Final Difficulty

A spell’s final difficulty number is usually the same as its adjusted difficulty. When the caster has spent the required preparation time, roll 1d100. If the number rolled is equal to or higher than the spell’s final difficulty number, preparations are complete. If the roll is lower than the final difficulty, the caster must continue preparing the spell and can check again when another period of preparations are complete.

If the spell’s adjusted difficulty is higher than 100, or if the caster simply wishes to reduce the difficulty number, the caster can apply a modifier for a material component to the final difficulty instead of the adjusted difficulty. This does not affect the spell’s preparation or casting time.

The caster can also extend or reduce a spell’s preparation time by adjusting the final difficulty. If the caster increases the preparation time to the next higher category, the final difficulty is reduced by half or –10, whichever is higher. The spell’s casting time is unchanged. If the spell’s adjusted difficulty is 151 or higher, increasing the preparation time doubles it to two years. The caster can also shorten a spell’s preparation time to the next lower category by doubling the difficulty. Each of these modifications can be made only once. If the adjusted difficulty is 0 or less, the difficulty cannot be doubled.

For example, if Pharjis decides to spend six months preparing his difficulty 55 spell, the final difficulty is reduced to 28 (fractions are rounded up), but the spell still takes one hour to cast. Similarly, if Pharjis wished to spend only one day preparing his difficulty 15 spell, its final difficulty would rise to 30.

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