Ultima IV and Magic

The awesome Ultima IV Book of Mystic Wisdom page for the "turn undead" spell.

Quick: what game am I describing? In this game, your character has a certain number of "hit points" that increase as you become more powerful. Enemies' weapons and spells, poison, and sometimes falls and other accidents damage your "hit points." The game provides spells, potions, and other items that help you regain them, and you can always regain them by waiting or resting. If your "hit points" fall too low, your character dies.

Anyone? If you guessed Wizardry, you're right. Of course, you're also right if you guessed Phantasie, the Bard's Tale, Ultima III, Morrowind, Baldur's Gate, Diablo, Might and Magic II, or just about any CRPG in existence. Among all CRPGs, there is extremely little variation in the way the game treats your health. In a posting a few months ago, I talked about hit points as the glue that holds all CRPGs--indeed, all RPGs--together. "If anyone ever makes a movie about CRPGS," I said and still maintain, "They ought to call it Hit Points."

Systems of weapons and armor are also remarkably similar across RPGs. Certain weapons do more damage than others. Certain armors protect more. Some weapons and armor you buy, some you can find in the game. There are both ranged and melee weapons. Different classes can wield and wear different weapons and armor. And so on. Very little variation from this basic template from game to game.

Now contrast this with magic systems. Fully describe the magic system of any game, and there's a decent chance that your description applies only to that game, or at least only to games in that series. The ways in which CRPGs vary magic are astounding. Think of all the different dimensions involved:

• Spell acquisition: Some games allow players to cast every spell from the outset, provided they have enough magic points (Ultima III) or can afford them (Ultima I); others require you to achieve certain levels to acquire spells (Wizardry); still others require you to find or purchase the spells in-game to make them part of your spellbook (the Dungeons & Dragons games, at least to some extent).

The spell book in Might and Magic VII. I'll get there eventually. The game requires you to find or purchase spells to populate your book. As you cast them, your magic points (the blue bar next to the character portrait) decrease.

• Spell limits: In some games, there are no practical limitations to the number of spells that you can cast (Ultima I); in some, you can cast a certain number per level (Wizardry; sorcerer classes in D&D games); in some, you have a certain number per level and you must memorize them first (most classes in D&D games); and in some, you have a pool of "spell points" or "mana" that depletes depending on the strength of the spell (Might and Magic VI; Morrowind). In these games, your spell points may be dependent on your attributes alone (Ultima III), your level alone, or your level multiplied by your attributes. In a few rare games, spells exist only in scrolls or potions that are depleted as you use them.
• Spell regeneration: Some games require you to rest to recharge your spell points or renew your access to spell levels (D&D games); some regenerate continually as you walk around (Oblivion). Games of the latter type might have potions that help restore your spell points (Might and Magic VI-VIII).
• Spell access: In some games, you access your spells by selecting them from a "spell book" (Ultima VII), while some require you to type the name of the spell (Wizardry) or a letter or numeric code (Might and Magic I).

In the Wizardry series, you must know a spell's name, plus have the appropriate spell level, to cast it.

• Character limitations: In some games, every character can cast at least some spells (Morrowind; Oblivion); in others, there are non-magic-using characters who can cast no spells (D&D games). Usually games of the former type give more spell access to certain classes.
• Physical objects: Some games require physical objects, like talismans and reagents, to cast spells, regardless of levels or magic points (Ultima IV-VII); others depend solely on innate ability.
• Spell stratification: Most games make at least a distinction between arcane and divine spells (D&D games), but some do not (Ultima IV). In some games, there are further distinctions, with spell schools like necromancy and illusion (D&D games) or alteration and conjuration (Elder Scrolls games). These games vary as to what types of spells are available to which classes.
• Custom spells: Most games restrict you to a list of pre-defined spells, but a few (e.g., Oblivion) allow you to create custom spells that combine various pre-defined spell effects.
• Items as spell proxies: Many games provide magic items, like wands and scrolls, that have the same effect as spells (The Bard's Tale); others use spells for all of their magic (Ultima IV).
• Magic as a requirement: In a few games, you cannot progress in the game without the ability to cast certain spells (e.g., Phantasie and the teleport spell that takes you to the city of the gods); in some, spells are essentially superfluous--you could just as easily play the game with fighters only (Ultima II). There are many that occupy a middle ground where magic is theoretically optional but, unless you want an extreme challenge, functionally necessary.

I'm sure I've missed a few of the facets of magic systems in this brief list (please comment if you can think of any more), but the overall point is that the various combinations of these elements create unique magic systems for each game. Occasionally you find game series that are consistent in their uses of magic (D&D games of the same editions; Might & Magic VI-VIII; Wizardry I-III), but very often even series are inconsistent in the way they treat magic. The Ultima series is probably the most egregious offender here. If I recall correctly:

• In Ultima I and Ultima II, you buy spells and can cast them until you run out.

Visiting the spell store in Ultima I

• In Ultima III, your characters have different numbers of spell points depending on their class. Spells are divided into priest and wizard classes. You cast them by specifying the associated letter. Spell points recharge as you move around, at different rates depending on class.
• In Ultima IV, all characters have access to the same spells. There are 26, one for each letter of the alphabet. Spell points are dependent on your intelligence and a multiplier based on your class (but not on your level). To cast spells, you must first "mix" them using reagents which you must buy and find (more below). Spell points regenerate as you walk around and sleep.
• Ultima V (this is to the best of my recollection) works like Ultima IV except that there are many more spells. Spells are based on syllables ("AN" for negate; "NOX" for poison; "IN" for creation), and you cast them by combining the right syllabus (e.g., "AN NOX" would be cure poison, but "IN NOX" would cause an enemy to become poisoned). You need your reagents, but I can't remember if you have to mix them first.
• Ultima VI and VII, on the other hand, use spell books. You must first find or buy spells and put them in your book before you can cast them. You still need your reagents, but these just deplete automatically as you cast the spells.
• In the Ultima Underworld games, you have a pool of "mana" that depletes as you cast spells. The syllable system is back, but you need the correct rune to use each syllable. There are no reagents.

