Spells

= Magic = //"Arsothep smiled; she's always loved the water, but had never before been able to conjure anything more than a puddle. Now, finally, the sea matron has saw fit to let this young mage finally have a go at something a bit more torrential. Unfortunately, she failed to recognize the strange rushing sound that accompanied the motes of color appearing around her.//"

A message from Mars:
"Oh, magic. When I first cracked open my Player's Handbook at the age of 10, the chapter on magic was the first thing I read. Naturally, I had no idea what was going on, but I persevered and finally taught myself everything I needed to know. Magic is my favorite mechanic as a player, and my most hated mechanic as a DM. It's always been easy to overpower the rest of the party by playing a mage of some kind, and thus always difficult to balance the power of magic as a DM. It has been a struggle (to say the least) to weight the power of magic in Armeya, but I am so far pleased with the results. The important thing to keep in mind is that the magic practiced at the University is still very young, and many spells from the Player's Handbook haven't even been discovered. Furthermore, the magic granted by the gods is a lot more stable, as represented by the Disaster Roll mechanic when trying to cast an arcane spell."

Magic...the most influential, creative, and destructive force in all of Armeya. Tool of the gods, and recent plaything of the mortals. Be it at the hands of a proud Embir having just finished his training at the University, or a devout priest of the Revenant, the great truth is that all magic is the same, and if it weren't for the arrival of L'Orielan and his teachings, the secrets of magic may have remained forever solely at the command of the gods. Traditionally in D&D, magic is divided into two forms: Arcane and Divine. In the world of Armeya, these are different names for the same thing, where the only difference is whether or not the gods are involved in the casting. In fact, higher level arcane spells blur the lines between this division as the gods must still be sought to allow for certain spells to manifest in the world.  In general, all spells from the Player's Handbook are approved for characters to use without seeking "approval" on the forums, except those in the following list. When necessary, more information on these spells and the means by which to cast them will be given below. Any spell deemed by the Admins to be "too powerful" may be removed from play at a later date if this blanket-approval is abused. DMs may deny a spell from being used on an adventure if they feel it is unbalancing. Refer to the list of allowed spells in Armeya RPG for a clear presentation of what is available for use.
 * All spells with the Polymorph subschool, and several of those that alter form otherwise.
 * Magical flight is a secret granted only to the most worthy of L'Orielan.
 * Resurrection and Miracle are the realms of the gods and as such can only be used by them, and rarely so.
 * Reincarnation is only possible through a very specific means and has only occurred once in the history of Armeya RPG prior to the site's launch.
 * All spells with the Teleport subschool, with the exception of Dimension Door.
 * Anything that creates, commands, repulses, damages, or otherwise manipulates undead.
 * Any arcane spell 5th level or higher requires the following:
 * Anything that manipulates water requires beseeching Naneid.
 * Anything that manipulates earth requires beseeching Ta Rak Ra.
 * Anything that manipulates fire requires beseeching Shul.
 * Anything that manipulates air requires beseeching Vo Q'fimby.
 * Anything that manipulates the soul requires beseeching the Council.
 * Anything that manipulates the body requires beseeching Asch Ment.
 * Anything that manipulates the mind requires beseeching L'Orielan.
 * Metamagic does not count here. More details are given below.
 * Spells that access other planes of existence are banned with the exception of Plane Shift.
 * You can only access the following planes on a plane shift:
 * Astral, Ethereal, Shadow, Material, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Positive, Negative.
 * Disjunction, Time Stop, Wish, Geas/Quest, Greater Invisibility, Genesis

Divine vs Arcane
In Armeya RPG, Divine Magic and Arcane Magic are essentially one in the same. Whatever pool the gods pull forth their magic from, so too do mortals. The main difference between the two types of magic is that divine magic is given to mortals to use by the gods, who deliver this magic unto them in a stable form. Arcane magic is magic that mortals pull from the cosmos of their own volition without needing to seek a god. Mortals do not understand how to manipulate magic as easily as the gods, and so arcane magic is inherently flawed. In fact, sometimes, though rarely, improper use of arcane magic can lead to a highly dangerous phenomenon known as an Aether Stream, which is detailed below in "Disaster Rolls."

