Miscast effect
Failure to cast spells causes various generally nasty things to occur, becoming nastier with spell level and spell failure. Miscasts come in severity 0,1,2,3; 0 is always harmless. Note that most monsters resulting from a miscast are summons: they do time out, can be abjured, do not leave items behind, and are not worth experience. Sometimes, they can be durable summons. Durable summons do not time out and cannot be abjured. There is a special case if Hell's mystical force produces a miscast effect that spawns any monsters: those monsters are not summons and are worth experience.
Contents
Air Magic
- 1: 4-12 electric damage, or rain cloud, or Mephitic Cloud
- 2: 3d8 electric explosion or Poisonous Cloud
- 3: 12-40 electric damage, or twister, or ball lightning
Conjurations
- 1: smoke or 6-12 damage
- 2: 9-25 damage or 3d12 explosion
- 3: 12-40 damage or 3d20 explosion
Divinations
The Divinations school has long since been removed from the game, but its miscasts remain. They can be triggered by Sif Muna's wrath, orange crystal statues, crystal balls, or any source of "random miscasts" (such as Zot traps).
- 1: confusion or no effect
- 2: confusion plus either 1-3 INT loss or 3-12 MP loss
- 3: confusion plus either 3-5 INT loss or 5-24 MP loss
Earth Magic
- 1: harmless
- 2: 10-22 damage (checked by AC)
- 3: 3d15 explosion
Hexes
The Enchantments school was removed in 0.8 and broken into Hexes and Charms (below). Currently both these schools' miscasts are identical.
- 1: levitation or random uselessness
- 2: curse one item, slowing, or berserk
- 3: curse one or more items, paralysis, confusion, or 0-18 glow
Charms
- 1: levitation or random uselessness
- 2: curse one item, slowing, or berserk
- 3: curse one or more items, paralysis, confusion, or 0-18 glow
Fire Magic
- 1: smoke or burnt scrolls (plus 2-14 damage, only with Fire Vulnerability 1 or worse)
- 2: burnt scrolls plus 5-33 fire damage, or 3d14 Fireball
- 3: burnt scrolls plus 9-41 fire damage, or 3d20 Fireball, or Sticky Flame
Ice Magic
- 1: nothing or freeze potions (plus 4-8 damage, only with Cold Vulnerability 1 or worse)
- 2: freeze potions plus 5-16 ice damage or 3d11 ice explosion
- 3: freeze potions plus 9-31 ice damage or Freezing Cloud
Necromancy
Torment, rotting, and draining damage have no effect on undead. No effect at all if Kiku** and Piety/150 chance.
- 1: Slowing, rotting, or 5-19 torment damage
- 2: Draining, 1-3 shadows, or 15-37 torment damage
- 3: Draining, reaper, soul eater, random stat loses 1-7, 1-6hp rot, or player-targeted torment
Poison Magic
No effects at all if poison resistant.
- 1: 2-4 poison damage or Mephitic Cloud on your location only
- 2: 3-11 poison damage, large Mephitic Cloud, or random stat loses 1
- 3: 10-28 poison damage, Poisonous Cloud, or random stat loses 1-5
Summonings
- 1: 5-13 damage, spatial vortex, or imp
- 2: 2-4 spatial vortices, demon, or 2-3 imps
- 3: small abomination, 2-3 demons, greater demon, eldritch tentacle via Malign Gateway, or Banishment
Translocations
- 1: 4-12 damage, 4-10 damage and Blink, or spatial vortex
- 2: 9-31 damage, 5-13 damage, confusion and blink or teleport, 2-4 spatial vortices, or banishment
- 3: 15-43 damage, 9-25 damage plus teleport and confusion, banishment, or 0-18 glow
Transmutations
- 1: 1-11 damage or random uselessness
- 2: 3-25 damage, 0-18 glow, paralysis, or confusion
- 3: 3-20 damage plus 0-34 glow OR 5-27 damage plus remove mutation OR 5-27 damage plus 1-2 bad mutations
Hell effects
- Necromancy miscast: 16.66%
- Summoning miscast: 8.33%
- Conjurations miscast: 4.16%
- Charms miscast: 2.08%
- Hexes miscast: 2.08%
- Miscast appropriate to each branch: 22.22% (Fire magic miscast in Gehenna, Ice magic miscast in Cocytus, Necromancy miscast in Tartarus, and Earth magic miscast in Dis)
- Summon a greater demon appropriate to each branch: 14.15% (Brimstone fiends in Gehenna, Ice fiends in Cocytus, Shadow fiends in Tartarus, and any greater demon in Dis)
- Summon 1-5 random monsters: 9.88%
- Nothing happens: 19.75%
