Chapter 6: Spells

The world of Jewel of Arabia is inspired by the landscape and culture of the Near East, a region which has served as the crossroads of civilization for most of our human history. Strategically situated in the middle of the ancient civilizations to the East and West, it was a region that flourished with ideas, art, enormous wealth, and perhaps most important of all, a rich and varied storytelling tradition that would entertain and inspire the world.

Stories from this region tell us that the world was alive with magic and wizardry. Indeed, our own western words for magic and wizardry were introduced into our language from this region. The Magi were an important order of scholars who researched the ancient art of Al'chemy. And crafty and clever Vaziers served as the inspiration for our own wizards.

The magic in Jewel of Arabia is drawn from these great stories and each of the three classes of spells reflects a different flavor of magic from the region.

Spellcasting characters

There are four character classes in Jewel of Arabia who can cast spells: Djinn, Magi, Sufi and Dervish. The Dervish is a mystical fighter, and as such, can cast a subset (1/2) of the Sufi spells. Henceforth we will refer only to Sufi spells, so keep in mind that the Dervish character can also cast some of these kinds of spells.

Your spellcasting characters learn new spells automatically as they progress in level. However, all spellcasters draw their spellcasting ability from sacred gemstones. At the start of the game, your staff contains the Amethyst staff stone, which will allow your spellcasters to cast all Amethyst spells as they learn them. As your characters advance, though, they will learn new spells that require other gemstones. And though your spellcasters may know more powerful spells, they won't be able to cast them until your party locates the sacred gemstone needed to channel these new spells.

The following sections show you a sampling of the three kinds of magic in Jewel of Arabia and explain a little about each of them.

Djinn spells

The Djinn are an ancient and immortal race, and there are many who believe that the Djinn are actually the personification of magic itself. While they appear far more powerful than us lowly mortals, the Djinn rely on illusion and trickery for their magic. Even their spells that cause harm might only be illusions. But if the mind can be tricked into believing an illusion, then is not illusion the same thing as reality?

Magi spells

The Magi are an ancient and distinguished order of scholars. The precursors to modern-day scientists, Magi established schools where they trained apprentices to understand the elements and control the forces of nature. By harnessing these powers, a Magus can command the forces at will and cause considerable damage to his or her enemies.

Sufi spells

The Sufi are a mystical order who draw most their power from the greatest weapon of all: their own minds. Through hard discipline and training, the Sufi have mastered the art of mind over body, and even mind over mind. Sufi-style magic has flourished most fully in the Far East, but its roots lie at the center of civilization.

How to cast a spell

Casting a spell is very simple and the easiest way to figure out the interface is to just cast a few spells. You'll soon get the hang of it. To bring up a spellcaster's spell list, click the "Spells" button.

There are three basic kinds of spells:

That can target three kinds of things:

The individual spell descriptions indicate whether a spell is intended for foes, allies, or areas. Once you select the spell you want to cast and press the "Cast" button on the spell form, the cursor changes to the appropriate targeting device:

Target spell. The basic targeting cursor looks like this and brightens when you move the cursor over a valid selection. To target this fighter, just click the mouse.

Invalid target. When a target you have selected is invalid (for example, it is out of range), the targeting cursor is dimmed.

Target area. Area spell targets look like this and appear in red when the targeted area is valid. To execute the spell, click the mouse.

Invalid area. If the area you are trying to target is out of range, the target turns to grey. Try moving the target around to figure out the range and then move closer to the target and try again.

If a spell is intended to benefit the spellcaster, for example many of the Sufi spells are "self-improvement spells", then the spell simply executes as soon as you press the "Cast" button on the spell form.

If at any time you wish to cancel a spell part way through, just press the space bar. There is no penalty and you can start over as often as you like.

Some area spells can be rotated. This is indicated in the spell's description. To rotate an area spell, press the return key until the pattern you want appears, and then proceed with targeting it.

Casting a spell consumes a spellcaster's entire combat "turn". So, if your spellcaster has two attacks that round, use the first one to attack a monster, and the second one to cast a spell.

Why do spells sometimes fail?

Your spellcasting characters will learn new spells each time they reach a new level. It is assumed that your spellcasters are dutifully studying their spell scrolls and learning what they need to know during your travels. But new spells require practice, and initially your spellcasters might not be as competent with them and they will fail more often. As they use the new spells and gain more experience, they will become more competent with them.

Spells can and do occasionally fail. If the failure is not very serious, your spellcaster will just waste some mana and lose his or her turn. But if the failure is critical, then the spell may "backfire" and could seriously harm the spellcaster.

A special mention should be made here regarding the Djinn. Djinn magic is governed, in part, by the phase of the moon. When the moon is full, Djinn magic is most powerful. But during a new moon, Djinn magic is weakest and their spells will fail more often. If you find that your Djinn character is not casting spells with the usual reliability, check the phase of the moon and cast spells with care.

What is mana?

Mana is pure magical energy and is the most valuable and precious resource in the world. While men may crave gold and riches, the Djinn crave mana. Beware if a Djinni should ever try to sell you something, he will probably want to charge you in mana!

In Jewel of Arabia, mana is the "currency" used to cast spells. Only spellcasting characters have and gain mana, since other characters can't use it. Each time you cast a spell, the spellcaster's mana is reduced by the cost of the spell and you will not be allowed to cast a spell if you do not have sufficient mana.

Mana is regained slowly while walking around and exploring, but to regain it quickly, you will have to allow your characters to camp or rest at an inn.

Where do I find the next staff stone?

Your characters learn spells automatically as they progress in level, but in order to cast most of these new spells, your party must possess the necessary staff stone. A great deal of gameplay will involve locating all of the various stones needed to cast more and more powerful spells.

I don't want to give away too much of the discovery aspect of the game, so I will only say that the sacred stone of the Men of Clay (we humans) is the Amethyst stone. You start the game with this stone already in your staff. A good place to find other staff stones is to explore the world and meet the other races in Jewel of Arabia. Some of these races are friendly with the Men of Clay and you will gain easy access to them and their towns. But other races may not fully trust the Men of Clay, or may even act aggressively towards them. In these cases, you will have to persist and use all of the skills at your disposal to gain access to these races and their towns.

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