This set is affected by the air skill. Results in each class have been confirmed, but as yet I haven't achieved with grey the 10 pointer and the 30 pointer effect. Full parallelism with the black ball is almost certain.
1) 10-pointer: fart. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth thinks about baked beans and points his sycamore walking stick at the cue ball. / A rude sound and a jet of air with the stink of a hundred privies comes from its end and pushes the ball towards the black ball. / The two balls collide and the black ball zooms into a corner pocket"
2) 15-pointer: jet of wind ("Greybeard Nimboos the Wise produces a jet of wind from his Cheese Hammer and points it at the cue ball. / The cue ball slams into the grey ball, knocking it into a side pocket") and wings ("As you point your blackened iron staff at the cue ball it grows two tiny wings and flies straight towards the black ball. / The balls collide and the black ball rolls into a side pocket.").
3) 20-pointer: tumbleweed. "You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff making it roll towards the grey ball. / As the two balls collide the grey ball turns into a tumbleweed and is blown into a corner pocket by a magical wind."
4) 30-pointer: whirlwind. "You spin your blackened iron staff round and round before briefly touching it to the cue ball. / A huge whirlwind erupts beneath it, picking it up and dropping it on the black ball before dissipating. The black ball is forced into motion and rolls into a side pocket."
What's it called? Von Hasselhoff’s Skin Condition (in short, VHSC)
What does it do? This is one of the necromancer spells. When cast on someone, it causes them a horrible skin disease that lowers their stats and gives some damage over time. The spell doesn't cause much damage, but it can be annoying, as its effects take some time to pass. If the component (a whole human skin) didn't weigh so much, it would probably get a great deal more use than at present, when it is seldom seen except as an expedient for taskmastering some healing while on the way to other spells (like Wungles's).
Where is it? Part of the set of spells that torment the flesh and employ dead corpses as component source, it belongs to the Body Parts for the Advanced Student grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.
What does it require? A human skin, which is consumed in the process.
What skills do I need? Convoking, Healing, Charming, Binding
Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:
You prepare to cast Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition on xxx (target) You roll the skin up and tear several holes into it. You take the rolled up skin and slowly twist it until it begins to break and bleed. You utter random magical-sounding gibberish from deep within your throat. You stroke the skin gently then point at xxx. A wave of darkness washes over xxx and after it passes you see xxx’s skin seem to twist around her/his body, tearing painfully away from the flesh and fat underneath and leaving horrible wounds in its wake.
Help Information
Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition - Give the target a horrible skin condition.
Like so many inventions, Von Hasslehoff's spell was a failed result of another experiment. Attempting to cure acne actually resulted in this horrific skin disease that is painful and debilitating to the target. Von Hasselhoff died famous among necromancers, but still pimply.
This set is affected by the earth skill. Until very recently, I ignored the 10-pointer message, but thanks to Exoth I have stumbled upon it at last. He also got a tm from it too, definitely confirming the suspicions. All results have been confirmed for all levels.
1) 10-pointer: fresh earth. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth hits the cue ball with his dark brown oak staff, sending it towards the beige ball. / The two balls collide and the beige ball rolls into a corner pocket leaving behind only the smell of freshly dug earth."
2) 15-pointer: rock. "Krotos taps the cue ball with his Nonsense, sending it rolling towards the brown ball. / As the balls collide, the brown ball turns into a perfectly spherical rock and rolls into a corner pocket."
3) 20-pointer: zombie hands ("You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff. / Suddenly, a row of tiny, and rather zombie-like, hands rip through the surface of the table. / The cue ball is picked up and passed from hand to hand until it is dropped on the beige ball which rolls into a corner pocket.") and mountains ("You hold your blackened iron staff horizontally above the table and mutter a few words. / The surface of the table is briefly transformed into a miniature mountain range and the cue ball rolls down a mountain, hits the beige ball causing it to zoom into a corner pocket.")
4) 30-pointer: earthquake. "You hold your blackened iron staff aloft and bring it straight down, striking the floor with it dramatically. / A minor yet highly localised earthquake shakes the room, causing the table to rock and the cue ball to knock the brown ball into a side pocket
What's it called? Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon (in brief, UPDD)
What does it do? This is one of the two light spells that are available for wizards. If Master Woddeley's creates a blue light that follows you around and lightens the place before it goes out, this one summons a moth with similar effects.
Both spells are very similar, the differences being quite minor. The Union is a bit more demanding in skills, gp expenditure, mindspace and components. The compensation tends to be that it is longer lasting, can be cast on someone else, and the light source is less spammy. It also has a very pretty hue, depending on the colour of the nugget when the spell is cast. As I haven't used it in a long time, I don't remember if the moth keeps changing colours, like the nuggets, but I think they do.
Overall, the spell is nice and pretty, but not much use. Woddeley's is more handy, and you can also buy a permalight to avoid day-night problems and have that extra mindspace freed.
Where is it? It counts as an agatean addition to the regular run of spells, so it lies inside the Illusionary Arts grimoire, at the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild.
What does it require? A glass nugget, which isn't consumed in the process.
What skills do I need? Channeling, Summoning, Charming
Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:
You prepare to cast Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon on xxx crystal nugget. Magical, mystical forms appear in your mind. Grasping the glowing glass nugget, you hold it above you. You whistle into the wind a calm and peaceful tune. A (xxx) moth flutters into the area and flits towards you.
Help Information
Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon - Summons a moth to light your way. This spell will summon forth a glowing moth. It will heartily stay by your side until it's summoned elsewhere.
This set is affected almost surely by fire. No tms have confirmed it, but the output messages are quite clear. This is also the set that has the higher number of possible effects, as there are quite a lot of levels that have two effects per point class. This happens at 15, 20 and 30 points.
