Part 14: Bonus Update 10.5: Level 4 Spells

Huh. The more you know. I normally enjoy being a pedant about things like that, so I'll have to remember it.


Pretty much. Every time you encounter monsters and choose to Attack, the game increments a counter, and when it ticks over the party's alignment shifts toward Evil. If you choose Bribe, the counter increments toward Good, but I can't be bothered micromanaging alignment when it makes so little difference anyway. (Bribe does exactly what it sounds like: you can attempt to bribe monsters with gold, gems or food so they'll go away. Not all monsters will accept bribes, and I rarely bother trying it.)

I'm probably going to be away for most of the weekend, but I've done a bit of levelling up and the party's now level 7, so to tide you over here's:

Bonus Update 10.5: Level 4 Spells

No maps yet, because the hints contain spoilers for the mystery of Portsmith!

Level 4 Cleric Spells

1. NAME: Cure Disease
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Restores full health to sick character, instantaneously removing the diseased condition.
Disease prevents characters from recovering any HP when resting. It's not as common as poison, but when it happens it's bad news.

2. NAME: Neutralize Poison
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Flushes poison out of character's system, instantaneously removing the poisoned condition.
As you've seen, poisoning is common even at the start of the game. This spell will mean a lot less running back to town to heal.

3. NAME: Protection from Acid
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Increases all characters' resistance to acid attacks. Amount of the increase depends on the caster's experience level. Spell lasts 1 day.
Acid-spraying monsters are nasty. I'm going to have to remember that this spell exists so that Preacher can cast it whenever we run into them.

4. NAME: Protection from Electricity
Exactly the same as Protection from Acid, except it protects from electricity instead. Electricity is less common and usually less deadly than acid, but this spell has its uses.

5. NAME: Restore Alignment
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Restores a character's original alignment, after actions and responses have caused it to shift.
You know, if you were an obsessive powergamer, probably the best way to go would be to start with an all-Good party, let them all naturally shift toward evil, and then cast Restore Alignment if you ever found a Good or Neutral piece of equipment that you wanted to use. I'll use this spell to keep everyone's alignment stable for the purposes of this LP, but normally I don't bother.

6. NAME: Summon Lightning
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Combat, Outdoors
TARGET: Up to 3 monsters not in hand-to-hand combat
DESCRIPTION: Zaps monsters with lightning bolts, inflicting 4-32 damage points on each monster not immune to lightning.
It's like Lightning Bolt, only it doesn't scale with level and doesn't work indoors. Which is to say that it's Lightning Bolt minus what makes Lightning Bolt useful.

7. NAME: Super Heroism
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Temporarily bestows 10 additional Hit Points and 3 additional experience levels on character. Lasts for the duration of combat.
It's an upgraded version of Heroism. If your cleric has nothing better to do and you can spare a couple of gems, well, why not?

8. NAME: Surface
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Instantly transports all Party members from an underground location to ground surface.
If you've found some good items in a dungeon but you're not sure you can survive the trip back out, this is the spell for you! I should probably use it more often than I do, really, but I'm a risk-taker.

Level 4 Sorcerer Spells

1. NAME: Acid Arrow
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Attacks with corrosive acid that inflicts 3-30 damage points, unless the monster is immune to acid.
Does about as much damage as Energy Blast when cast by a level-7 Sorcerer, but doesn't cost a gem. It's mildly useful when you first get it, but not for much longer.

2. NAME: Cold Beam
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Attacks with a beam of intense cold that penetrates to the monster's heart and inflicts 4-40 damage points, unless the monster is immune to cold.
On one hand, does more damage than Acid Arrow. On the other, that's because more monsters resist cold.

3. NAME: Feeble Mind
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Erases the monsters' brain, removing all its abilities for the duration of combat or until the monster overcomes the spell.
Why would I ever cast this spell when I can cast the one directly below?

4. NAME: Freeze
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Immobilizes the monster, preventing it from attacking for the duration of combat. Monster's chance of overcoming this spell is very small.
If there's one particularly deadly monster that you absolutely have to knock out of combat right now, this spell is worth a try.

5. NAME: Guard Dog
COST: 4 SP
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Places a supernatural guard over Party, preventing surprise attacks for 1 day.
Surprise attacks aren't that deadly: the enemy doesn't get a free round of attacks on you or anything, so all they mean is that you're not allowed to try to escape combat. I guess this spell might be useful if you were exploring an area where you were way out of your league and needed to avoid as many fights as possible.

6. NAME: Psychic Protection
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Anyone
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Grants all characters immunity from mind influencing spells for 1 day.
I think this protection extends to spells like Paralysis, which would actually make this spell really, really useful. I should cast it more often.

7. NAME: Shield
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Creates an invisible shield which surrounds the Party and protects all characters from most missile weapons for the duration of combat.
Wow, I'd forgotten that this spell even existed. Given how many enemies like to shoot at you, this is going to come in handy.

8. NAME: Time Distortion
COST: 4 SP + 2 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Creates a warp in time that enables the Party to retreat safely from most battles.
This spell is one of the major reasons why it's good for a sorcerer to have high Speed. If you're obviously outmatched by a group of enemies and running away fails, cast this spell at the start of combat and you're whisked away to safety in an instant!

"Stay tuned for the next update! Who will solve the mystery of Portsmith first? Will it be my party or Preacher's?"
"Hey, what do you mean Preacher's party? I'm the leader here! And anyway, we're obviously going to win!"