Creating the Spell The first step in creating a true dweomer is deciding what it does. Table 28 and the accompanying notes lists the basic spell types and their functions. The player and the DM must decide which types are needed to construct the proposed spell. Types can be freely combined to create the effect the player wants. Once the enchantment’s parts are selected, the difficulty ratings are added up.

A spell’s basic area of effect, range, and duration is very limited, but all three can be augmented by increasing the spell’s difficulty.

Table 29 (page 130) gives areas of effect; the larger the area, the more difficult the enchantment. It is possible to create a spell that affects the entire plane where it is cast. The type of magic determines which column to use (this information is given on Table 28). If several types of magic are being combined, the DM and player must agree on the spell’s primary effect. All secondary magic types function at the area of effect and range assigned to the basic magic.

Table 31 (page 131) gives ranges; the longer the range, the greater the difficulty. It is possible to create an enchantment that can affect a target anywhere on the plane where the spell is cast, and some spells can reach into other planes of existence. Selecting a fairly short range makes the magic easier to cast, but might make the spell difficult to use when it is finally ready to cast.

Table 32 (page 131) gives durations. The longer the duration, the more difficult the enchantment. It is possible to make a spell permanent, but this usually drains a point of Constitution from the caster.

Once the spell is created, all difficulty factors for type, area of effect, range, and duration are added together. The caster’s level is subtracted from the total. If the caster is a specialist wizard, subtract an extra five points. If the caster has used the spell before—all the elements must be exactly the same—or has a set of written notes from someone who has used the spell before, subtract 10 more points from the total. The result is the spell’s adjusted difficulty.

The caster can further reduce the adjusted difficulty by incorporating unusual material components or adding special conditions, see Table 34 and the accompanying notes. The spell’s preparation time and casting time depend on the adjusted difficulty, as given on Table 33.

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