Difference between revisions of "Miscast effect"

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A [[miscast effect]] occurs when a player fails to cast a spell successfully. These can range in severity from completely harmless to inflicting heavy damage and [[magic contamination]], depending on the school of magic that is used.
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A [[miscast effect]] occurs when a player fails to cast a spell successfully. These can range in severity from completely harmless to inflicting heavy damage and [[magic contamination]], depending on the school of magic, the spell level, and the degree of failure. Players wishing to protect themselves from miscasts should focus on increasing the [[spell success]] rate, as this reduces both the frequency and intensity of miscasts. Additionally, miscasts from some schools of magic produce elemental damage that can be resisted.
  
Failure to cast spells causes various generally nasty things to occur, becoming nastier with spell level and spell failure. Miscasts come in a severity scale 0, 1, 2 and 3. 0 is always harmless, although it can occasionally make a moderate amount of noise.
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The in game spell failure rate color indicates the maximum potential damage relative to your current max [[HP]]. These are calculated as if the damage is irresistible, even for those schools whose miscast effects are resistible or not directly damaging.
  
There is a special case if [[Hell's mystical force]] produces a [[Miscast_effect#Hell_effects|miscast effect]] that spawns any monsters: those monsters are not summons and are worth experience.
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{|class="prettytable"
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! Color !! Potential <br>HP Loss !! Warning <br>Description
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|-
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| {{LightGrey|Grey}} || None  || safe
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|-
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| {{White|White}} || 0% - 10% || slightly dangerous
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|-
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| {{Yellow|Yellow}} || 10% - 30% || dangerous
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|-
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| {{LightRed|Light red}} || 30% - 50% || quite dangerous
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|-
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| {{Red|Red}} || 50% - 70% || extremely dangerous
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|-
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| {{Magenta|Purple}} || 70% - 100% || potentially lethal
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|-
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|}
  
Unless otherwise stated, all miscast effects for a given school and level are equally probable.
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The spell description shows the full list of possible miscast effects, including maximum damage and damage types.
  
==Air Magic==
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==Effects==
*1: 4-12 electric damage, or rain cloud, or [[Mephitic Cloud]]
 
*2: 3d8 electric explosion or [[Poisonous Cloud]]
 
*3: 12-40 [[Airstrike]], or [[twister]], or [[ball lightning]]
 
  
==Conjurations==
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Miscasting a spell from any school causes [[contamination]] based on the spell level and degree of failure (which can range from 1 to 99 for spells that are almost impossible to cast; higher success rate reduces the maximum range):
*1: smoke or 6-12 damage
 
*2: 9-25 damage or 3d12 explosion
 
*3: 12-40 damage or 3d20 explosion
 
  
==Divinations==
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{{crawlquote|'''Contamination''': (Spell Level × Spell Level × Degree of Failure + 250) / 500 }}
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 statue]]s, [[crystal ball]]s, or any source of "random miscasts" (such as Zot traps).
 
  
*1: confusion or no effect
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If this results in more than 0.8 points of contamination, an additional effect is applied based on the spell school. If the spell has multiple schools, one of them is chosen at random. The intensity of the effect is rolled based on the spell level and the [[Spell_Success#The_final_step|raw spell failure chance]] (an internal value from 1 to 99, ''not'' the failure rate shown on the spell list).
*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==
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{{crawlquote|'''Intensity''': (Spell Level)d(Spell Level + Raw Failure Rate) / 9}}
*1: harmless
 
*2: 10-22 damage (checked by AC)
 
*3: 3d15 explosion, or [[Petrification]]
 
  
==Hexes==
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For damaging effects, this is the amount of damage done. For status effects (slow and dimension anchor), this is the duration in turns. Other effects as listed:
*1: [[corona]] or [[scroll of random uselessness|random uselessness]]
 
*2: [[Curse]] one item, or [[Slow]]ing, or [[Silence]]
 
*3: [[Scroll of vulnerability|Magic vulnerability]] effect on self, or Confusion, or 0-18 [[Magical contamination|glow]], or fall asleep for 5 turns
 
