So you have decided to become a caster. There are probably a few things you should know before setting off into battles. First of all casters are some of the most difficult characters to play, especially the enchanters. As powerful as some caster eventually become, in the end there isn't a whole lot between you and your enemies blade. You are going to have to learn how to work as a team to protect your casters and utilize thier spells, whatever class they have choosen. You are also going to need a couple things as a caster, the most important of which is your spell book.
Your spell book is where you will be listing all of the spells your character has memorized and can use during play. For each spell you will have to right down the name of the spell the effects it has in Lluvandor and how to cast it. I would highly suggest keeping your spell book with you at all times during play. You never know when that one spell you never use will come in handy.
People use many things for spell books. From spiral notebooks to leather covered books of old parchment (hellz yeah!). We also have a few written languages in Lluvandor that spells might be written in. Your spell book is a good place to translate your spells from notes and pages you get. Not all spells are just handed to you or taught by your leader. Some involve going out into Lluvandor and questing for the spell itself. Spell can also be researched, that is you can make up your own spells! All you have to do is write down a couple ideas in your book and show it to the GM, and he will tell you what you need in order to make your spell exist in the game. Spell books can be stolen and copied from by your enemies. To avoid your spells being taken you can write out your spells in number of different languages (or just not die).
Now its time for some actual magic talk. There are four classes of casters in the game. Enchanters, Necromancers, Wizards/Mages, and Clerics.
Enchanters are masters in the school of Divination. This means their specialty is casting spells that alter ones stats or state of mind. This is a much different type of caster than the traditional wizard. Enchanters have almost no direct damage spells at all. Most of their spells are buffs. Increasing the attack or defensive properties of their teams memebers. They also weaken their foes in the same manner. Since the have no real way of inflicting damage the enchanter must have a supporting team to play with affectively. However if used properly they can easily turn the tides of any conflict.
Clerics are basically priests who kick ass. Usually clad head to toe in plate mail armor wielding enormous weapons of holy might. Now just because the word priest comes up does not make clerics lawful or good in any sense. They can be priests of any type of god they wish. Whether it be a peaceful god or the prince of darkness himself. The one similar characteristic of all clerics is that they heal. They heal very well. Clerics go forth shouting prayers and chants striking fear into thier enemies and causing some nasty side affects with their spells. Although most cleric spells are of a healing nature (alteration), they also have some extremely powerful nukes. Some of which destroys all life within earshot! Clerics are widely sought after for their nice buffs and amazing heals, any army can use clerics and a lot of them.
Necromancers are probably the most fun casters to play. Whats better than summoning undead armies, spreading disease and just being nothing but trouble for everyone around you? Necromancers are probably the only caster class that can actually survive on his own in the world. The necros spells range in affects, from damage to heals to disease. His wide range of spells allows him to adapt to situations easily. He cannot take on a army himself, but wander about alone and a necro will have you as his servant in no time.
Wizards and Mages are the most basic and traditional of the caster classes. Just about all of their spells are direct damage. Which means they can point a finger and kill you. Although it takes some time for them to get the higher damage spells, they get a lot of them. Wizards are much like archers in an army. They will stand back while the sword junkies duke it out, and then decimate their distracted foes with area affect spells.
Now that you have an idea of which direction your caster character will be going its time to talk about spells.
First thing you need to know is that there are three schools of magic. Alteration (heals), Divination (buffs), and Evocation (direct damage). Some races get special bonuses for different schools of magic, so make sure you pick a class race combo that will be as affective as possible.
There are also multiple circles of magic. There are 6 circles of magic. They are Earth, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Poison/Disease, and Holy. Every spell fits into one of these circles. The circles of magic affect each other in a way similar to rock-paper-sissors. If your circle of magic beats another circle, it deals twice as much damage. Ice beats Earth, Earth beats Fire, Fire beats Holy, Holy beats Poison/Disease, Poison/Disease beats Lightning, and Lightning in turn beats Ice. Every Caster must choose a circle of magic when he creates his character. This is your base circle. Whenever you cast a spell of the same circle as your base, it deals twice the damage, however the circle that outs your base circle will deal you twice the damage.
Mana is also another concern for casters. Mana dictates how many spells you can cast in the duration of a battle. This is very simple for good reason. In the intense confusion of battle its very easy to lose track of some of these casting rules. That is why we tried to simplify it as much as possible. Your mana pool is twice your level number. So if you are level 2 you have 4 spells to cast a day, if you are level 7 you get 14.
Now to actually cast a spell, all you have to do is yell out the name of the spell, count down the casting time, yell out your target and what the affect of your spell is. Make sure everyone on the field can hear you! Especially your target, they need to know what just happened to them.
One last thing. Every 5 levels a caster gains 1 instant cast. An instant cast allows the caster to cast a spell and ignore the casting time. The first instant cast a caster recieves is lvl 6 (it follows the same pattern as the hp increases). Personally i would save these for such things as your counter spells and heals.
Thats about it, below this tutorial is a beginning list of spells for each caster class. It will grow as your characters do.
