beneficial or harmful. Their Discipline, level within the Guild, and the current state of their "Inner Fire" are the main factors in their resistance.

This resistance chips away at the effective power of the spell. The base power of any spell cast at minimum mana is 100%; if the Barbarian's resistance lowers the power below 100%, the spell will fail utterly. Otheriwse it is simply reduced in effectiveness.

As a general rule, Barbarian Resistance does not apply to spells with physical manifestations, nor anything related to resurrection.

Power Perception is useful for all spellcasters, but its functions are different for Moon Mages than for other spellcasters.

Power Perception for Non-Moon Mages

Active Power Perception The PERCEIVE verb will allow you to judge how much mana is available in the area, and is the best way to increase your skill. With practice, it will also compare the mana in adjacent areas. Passive Power Perception As your skill in Power Perception increases, so does your effective "reach." Non-Moon Mages become able to sense and use mana in a wider area, and therefore have more mana available to harness.

Power Perception for Moon Mages

Active Power Perception The PERCEIVE verb is much more versatile for Moon Mages, allowing them to: · determine mana availability for each Moon Magic spellbook · locate each moon and measure its mana contribution · determine which planets are affecting one's mana availability · detect spell effects and held mana on other characters · perceive focused moonbeams in effect For details, type PERCEIVE HELP. Passive Power Perception As Moon Mages increase in Power Perception skill, they become able to sense and use mana from increasingly distant planets in the solar system, boosting their power. Note that the distance between Elanthia and any other planet varies as time passes and each planet travels through its elliptical orbit. Therefore, planets may pass in and out of your perceptible range over time even if your Power Perception skill continues to increase. The total amount you can receive from the planets is limited by your Power Perception skill -- simply reaching the giant planets Morleena, Amlothi and Dawgolesh will not immediately invest you with godlike powers.

Magical devices include such items as wands, runestones, cambrinth rings, and so on. The use of these devices is governed by Magical Devices Skill.

To activate an item, try various actions with it: WAVE, SHAKE, RUB... whatever comes to mind. Some items are fairly obvious, while others require experimentation.

Some items (such as nemmiro stones) require no skill to activate, but Magical Devices Skill may allow you to identify their properties with the FOCUS verb.

(FOCUS is explained in detail in the book "Focus on Magic" written by the renowned Lorethew Gealeranendae, available at the Crossing Warrior Mage Guild.)

Some items require mana to operate. To power them, CHARGE <item> <amount of mana>, for example CHARGE ORB 15. Charging an item with mana uses Magical Devices skill and Harness Ability skills.