Disaster Rolls
There is a very slight chance that every time an arcane spell is cast, a magical anomaly called an Aether Stream suddenly springs into existence, and with it brings an immense amount of danger to both the caster and everyone nearby. Each time an arcane spell is cast, the caster must make a Disaster Roll by rolling 1d100. The numbers by which a caster fails this check is given in the table below, and this number range depends on the level of spell cast. Regardless of the result of this roll, the intended spell occurs as normal. Many spells have very long casting times; the Disaster Roll need not be made until the casting time of the spell is finished. The result of failing this check is disastrous, as the name of the check implies. On a failed Disaster Roll, an Aether Stream manifests into being. The size and strength of the Aether Stream varies according to the level of spell that created it, but all types of Aether Streams share a few qualities. First of all, Aether Streams are maelstroms comprised of an energy that functions altogether magically but does not detect as magic. These strange phenomenons are easily identified on sight: they are comprised of powerful, flesh-ripping winds accompanied by colorful motes of light that bob, weave, and blink in and out of view within the tossing of the storm. An Aether Stream is created exactly where the caster was standing. When this occurs, the telltale motes begin to appear, and allow a caster who is aware of the existence of these events a hair of a second to react. On a successful Reflex Save with a DC equal to 10 + the level of the spell that created the Aether Stream, the caster manages to step to the side just in time for the practically gale-force winds of storm to push him out to the edge of the stream to safety. Much like a hurricane, the center of an Aether Stream is calm, while all points around it are wild and vicious winds. Moving against an Aether Stream requires a Strength Check DC25 for each 5ft square to be moved through. Failure to enter the storm keeps the creature outside of its area of effect for the time being until he or she tries again. Failure to proceed once the storm has been entered checks the creature and forces that character to stay in place for the rest of the turn unless that creature decides to let the winds of the Aether Stream push the character back out. Either option is dangerous (**a good rule of thumb is just not to go into an Aether Stream!**). If a creature has been swept up into the winds of the storm, it is pushed and shoved to the edge of the Aether Stream's area of effect until that creature reaches safety, whereupon the creature falls prone, or is slammed into a wall or other obstruction that prevents the creature from being pushed out of the storm, whereupon the creature falls prone and takes 1d6 of bludgeoning damage for every 10ft further it would have been shoved if the obstruction had not been there. The truly life-threatening effect of the Aether Stream comes from lingering within the storm, and many mages and unfortunate passersby and innocent animals have lost their lives this way. Each full round that a creature stands within an Aether Stream drains them of their vital force of life, reflected mechanically as a certain amount of hit points, **permanently**. There is no known way of restoring these lost hit points. The following table shows the size and amount of hp drain for Aether Streams based on the level of spell that created it: Over time, some folk have experimented with Aether Streams. Understandably, one or two small ones pop up at the University each year. While Aether Streams appear to be completely immune to magical effects, they can be dealt with through more natural means. For example, at the University, constructs are employed to encase thick stone spheres around an Aether Stream's central spring, after which a mage will quickly utilize his arts to seal the ball so that the threat may at least be contained. All over the University's grounds can be seen such stone capsules, which are carefully guarded.
 * = **Level of Spell** ||= **Disaster Roll Fails on a ...** ||= **Level of Spell** ||= **Disaster Roll Fails on a...** ||
 * = 0 ||= 1 ||= 5 ||= 1-6 ||
 * = 1 ||= 1-2 ||= 6 ||= 1-7 ||
 * = 2 ||= 1-3 ||= 7 ||= 1-8 ||
 * = 3 ||= 1-4 ||= 8 ||= 1-9 ||
 * = 4 ||= 1-5 ||= 9 ||= 1-10 ||
 * = **Level of Spell** ||= **Size of Aether Stream (radius)** ||= **Amount of HP Drain per Round** ||= **Level of Spell** ||= **Size of Aether Stream (radius)** ||= **Amount of HP Drain per Round** ||
 * = 0 ||= 10ft ||= 1 ||= 5 ||= 60ft ||= 6 ||
 * = 1 ||= 20ft ||= 2 ||= 6 ||= 70ft ||= 7 ||
 * = 2 ||= 30ft ||= 3 ||= 7 ||= 80ft ||= 8 ||
 * = 3 ||= 40ft ||= 4 ||= 8 ||= 90ft ||= 9 ||
 * = 4 ||= 50ft ||= 5 ||= 9 ||= 100ft ||= 10 ||

Undead & Necromancy
The school of Necromancy in standard D&D deals greatly in the concept of undeath. This is not true in Armeya, and the alternative class features available to Necromancers have been altered to reflect this change from the norm. Necromancers are students of the art of the flux of life, gain and loss, and are more described in what it is they do at the page for the University. As for Undead themselves, they are a truly rare sight in Armeya. "Undead" in the traditional sense of zombies and skeletons, vampires and mummies, liches and even ephemeral swarms, are gathered up and placed under the collective term "Daemonkind." As a mere fraction of a greater threat, the people of Armeya have had little encounters with undead creatures and, even if one were to discover one, it is unlikely that the mortal would survive the encounter. As a result of all this, "turning," "rebuking," and spells that affect the undead in any way are entirely dropped from the setting. This might be developed in the future if their presence becomes more well known and strategies begin to develop to combat them, but the standard Armeya Cleric and Paladin does not come fully equipped with side air bags and the ability to scare away creatures they've likely never even heard of.