Spell runes and mana (the blue potion bottle) in Ultima Underworld

I never played Ultima VIII or Ultima IX, so I don't know how they differ, but the overall point is that every Ultima introduces a new twist in the magic system.

Let me explore Ultima IV's magic system in a little more depth. The first thing that's important to know is that spells are almost completely optional. There are a couple of characters you cannot talk to, and a few places you can't go, unless you can cast "dispel field," and I suppose you'd die a lot without the "cure poison" spell, but otherwise you don't really need magic. I'm about half way through the game already and I've yet to cast a single offensive spell.

As I mentioned, to cast spells you must first "mix" them using the appropriate reagents. As with everything else in the game, there are eight of them: sulphurous ash, ginseng, garlic, spider silk, blood moss, black pearl, nightshade, and mandrake. The first six can be readily bought from different magic shops around Britannia, but the latter two (necessary for the most powerful spells) you must "find" in the wilderness. A series of characters give you hints as to where they can be found, and ultimately you need a sextant to find the coordinates for the specific location of nightshade, while you can only collect mandrake by standing on a particular patch of poison. You can only pick them when the dual moons are dark, so amassing a lot of either is quite difficult.

Finding mandrake--and getting nice and poisoned (it grows in a patch of it)

The game is ingenious with the specific uses of the reagents. Rather than just require a random selection of reagents for each spell, the reagents each have specific purposes, floridly described in The Book of Mystic Wisdom. For instance, the book has this to say about ginseng: "Long praised for its strength-giving and medicinal properties, the root of the ginseng plant is immediately recognizable for its forked shape, and to those initiated in the mystic ways, by its overpowering rose-colored aura. It has been used for centuries by peasants who chew it or brew tea from a powdered preparation of the root in order to gain strength and stamina as they toil in the fields." This is all fluff, of course, as you never actually "see" the ginseng in the game (there's no icon for it), but still fun to read.

So ginseng is required for healing, sulphurous ash for fire and "flash," garlic for warding (illness or beings), spider silk for binding, blood moss for movement, black pearl for projectiles, nightshade for poison and illusion, and mandrake for general power. Thus, the "cure poison" spell requires a combination of healing and warding (ginseng + garlic), while "fireball" requires fire and projectile magic (ash + black pearl), and the powerful "negate time" spell requires a bit of flash, some warding (of time, I guess), and a lot of power (ash + garlic + mandrake). Genius. For a few spells, the book does not give you the ingredients, or gives you incorrect ingredients, and you must find out the right combination through experimentation or from NPCs.

Once you mix a batch of spells, you have them in your reserve to cast them when you need them, provided you have enough magic points. The game is a bit vague on how many points are needed for each spell, so it's been a bit of trial and error. So far, the most useful spells for me have been the aforementioned "cure poison" and "dispel field" plus one that allows you to exit a dungeon immediately.

As I said, there are 26 spells--one for each letter of the alphabet--and 23 of them begin with a sensible letter, so they're easy to remember: (c)ure poison, (f)ireball, (l)ight, and so on. The three exceptions are the three dungeon movement spells, which are (x)it, (y)up, and (z)down. The Book of Mystic Wisdom has some fun with the fact that these don't follow the pattern: "The most elementary forms of transportation both have strange names and may be used only when underground. The more difficult of the two is known by the letter 'Y' in honor of the mage Yenthak Gnor, who first crafted the enchantment... The origin of the [name for the (z)down spell] is uncertain, but it is believed that the letter 'Z' is the first letter of the unpronounceable Truename of the Lord of the Underworld, a demon of much power."

Now, this wouldn't be Ultima IV if there wasn't a virtue angle to the spell system, and it comes when you purchase your spell reagents. For some reason, all of the reagent vendors in Britannia are blind. You go to buy garlic for 4 gold pieces a clove, specify that you want 10 cloves, and the seller asks for 40gp. The game then gives you the option to pay whatever you want. Cheat her, and your honesty (and perhaps some other virtues) suffers; overpay and your compassion and sacrifice go through the roof.

The Avatar does not cheat blind women

On to my own Ultima IV game: I've finished visiting all the cities, towns, and keeps, collecting mantras and runes, and finding clues. I bought a sextant (which allows you to identify your coordinates) and used it to collect the bell of courage, the book of truth, and the candle of love, which I need at some point to enter the Abyss. I also hauled Mondain's skull from the depths of the ocean--this is a powerful item that will instantly kill all your enemies, and everyone else in the area, but at the cost of all your virtue. An NPC told me the only virtuous way to use it is cast it in the lava outside the Abyss.

I spent a lot of time on bridges fighting trolls and gathering enough gold to purchase a decent number reagents. I also went and gathered a little nightshade and mandrake although I've yet to mix any spells that require them.

The seer Hawkwind in Lord British's castle tells me I'm ready for avatarhood in a few virtues, so my next step is to travel around and meditate the shrines. After that, it's time to hit the dungeons--I've got my eye on a magic wand and magic bow at the weapons shop in Buccaneer's Den, but I need piles of gold for both. In my next posting, I'll talk about shrines, meditation, and avatarhood.