User:Salamangkero/Morrowind:Magic

This page is a rough draft of a possible restructure of Morrowind's Magic page. The goals include: better page structure; clearer boundaries between magic-as-a-game-mechanic vs. magic-as-a-specialization; more info on mixing magic with the the other specializations

Magic is one of the three specializations in Morrowind. It constitutes a major part of gameplay, which obviously includes spellcasting and the use of enchanted items. Surprisingly, however, even seemingly mundane actions like eating and drinking can also be magical experiences. The basics of magic are covered here while more specific (or technical) details are found in their respective pages linked below.

Character Creation

Choosing Magic as a specialization adds a 5-point bonus to nine magic-related skills and allows you to learn them at a faster rate.

Six of these skills are referred to as "schools" of magic. All spells fall under these schools of magic and your ability to cast a spell is primarily determined by your skill in its corresponding school, which is one of the following:

• Alteration — Spells that manipulate the laws of nature, such as Water Breathing and Levitation.
• Conjuration — Spells that summon creatures and equipment from other worlds, such as Bound Items and Summon.
• Destruction — Spells that cause physical harm, such as Fire Damage and Damage Attribute.
• Illusion — Spells that alter perception, such as Invisibility and Charm.
• Mysticism — Spells that shape and focus ethereal forces, such as Telekinesis and Soultrap.
• Restoration — Spells that heal, such as Restore Health and Cure Common Disease.

The remaining skills include:

• Alchemy — The ability to create potions from ingredients and identify their magical effects.
• Enchant — The ability to add magical effects to clothing, armor, and weapons.
• Unarmored — The ability to resist damage when not wearing armor.

In addition to skills, there are three "magic" attributes; two primary, and one derived.

The primary attributes are Intelligence and Willpower. The former determines your maximum Magicka, while the latter affects your ability to successfully cast spells as well as resist being paralyzed or silenced.

The derived attribute is Magicka, the energy used to cast spells. Your maximum Magicka is calculated by multiplying your Intelligence by your Magicka multiplier, which is 1 by default. You can increase your Magicka multiplier through racial and birthsign-related abilities acquired during character creation. A spell's casting cost is the amount of Magicka needed to cast it; spellcasting consumes Magicka, regardless of whether or not the spell was cast successfully. There are various ways through which Magicka can be replenished or even boosted; however, there are also other ways through which it can be reduced.

Birthsigns that complement a magic specialization include The Mage and his charges: The Apprentice, The Atronach and The Ritual.

Spell Effects

Spell Effects are the basis of all magic in the game. Each spell effect falls under one of six schools of magic, which corresponds to six magic-related skills.

Before they can be used, spells effects may need to be assigned some of the following properties:

• Area — expressed in feet, this determines the radius of the spell effect. Any eligible target caught in this area will experience the spell effect; this also includes allies (a.k.a. "friendly fire")
• Duration — the number of seconds in real time where the effect persists; it expires at the end of this duration. Some spell effects, like those related to teleportation, are instantaneous and cannot have any meaningful duration.
• Magnitude — expressed as either a single number or a range of values, this determines the intensity of the spell effect.
  • Some spell effects, like those that related to curing, summoning, teleportation, water breathing and water walking, have no magnitude as they do not have varying degrees of intensity.
  • Other spell effects, especially those that inflict damage, may have a minimum and a maximum magnitude. However, unlike a weapon, where its damage is determined by how long the player holds the attack button, a spell effect's damage is simply a random number within the given range. For example, a Fire Damage effect with a magnitude of 3–5 has a one-in-three chance of inflicting 3, 4 or 5 points of damage.
• Target — determines which target/s the spell effect will be applied to.
  • Self — applies the effect to the spell caster or, in the case of potions, the drinker.
  • Touch — applies the effect to any eligible targets within touching range of the spell caster.
  • Target — shoots a magical projectile, which applies the effect to the first eligible target it hits. In the case of enchanted weapons, the effect may be applied to any creature or NPC struck by the weapon.

The Spell Effects page lists all spell effects available in the game, including those in the Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions.

Types of Magic

There are several ways to apply spell effects in Morrowind.

Spells

Spells are a combination of one or more spell effects.

Each spell has a cost, which is the amount of Magicka needed to cast it. For example, you need 7pts of Magicka to cast the Cruel Firebloom spell.

In addition to cost, a spell also has a chance, which is the probability of casting it successfully. A spell's chance is affected by its cost and your skill in its magic school, as well as your Willpower, Luck and Fatigue.

Spells can be bought from spell vendors or created with the help of Spellmakers. Similar to weapons, spells must be readied before they can be used.

Powers

Powers are similar to spells. They are accessed and used in the same manner. You can acquire powers during character creation based on your chosen race and birthsign; a few other powers are acquired by finishing certain quests.

