Chapter 6: Magic

Chapter 6: Magic

Spell Books

Unlike wizards, bards do not engage in the systematic study of magic or the pursuit of specific spells. In spite of this, most bards pick up some magical knowledge in the course of their travels. However, understanding the meaning of a spell is a difficult task. Spell books are not filled with lines of neatly written text. Instead, they contain arcane formulae, strange symbols, notes, comments, odd runes, etc. Understanding them is difficult, as spells aren't "read" like normal writing; they are "solved" like complex mathematical equations, and impressed upon the mind by an act of will.

Only those able to cast spells can attempt to unlock their secrets and tap the energies needed to cast them. The only way to do this is for the spellcaster to successfully roll under his "chance to learn spells" score, which is a function of Intelligence. Once understood, no further attempts to solve a given spell need to be made as long as the spell book is available for study. Note that a spellcaster cannot understand a spell of a level higher than he can currently cast.

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