  
==Charms==
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{| class="prettytable"
*1: [[corona]] or [[scroll of random uselessness|random uselessness]]
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! School!! Effect
*2: curse one item (3/7 chance), slowing (3/7), or berserk (1/7)
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|-
*3: [[Paralysis]], [[confusion]], 0-18 [[Magical contamination|glow]], or [[potion of cancellation|cancellation]] effect (can actually remove some magical contamination)
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| [[Air Magic]] || [[electricity]] damage
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|-
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| [[Conjurations]] || irresistible damage
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|-
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| [[Earth Magic]] || shrapnel damage <br> (reduced by AC three times)
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|-
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| [[Hexes]] || debuff and slow
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|-
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| [[Charms]] || debuff and slow
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|-
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| [[Fire Magic]] || [[fire]] damage
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|-
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| [[Ice magic]] || [[cold]] damage
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|-
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| [[Necromancy]] || [[drain|draining]] damage
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|-
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| [[Poison Magic]] || [[poison]] damage
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|-
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| [[Summonings]] || durably summoned [[nameless horror]]<br>[[HD]] = 2 × Intensity / 3
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|-
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| [[Translocations]] || [[Dimension Anchor]]
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|-
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| [[Transmutations]] || double current [[contamination]] <br> plus 9 × Intensity / 1000 contamination
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|-
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|}
  
==Fire Magic==
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==Hell effects==
*1: nothing or summons a [[fire vortex]].
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[[Hell]]'s mystical force selects a miscast or other effect with the probabilities given below. These miscasts only apply the school effect, not the initial contamination. There is a special case if the miscast effect spawns any monsters: those monsters are not summons and are worth experience.
*2: 5-33 fire damage, or 3d14 [[Fireball]]
 
*3: 9-41 fire damage, or 3d20 Fireball, or [[Sticky Flame]], or temporarily reduced [[fire resistance]]
 
 
 
==Ice Magic==
 
*1: nothing, or 4-8 damage '''only if''' the player has cold vulnerability.
 
*2: 5-16 ice damage, or 3d11 ice explosion
 
*3: 9-31 ice damage plus [[Frozen]] status effect, or [[Freezing Cloud]]
 
 
 
==Necromancy==
 
[[Torment]], [[rotting]], and [[draining]] damage have no effect on undead. For spells, no effect at all if Kiku** and Piety/150 chance.  These effects are also frequently seen as [[death curse]]s from non-plain [[List of mummies|mummies]].  For death curses, if Kiku**, then Kiku has a 1/2 chance of blocking it entirely, otherwise reduces the severity by one level.
 
*1: Slowing, rotting, or 5-19 [[torment]] damage
 
*2: Draining, 1-3 [[shadow|shadows]], or 15-37 [[torment]] damage
 
*3: Draining, [[reaper]], [[soul eater]], random stat loss 1-7, rotting, or player-targeted [[torment]]
 
  
==Poison Magic==
 
Poison resistance blocks the damage and stat loss, and renders the clouds harmless.
 
*1: 2-4 [[poison]] damage or [[Mephitic Cloud]] on your location only
 
*2: 3-11 poison damage, large Mephitic Cloud, or random stat loss 1
 
*3: 10-28 poison damage, [[Poisonous Cloud]], or random stat loss 1-5
 
 
==Summonings==
 
*1: 5-13 damage, or [[spatial vortex]], or [[lesser demon]]
 
*2: 2-4 spatial vortices (1/6 chance), [[common demon]], or 2-3 [[small abomination]]s (1/2)
 
*3: 1-2 [[worldbinder]]s, or 2-3 [[common demon]]s, [[greater demon]], [[banishment]]<ref name="banishment">Attempts to banish.  This fails if it's a Hell effect miscast, or if you're in the Abyss with a depth/5 chance.  If it fails, attempt to place a Malign Gateway.  If that fails, reroll the effect.</ref>, or [[Malign Gateway]]<ref name="gateway">If this fails to place, reroll.</ref>
 
 
Spatial vortexes and [[greater demon]]s summoned in this manner are [[durably summoned]], so they do not time out and cannot be abjured.
 
 
==Translocations==
 
*1: 4-12 damage (1/2 chance), 4-10 damage and [[Blink]] (1/3), or [[spatial vortex]] (1/6)
 
*2: 9-31 damage (3/7 chance), 5-13 damage + confusion + 66% chance blink, 33% chance teleport (2/7), 2-4 spatial vortices (1/7), or banishment<ref name="banishment"/> (1/7).
 
*3: 15-43 damage, 9-25 damage plus teleport and confusion, banishment<ref name="banishment"/>, or 0-18 [[Magical contamination|glow]].
 
 
==Transmutations==
 
*1: 1-11 damage or random uselessness
 
*2: polymorph, 3-25 damage, 0-18 [[magical contamination|glow]], petrify, or confusion
 
*3: polymorph (1/2 chance), 3-20 damage plus 0-34 [[magical contamination|glow]] (1/6), 5-27 damage plus remove mutation (1/6), 5-27 damage plus 1-2 bad mutations (1/6)
 
 
==Hell effects==
 
[[Hell]]'s mystical force selects a miscast or other effect with the probabilities given below.  As noted further down, it will always try to place a Malign Gateway instead of banishing, as banishment is rarely more than annoyance for a character that can handle Hell.
 
