Spell system & Crossing characters

[arcanixus]

Hello, I'm new here and fairly new to IWD. I bought an IWD package that had a small box and, strangely, no manual. I haven't worked with the Bioware Infinity engine before, but I've figured out basic play. However, there are a couple things that I am unclear on.

The first and more important is the spell system. I managed to cast a heal spell, but then the spell was gone. I notice there are memorized and learned spells. This all means nothing to me. I don't understand what the significance of memorized/learned is, how a spell becomes either memorized or learned, what I have to do to be able to cast the heal spell again, what the scrolls are for, or how to set a magical attack as a mage's default attack (rather than a melee attack). Also, how do I get multiple charges of that heal spell (I only had one).

My second question concerns crossing characters from one class to another. I have seen people talking about this, and I wish to do it-I'd like to change a Necromancer to either a Mage-Fighter or a Conjurer. I fail to see how this is accomplished though.

If there are any intricacies of the game that I might miss without the manual, please feel free to let me know. I must also apologize for asking such stupid questions on this board, but I need this information to really use the game. Thank you for any responses.

[Micah Foehammer]

I'll try to tackle the spell system and hope that one of my learned colleagues will address the dual classing issue. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Basically, spells come in two varieties. Clerical and Mage.

Clerics (which include druids, and also rangers and paladins to a lesser extent) gain new spells when they advance in levels. This can entail being able to cast more spells of a certain level OR gaining more powerful spells. These spells are considered to be granted by the clerics diety and do not have to be "learned".

Mages, on the other hand, must find scrolls with spells on them and scribe them into their spell books. This is the "learning" process. When you right click on a scroll in your characters inventory, you will see a "write magic" option. The chance of your character successfully learning that spell depends on the level of the spell and your character's intelligence.

Spells are memorized by first selecting the spells that you want committed to memory by opening each spell casters spell book and selecting the spells. Previously selected spells can be replaced at the casters option before memorizing them. Once the spells are selected, your spellcasters simply need to sleep for 8 hours and the spells are ready to be cast again.

Hope that helps. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[the new JR Jansen]

OK, dual classing this time.

You have to abide by the following rules
1. You must be human (non humans can multiclass and this is choosen during character creation)
2. You must have 15 in your prime requisite of your first class and 17 in your second. For example if you want to dual a fighter to a mage, that fighter needs to have a strength of 15 and an intelligence of 17.
3. Your first class has to be at least level 2. When you dual over, you'll temporaraly loose the abilities from your first class. You will gain them back after your second class supersedes your first class. For example if you dual a fighter to a mage at fighter level 6. You'll loose all of your fighter abilities untill that character reaches a level 7 in his mage class.
4. Sometimes you can have an allignement requisite. Most notably this is the case when you want to dual a fighter to a druid. Druids must be true neutral so your figther has to have this alignement or he can't dual to a druid.
5. Paladins, bards and iirc, barbarians can't dual.

As for the best level to dual, it all depends on the first class and how far you are in the game.

[arcanixus]

Thank you both. The replies are greatly appreciated. The only thing not addressed that I don't know is: what is the proceedure to cross classes? (i.e. what buttons do I have to press to get to the screen where I can manipulate the class?)

Once again, thank you. Getting answers is a great relief.

[the new JR Jansen]

Lemmesee. Iirc, the dual class button should be on the character sheet. The one with all the stats on. If it is highlighted you can dual class to a certain other class. Simply click it and follow the instructions.
One more thing, you can't dual class a necromancer to a conjurer because both are mage classes and you can't dual like that. You can however dual your necromancer to a fighter if he has the above mentioned requisites

[ 05-23-2002, 08:46 PM: Message edited by: the new JR Jansen ]

[Micah Foehammer]

You're entirely welcome.

JR, Nice job on the dual classing. [img]smile.gif[/img]