Magic & the Gods
The gods reign supreme in the world of Armeya, and their control over certain concepts of existence for the mortals of the world sometimes comes into contention with these peoples' desires. While the gods are mostly content to allow mortals to play with weaker magics (though even then at risk; see Aether Streams above), when a person opts to attempt higher order magic, the gods pay attention. Though their portfolios are many, each god has one particular ideal allotted to them that they may exercise complete authority over. Spellcasters of both arcane and divine magic must thus seek their blessings in order to cast a higher level spell that fits beneath the individual banners of the gods. This can sometimes prove difficult, as the gods (for obvious reasons) reserve the right to just say "no" and decline use of the spell to the caster. A typical method of beseeching the gods would be to address them, offer praise, and then an explanation of why using this spell would benefit their own cause. If the god accepts this prayer, the spellcaster will find out soon enough when he or she attempts to cast the spell. Prepared casters may prepare their spells as normal; it is only when the spell is going to be cast that the caster must seek the gods' blessing. Some gods are enemies with one another, and some are allied, while others are neutral parties. This is important when calling upon the gods, in such that, for example, a Cleric of Asch Ment who wishes to cast a spell that affects earth and stone (the territory of Ta Rak Ra, enemy to Asch Ment), that Cleric is simply not going to have his or her wish granted. Spells of 0 to 4th level are clear to be used in Armeya as per normal. Spells of 5th level and higher that fall under one of the gods' categories of dominance must be sought after through prayer. See the accompanying page regarding the gods' imminent domain and the spells that fall under these categories here. Increasing a spell's effective level through metamagic does not count for determining if the caster needs to petition a god for use of the spell (for example, a quickened scorching ray is 6th level, but since its natural level is 2nd, the caster does not need to petition Shul for its use).

Summoning & Outer Realms
Visiting another plane of existence is notoriously difficult to achieve in Armeya RPG, and for good reason. The standard D&D cosmology explains the multiverse as the iconic "Great Wheel," in which all the Outer and Inner Planes exist in circles around the Material Plane, all of which rests on one side of a coin that is, when flipped over, one enormous plane called the Outlands. In this setting, Armeya as a world is the center of attention of the universe (as opposed to the multiverse; already we are getting into the differences). Instead of the Great Wheel, imagine that the world of Armeya exists on multiple levels simultaneously. The Inner Planes do not form a circle around the Material Plane; they overlap it. The simplest way to explain how this functions is that a tour of the planes would show the physical world of Armeya cast in a different light. The Elemental Plane of Water would "render" Armeya in such a way that only its waters would exist in all their forms, from puddles to ice floes, whereas the Elemental Plane of Earth would display Armeya as a dry landscape; in both of these planes, only the associated elemental concept of Armeya is present while all other elemental concepts are ignored. More information on how the various planes treat the world of Armeya can be found here. Armeya RPG also places a great limit on the number of these planes available; the alignment-based planes of the outer ring are simply not in this setting. The following planes of existence are used in Armeya RPG: Finally, as a result of the removal of alignment-based planes, spells that summon forth beings that populate these planes do not function as they would in standard D&D. Instead, any Conjuration (Summoning) spell that would summon forth a creature from the Outer Planes functions in one of two ways, depending on the creature intended to be summoned:
 * Elemental Plane of Air, Elemental Plane of Earth, Elemental Plane of Fire, Elemental Plane of Water, Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane, and Shadow Plane.
 * If the creature is only a member of the Outer Planes courtesy of a template such as Fiendish or Celestial, remove that template, thus restoring the creature to the Material Plane, and you may summon that creature. Due to having stripped that creature of its template which was causing it to have a particular alignment, the creature resumes its default alignment, and is now summonable by casters of any alignments (thus, a Celestial Giant Fire Beetle, normally only able to be employed through summoning by good aligned casters, becomes a standard Giant Fire Beetle, and may be summoned to act on behalf of a caster of any alignment).
 * If the creature is a member of the Outer Planes due to its inherent nature (for example, an Avoral), this creature cannot be summoned. Typically these creatures are Outsiders.
 * Elemental creatures, creatures native to the Material Plane, or creatures native to the Astral, Ethereal, or Shadow Plane are all viable targets for summoning as normal.

**See Memorization Rules for rules on memorizing spells (Clerics, Wizards, etc).**
It is assumed that all spellcasters will have the material components they need to cast their basic range of spells. Any spell where there is no specific XP or GP "value" listed, assume that your character **does** have those materials on-hand. Any spell that requires components of a listed XP or GP value requires the caster to be in possession of such materials at the time of casting.
 * SPELL COMPONENTS:**

Clerics may pick two of their Gods' Domains, as found on the individual God's pages on this site. Only the domains listed in those pages are used in Armeya RPG. Access to some domains requires the worshiper to be more in line with their gods' own thoughts than others; to be able to choose some domains, a devoted one must have the same alignment as his or her god.
 * CLERIC/PRIEST DOMAINS:**

For a List of Allowed Spells in Armeya RPG, see the following link:
These lists are comprehensive for spells which a character need not seek approval to use and also would not need to plea to a particular god to utilize. See above for more information on making pleas to the gods to access more spells. When in doubt, refer to the list of Banned Magic types near the top of this page, or ask an Admin.
 * Allowed Spells in Armeya RPG