 
*[[Miscast_effect#Necromancy|Necromancy]] miscast: 16.66%
 
*[[Miscast_effect#Necromancy|Necromancy]] miscast: 16.66%
*[[Miscast_effect#Summoning|Summoning]] miscast: 8.33%
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*[[Miscast_effect#Summonings|Summonings]] miscast: 8.33%
 
*[[Miscast_effect#Conjurations|Conjurations]] miscast: 4.16%
 
*[[Miscast_effect#Conjurations|Conjurations]] miscast: 4.16%
 
*[[Miscast_effect#Charms|Charms]] miscast: 2.08%
 
*[[Miscast_effect#Charms|Charms]] miscast: 2.08%
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*Summon 1-5 random monsters: 9.88%
 
*Summon 1-5 random monsters: 9.88%
 
*Nothing happens: 19.75%
 
*Nothing happens: 19.75%
 
==Notes==
 
 
<references/>
 
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
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==History==
 
==History==
In [[0.16]], many magic miscast effects received a significant overhaul.
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*Prior to [[0.25]], the miscast effect system was significantly more complicated, with three different types of effects per school, depending on the severity of the miscast.
 
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*In [[0.16]], many magic miscast effects received a significant overhaul.
Prior to [[0.14]], Hell's mystical force could paralyze the player.
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*Prior to [[0.14]], Hell's mystical force could paralyze the player.
 
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*Prior to [[0.13]], [[Zot trap]]s inflicted a random severity 3 miscast, instead of having a hardcoded list of effects.
Prior to [[0.13]], [[Zot trap]]s inflicted a random severity 3 miscast, instead of having a hardcoded list of effects.
 
  
[[Category:Magic]] [[Category:Spells]] [[Category:Crystal Ball Articles]]
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[[Category:Magic]] [[Category:Spells]]

Revision as of 15:10, 2 September 2020

Version 0.25: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A miscast effect occurs when a player fails to cast a spell successfully. These can range in severity from completely harmless to inflicting heavy damage and magic contamination, depending on the school of magic, the spell level, and the degree of failure. Players wishing to protect themselves from miscasts should focus on increasing the spell success rate, as this reduces both the frequency and intensity of miscasts. Additionally, miscasts from some schools of magic produce elemental damage that can be resisted.

The in game spell failure rate color indicates the maximum potential damage relative to your current max HP. These are calculated as if the damage is irresistible, even for those schools whose miscast effects are resistible or not directly damaging.

Color Potential
HP Loss
Warning
Description
Grey None safe
White 0% - 10% slightly dangerous
Yellow 10% - 30% dangerous
Light red 30% - 50% quite dangerous
Red 50% - 70% extremely dangerous
Purple 70% - 100% potentially lethal

The spell description shows the full list of possible miscast effects, including maximum damage and damage types.

Effects

Miscasting a spell from any school causes contamination based on the spell level and degree of failure (which can range from 1 to 99 for spells that are almost impossible to cast; higher success rate reduces the maximum range):

Contamination: (Spell Level × Spell Level × Degree of Failure + 250) / 500

If this results in more than 0.8 points of contamination, an additional effect is applied based on the spell school. If the spell has multiple schools, one of them is chosen at random. The intensity of the effect is rolled based on the spell level and the raw spell failure chance (an internal value from 1 to 99, not the failure rate shown on the spell list).

Intensity: (Spell Level)d(Spell Level + Raw Failure Rate) / 9

For damaging effects, this is the amount of damage done. For status effects (slow and dimension anchor), this is the duration in turns. Other effects as listed:

School Effect
Air Magic electricity damage
Conjurations irresistible damage
Earth Magic shrapnel damage
(reduced by AC three times)
Hexes debuff and slow
Charms debuff and slow
Fire Magic fire damage
Ice magic cold damage
Necromancy draining damage
Poison Magic poison damage
Summonings durably summoned nameless horror
HD = 2 × Intensity / 3
Translocations Dimension Anchor
Transmutations double current contamination
plus 9 × Intensity / 1000 contamination

Hell effects

Hell's mystical force selects a miscast or other effect with the probabilities given below. These miscasts only apply the school effect, not the initial contamination. There is a special case if the miscast effect spawns any monsters: those monsters are not summons and are worth experience.

See Also

Magic contamination

History

  • Prior to 0.25, the miscast effect system was significantly more complicated, with three different types of effects per school, depending on the severity of the miscast.
  • In 0.16, many magic miscast effects received a significant overhaul.
  • Prior to 0.14, Hell's mystical force could paralyze the player.
  • Prior to 0.13, Zot traps inflicted a random severity 3 miscast, instead of having a hardcoded list of effects.