Spell schools ============= With repeated overhauls to the spell schools, it has become important to specifically state what is and what is not included under the purview of a specific school. This document is somewhat intentionally vague in order to distill the overall identity of the individual schools. It does, however, use specific examples of things that would and would not be included in a school to explain them. Of course, as Crawl is fluid, so too are the schools fluid: these are not specific rules inasmuch as they are guidelines. They will be subject to change, to argument, to discussion, and to disagreements. In particular, this document may not entirely be kept properly up to date, and reading up on the commit log's history of given spells and schools is crucial to gather sufficient context. None ==== This is a school reserved for spells with no type. This is only used for monster spells, when none of the below schools would fit. This includes: monsters producing tentacles (as extensions of one's body are not conjured, summoned, or constructed). Conjurations ============ Conjuration is the act of producing something from nothing. This includes: creation of projectiles (such as Magic Dart), creation of clouds (such as Mephitic Cloud), and magical constructs of destruction (such as Fulminant Prism). This does not include: transmutations (creating something from something else), summoning (calling in a pre-existing entity), nor constructs with any degree of separate agency. Conjurations are always damage spells; this extends to the creation of damaging clouds or familiars that extend damaging spells, but anything more indirect is probably out of the school's scope. The school serves both as an additional skill cost on casting characters, and as a means to help cross between elements (or by providing pure conjurations themselves) to deal with given elemental resists. Spells can deal damage without involving conjurations, mostly through directly affecting and centring around monsters or terrain without using projectiles. Hexes ===== Hexes are spells that negatively affect entities and their equipment. They cannot do direct damage nor change the fundamental physical state of anything without involving another spell school. This includes: slowing, blinding, confusing, weakening, inducing sleep or frenzy, animating a foe's held weapon, creating fields of silence, and so on. Many Hexes have struggled with Willpower scaling somewhat arbitrarily throughout the game and being dissatisfying to roll unlucky with. Many newer or higher level Hexes sidestep the issue or check other resists and HD instead. Some work may be needed here eventually (especially at either ends of spell levels), but the current pool both provides a variety of useful utility effects and reasonably enables a stabbing playstyle of offense. New spells and spell revisions could involve more beguiling or illusions, as well as targetters beyond the whole screen or a beam for a single victim. Some debuffs are over in Alchemy as is thematically appropriate for that school- most of Hexes has fewer limitations of matter and conditions needed to transmute in comparison, in exchange for checking Willpower, HD, and possibly resists. Necromancy ========== Necromancy is primarily the act of talking to the dead for divinatory purposes. In the Crawl mythos, it is any type of magic that involves death, undeath, corpses, souls, causing unholy pain, or the act of draining life force. This includes: all spells caring about the immediate deaths of foes (charges of Grave Claw, raising zombies and spectres), or the near-death state of foes (Cigotuvi's Putrefaction targetting, Rimeblight's instant-kill). This also includes a variety of negative energy effects flavoured around suffering, usually centred around a given monster's holiness. Notably, this also includes vampiric draining, revivification, and directly staving off death. All of these are flavoured as necromantic energy regenerating one's wounds, and are thus considered unholy by their very nature. Summonings ========== Summonings involves the magical transportation of creatures and terrain from another place to here. This is specifically not the creation or construction of these beings: when they are "killed", or if the summoning finishes while they are still alive, these beings return to wherever they came from. This "place" is undefined as far as Crawl's mythos is concerned. The Abyss is the flavour source for Summon Horrible Things, while locations unconnected to the Dungeon entirely are referred to in Summon Forest and Malign Gateway. This specifically includes: all monsters that are not considered to be "here", that is, all monsters that have been brought here from another place. This specifically excludes: monsters that have been conjured from something, which only act as an extension of a spell's targeting or damage. In these instances the monsters are short-formed or short-lived (usually meaning, they die shortly after being created). Additionally, they should avoid non-living status unless relying on otherworldly themes rather than construct themes, to avoid overlap with Forgecraft's flavour focus. All summoned monsters are Abjurable by monster summoners; all conjured, constructed, or transmuted monsters are not. Forgecraft ========== In contrast to Summonings, Forgecraft involves the direct creation of transient, tangible constructs. Usually, they're set to fire or explode. Beyond the mechanical flavour of Forgecraft, all spells in the school before the recurring rule-breaking of level 9 spells are defined by their limitations. Many constructs can't move (Spike Launcher, Lightning Spire, Hoarfrost Cannonade, Diamond Sawblades), rely on the