Unlike spells, however, powers have no Magicka cost or chance of failure. On the other hand, each power can be used only once every 24 hours of game time. They are also independent of any skills you have; using a power does not contribute to increasing any skill levels. They can also be used even while silenced.

Abilities

Abilities, like powers, may also be granted by your birthsign and race. However, they are permanent effects, such as Argonians' immunity to poison, or Bretons' resistance to Magicka. Unlike powers, abilities do not need to be cast.

Not all abilities are beneficial. For example, characters born under the birthsign of The Lord are weak against fire. These negative abilities usually serve to offset other beneficial abilities or powers.

Diseases

Diseases are like negative abilities; they apply debilitating spell effects to your character that are continuously active. They can be contracted by receiving an attack from diseased foes, pickpocketing diseased NPCs or looting diseased corpses.

Should you be infected, diseases can be cured by either the Cure Common Disease or Cure Blight Disease spell effects, depending on the type of disease. If you have no spell, power, enchantment, scroll, ingredient or potion with the curative effect you need, you can pray to one of many shrines all over the land; most of them can bless you with either spell effect.

Some diseases like Corprus, Porphyric Hemophilia and Sanies Lupinus may progress into worse conditions if left untreated.

Enchantments

Enchantments are spell effects that are "stored" in an item instead of acquired or learned by your character. You can buy an enchanted item, enchant one yourself or pay an Enchanter to do it for you, though their services are very expensive.

Like powers, enchantments also have no Magicka cost or chance of failure. They can also be used even while silenced. Can they? They also do not level up your skills in the schools of magic but, depending on the enchantment, they may level up your Enchant skill.

There are two types of enchantments:

• The most common type has a cost, which consumes charges instead of Magicka. Charges are like a separate pool of Magicka, tied to the enchanted item instead of your character. Once you have depleted the charges, you will no longer be able to use the enchantment. Fortunately, an enchanted item's charge naturally refills over time. You can also speed up this process by "recharging" the item with a filled soul gem.
• The second, rarer type of enchantment is called Constant Effect. This type has neither cost nor charge. Instead, it continuously applies its spell effects on you as long as you are wearing the enchanted item or, in the case of enchanted weapons, holding it. The spell effects also do not have a duration; they expire only when you unequip the enchanted item.

Scrolls

Scrolls are, simply put, enchanted pieces of paper. They cost neither Magicka nor charges but they can be used only once; the scroll is destroyed immediately after use.

Enchanters typically have a selection of magic scrolls but they can also be purchased from other merchants or found randomly in loot.

Alchemy

Alchemy offers two ways to experience spell effects: consume ingredients or drink potions.

• Ingredients may have up to four spell effects. When you consume an ingredient, there is a chance you may experience the first effect but it will be very mild (e.g. lower magnitude, shorter duration, etc.); regardless, your Alchemy skill will also level up by a small amount. In order to experience its other effects, you'll need create a potion by mixing it with other ingredients that also share the desired effect.
• Potions, like ingredients, are consumable items but the spell effects they provide are more predictable and reliable. Unlike ingredients, though, you level up your Alchemy skill not by drinking potions but by creating them; you will need alchemy apparatus to turn ingredients into potions.

You can buy ingredients from alchemists or apothecaries but they are also sold by publicans in various inns and taverns. On the other hand, healers and priests usually have curative and restorative potions for sale. Both ingredients and potions can be used even while paralyzed; this makes them the only effective means of curing yourself of paralysis.

Things to Keep in Mind

• Magicka can only be replenished by resting, using Restore Magicka, Spell Absorption or Absorb Magicka effects. belongs in MW:Magicka
• Those born under the sign of the Atronach cannot replenish Magicka by resting. belongs in MW:Magicka
• More powerful spells cost more Magicka to cast. belongs in MW:Spellmaker
• Spells are more likely to fail when you are low on fatigue. belongs in MW:Spells
• Spells will fail often if your respective skill for that school is low. Trying to cast a last minute Divine Intervention with a Mysticism skill of 5 will take a lot of luck. Consider leveling up your magic skills if you plan on casting successful spells. belongs in MW:Spells
• Enchantments are a powerful tool; they allow you to have little ability in any school of magic but still use magic. belongs in MW:Enchant
• Any character can benefit from magic. Whether a thief needs to teleport to safety or turn invisible, or a warrior needs a powerful healing spell or to summon armor. Even if you don't plan to be a mage, investing in magic can make a big difference. belongs in the next two sections
• The speed at which magic projectiles travel is influenced by the character's weight. For example, ranged spells fired by a male Orc move 50% faster than those of a female Breton.belongs in MW:Spells