I've only achieved all possible results for the red ball. The 30-point effects for yellow and orange are based on analogy.
1) 10-pointer: few sparks. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth manages to produce a few sparks from his mahogany staff and they nudge the cue ball forward. / The cue ball hits the red ball, propelling it into the corner pocket".
2) 15-pointer: few sparks (same as 10-pointer message) and burst of sparks ("You use a burst of sparks from your blackened iron staff to propel the cue ball towards the yellow ball. / The balls hit and the yellow ball shoots forward and lands in a corner pocket")
3) 20-pointer: flame-soot ("You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff, sending it towards the orange ball. The two balls collide, causing the orange ball to burst into flames, leaving a trail of soot leading to the side pocket") and stream of sparks ("You hold your blackened iron staff above the cue ball and send out a huge stream of sparks from one end. / The cue ball leaps into the air and lands on top of the orange ball, causing it to bounce into a side pocket")
4) 30 pointer: volcano ("The cue ball is transformed into a tiny volcano, which rumbles and throws out sparks before sending a little river of lava down. / The lava slowly prods the red ball into a corner pocket") and pyrotechnics ("You rub your blackened iron staff vigourously and point it at the cue ball, igniting it with a white flame. / The still burning ball zips across the table at an incredible speed, hitting the red ball and causing it to rocket into a corner pocket with a small pyrotechnic display ")
What's it called? Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator (in brief, TPA)
What does it do? This spell is such a staple fare for wizards it is almost needless to explain what it does. Nevertheless (just in case some newbie reader is around), TPA is your main magic protection spell, after the floating shield. The big brother (and more effective version) of Sorklin's Field of Protection, it will create a protective shield around you which will suck up hits until destroyed.
Four things of importance about it:
1) The number of hits it receives will make it change colour (giving you a clue of how much longer it is going to last). It starts with invisible, then dull red, bright red, wobbling orange anf flickering yellow. Once in the last stage it is almost broken, and some damage may pass through it even before it 'breaks'.
2) Even after it has been hit, if the damage stops, it will recover over time (say, a wobbling orange will go back to bright red, and so on). Nevetheless, a recovered shield will be weaker than before. Also, time acts against the shield: after a certain amount of it, the shield will break even without any damage.
3) The magic shield is meant to work as a 'backup' to the floating shield (EFF), allowing you offensive casts and some hits to pass the floater without disturbance. Once a floater is down, it will buy you pretty little time (depends against whom and how many you're fighting) to run away before breaking, so keep an eye on the 'breaking' message (There is a sudden white flash. Your magical shield has broken). It is a good idea to turn the line into a colour trigger, for easy glance in combat.
4) It can be cast on yourself and on others (in fact, it works great for others, dodge or parry/armour users, as they will get few hits using their defences, unlike wizards, and the few they get will be negated by TPA)
Where is it? As the idea behind it is making a shield out of almost thin air, it belongs inside the Invoakatyons in thee Mysterie of Wynd grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.
What does it require? A handful of ash and a shield, of some kind. The ash is consumed in the process. The shield has to be a 'real' one (i.e., one that you can 'hold') or the efficiency of the cast will be very low. It is good idea to get your hands on the lightest available (right now, medium leather).
What skills do I need? Evoking, Air, Chanting, Enchanting, Channeling
Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:
You prepare to cast Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator on xxx You consider the function of a shield. You send your thoughts probing into the air around xxx. You recite a rumbling roll of rustling rhymes. You lif the ash and scatter it around xxx. You weave a magical impact shield around xxx. With a noise that sounds like “Plink!”, everything around xxx flashes red for a moment.
Help Information:
Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator - Magical Impact Shield. The Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator is a first order defensive spell which places a magical impact shield around the target.
We continue with our research efforts in the field of magical billiards. Although there's still many gaps to fill in, a sort of chart is already appearing from all the testing...
Balls seem to work in groups - that is to say, a certain group of balls are affected by the same skill check (or checks. I personally suspect it is always the same one, as results seem to be pretty consistent, but as there is some variation, it can't be ruled out that there's perhaps 2 or 3 possible skills tested per hit, with one skill being the more frequent, like it happens with the top hat).
The set composed by Magenta, Mauve and Pink seem to be ruled by conjuring. That seems to fit with the only tm that has been confirmed as yet, with the description of the effects and the fact that I quite consistently get the 30-pointer effect with them, having high levels in the said skill (highest of all spirituals).
The ladder of points/effects, for which I have gotten results in all the levels and for all the balls implied, would be as follows:
1) 10-pointer: Grasshoper. "Krotos sends a spark of magic from his Nonsense to the cue ball which starts moving towards the magenta ball. / As the balls touch the magenta ball is transformed into a small grasshopper which hops into a side pocket".
2) 15-pointer: There's two effects here, Rabbit and Dove. "The cue ball flies off the table, rebounds from the wall and hits the mauve ball which turns into a cute, fluffy bunny rabbit. The rabbit twitches his nose before hopping into a corner pocket". "You skillfully hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff, sending it zooming towards the pink ball. / As the balls collide the pink ball turns into a white dove which flies around the room before diving into the side pocket".
3) 20-pointer: Demon. "Using your blackened iron staff you conjure up a small and angry demon who takes out his displeasure at being pulled from whatever he was doing by kicking the first thing he sees: the cue ball. / The ball is propelled off the table where it hits the wall and, with remarkable luck, lands on the magenta ball, setting it rolling into a side pocket. /The demon vanishes with a pop".
4) 30-pointer: Egg & Eagle. "Savant Starwiz of Demons waves his red staff over the cue ball, briefly transforming it into a large egg. / As the egg cracks, a huge eagle emerges from it and starts to fly around the room./ The eagle suddenly swoops to the table, picks up the pink ball and deposits it into a corner pocket before vanishing".
