Cause Fear

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Cause Fear
Level	4
School1	Hexes
Source(s)	Book of the Dragon Book of Hexes
Casting noise	3
Spell noise	0
Power Cap	200
Range	LOS
Flags	Wl check, Area

Causes fear in those near to the caster, causing those affected to be unable to approach the caster, and to sometimes fail to attack them in melee. Leaving the caster's line of sight will end the effect. “And when Miranda sang Everyone turned away Used to the noose, they obey” -The Mars Volta, “Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore”. 2005.

Cause Fear is a level 4 Hexes spell which attempts to panic all monsters in your line of sight, causing them to run away from your current position. It only affects natural, non-berserk monsters, and it must overcome its targets' willpower.

Arcane Marksmen start with this spell available. Reading a scroll of fear has the same effect as casting Cause Fear with maximum power.

Monster Version

The monster version of Cause Fear makes the player unable to move toward the caster. If the caster closes to melee range, the player will still be able to engage them in melee, but may sometimes "flinch away in fear", 33% chance, causing the attack to miss. Depending on how well you can fight from a distance and what areas of the floor this cuts you off from, this may or may not be a problem. Fear also prevents the player from going berserk.

High willpower can prevent this spell from affecting you, and clarity confers immunity to this spell.

Strategy

Despite its numerous conditions, Cause Fear is an immensely powerful spell, capable of affecting several opponents per casting and taking some heat off your shoulders, making it great for escapes or just thinning out a crowd temporarily.

The following enemies cast Cause Fear:

• W Eidolon
• G Glowing orange brain
• X Mlioglotl
• c Satyr

History

Prior to 0.13, Cause Fear only penalized moving toward the caster. Attacks against the caster were unaffected.