caster's position to move (Blazeheart Golem, Phalanx Beetle), or move automatically (Hellfire Mortar). They may rely on caster actions (Rending Blade and Battlesphere attacks, Monarch Bomb's detonation), the caster's own equipment and spells (Awaken Armour, Fortress Blast, Spellspark Servitor, Platinum Paragon), or limited attacks (Clockwork Bee, Walking Alembic). Frequently, they may not even have regular attacks (most cannons, Splinterfrost Barricade), and they share between them a repeated theme of charging up (Bee, Blade, Alembic, Fortress Blast, Bomb, Paragon). In exchange for all of these different types of limitations, Forgecraft allies sit between Summoning and Conjurations in providing physically-present entities that increasingly deal partially- or fully-irresistible damage across multiple turns, with relatively predictable behaviours that ignore player commands. They also have non-living resists, can be rapidly deconstructed if not made directly of magic (Battlesphere & Rending Blade), and cannot be Abjured. This also includes a limited number of ways to deal direct damage as long as they're directly tied to conditions and actions; Kinetic Grapnel mostly assists a follow-up attack, Fortress Blast gives the non-moving limitation to the caster, and Nazja's Percussive Tempering can only target one's own constructs. This specifically excludes: allies who do not have any limitations or dependencies, and allies that are considered obviously "alive". Translocations ============== Translocations is the act of moving something through magical means, sometimes via portals. This includes partial or complete movement of the caster's body, usually in short distances compared to consumables (Blink, Vhi's Electric Charge); the creation of loose or controlled portals (Malign Gateway, Passage of Golubria); and moving others entirely, whether short distances (Maxwell's Portable Piledriver) or far (Teleport Other). This also includes spells which cause items to be moved from one location to another, such as Apportation or Dimensional Bullseye. While some forms of direct damage have been tried for this school in the past, most of it has become highly reliant on the presence of other schools or sheer weapon skill. The ability to control movement is already a very broad and potent space in Crawl (also not easily provided elsewhere) without also providing a direct means to kill. Alchemy ======= Alchemy mixes together two different components: the act of fundamentally changing matter and magic, plus anything involving poison and chemistry of any kind. When paired with other schools, this includes turning rock to liquids, poison to fire, blood to ice, and the creation and manipulation of mutagenic radiation. Poison as an effect itself is intended to be relatively strong early on and to fall off later. While other forms of Alchemy and multi-school spells eventually provide non-poison damage, they have notable limitations and caveats of player risk even at higher spell levels, and the overall school still has level limitations compared to all other schools. Note: Most of the self-warping spells were moved over to the Shapeshifting skill, which uses talismans. To keep the identity of both this school and those talismans clean and separate, keep self-transmutation out of these spells. Fire ==== All spells involving fire or heat of any kind. This includes: conjurations of fire, spells involving heat or burning, etc. Compared to other schools, Fire's damage offers some of the largest and most controlled area-of-effect spells, but is unfriendly to allies and can still catch the caster in their own blasts. Fire also cannot produce non-damage, 'utility' effects without other schools being involved, but can be used to create fiery clouds or temporary lava. Ice === All spells involving ice or cold of any kind. This includes: conjurations of ice, spells involving freezing or cooling, etc. Compared to other schools, Ice is a versatile yet diffuse element, with high mp efficiency in exchange for spells with limited range or aim or movement, and often a focus on damage being stretched over multiple turns. It can also offer slowing and sleep effects, boosted against the cold-blooded and blocked by those cold-resistant. Air === All spells involving the air specifically as an element. This includes: the creation of clouds (in combination with the relevant element and the school of Conjurations), the use of unpredictable and cascading electric effects, as well as sudden swift movement. Compared to other schools, clouds are prolonged in their damage, while electric effects involve some danger and strange uncontrolled targeting. In exchange, Electricity resistance is rare compared to other resists, and all electric damage ignores half of AC. Single-target effects should be very rare: Air's only access to precise single-target damage without leaving Air and Conjurations is Airstrike, which has heavy limitations attached to it. Earth ===== All spells involving the earth specifically as an element. This includes: spells that shape the earth, produce or manipulate earth-based substances, and petrification. Compared to other schools, the school is mainly focused on damaging spells with single projectiles; multi-target damage spells tend to be more limited in number and in targeting conditions than those provided by other elemental schools. It also uses 'fragment' damage, which is heavily affected by AC. In exchange, it provides the most straightforward and direct irresistible spells in the game. Holy ==== These spells specifically involve holy acts, usually defined within the scope of the "good" Gods (Zin, Elyvilon, The Shining One). These spells will always be only available as monster spells.