I think everyone would agree that casting spells has improved tremendously since the GSIII days of only prepare/cast and the additional preparation time depending on your level vs. the spell's level. Of course there are still some weird relics of this. A bad one is that Spell Store (502) is still on the books. A good one is spells like Corrupt Essence (703) still work extremely well because many creatures use the prepare / wait / cast system (although 703 is still good anyway).

I wondered if INCANT could be changed such that, if there is no target, the spell is not PREPARED. Although this comes up quite frequently hunting, usually it is not a problem, as the creature just left the room, so you follow the creature and usually just INCANT again (which isn't precisely what one should do since it firstly warns that a spell is already prepared, etc).

One minor nuisance of this is let's say I'm group hunting, and I try to INCANT some finisher spell, right as my partner kills the last creature in the room. Now I have a finisher spell prepared, and I can either RELEASE it or use it as a setup spell next. That is to say, INCANT on the same prepared spell manages to work but won't work if I want to INCANT a different spell once I find a target again. If this were the only issue, I probably would just keep going as usual and not worry about it.

But I really got nailed by this system yesterday, in part because my FE doesn't have a "prepared" spell box. Although that could be consider a problem mainly for my front end, keeping a spell prepared is almost entirely a deprecated feature, and arises almost always from an unintended usage. The time you really get hammered with the present system is if you INCANT after the last target died, and try to invoke a scroll or use a magic item once the room is clear of creatures.

I understand that the below log shows my own mistake. However, I really don't see a reason that the mechanics should prepare a spell when I accidentally incant without a target. It seems 99% like a "gotcha" which doesn't seem to really prevent any kind of abuse, and doesn't really work in a logical way from a design perspective. If there aren't any targets, I actually do not want to prepare the spell! I also wouldn't want to open with Web because it isn't a ball spell (and although the bolt version costs only 9 mana, releasing it reflects the 18 mana base cost).

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The troll guard's skin sizzles from her recent burns.
A Grimswarm troll guard throws her head back and roars, shaking off the stun!
Raincail swings a gold-tipped faenor claidhmore at a Grimswarm troll guard!
AS: +488 vs DS: +319 with AvD: +28 + d100 roll: +58 = +255
... and hits for 93 points of damage!
Deep slash to the troll guard's left forearm!
The troll guard rolls over and dies.
The air calms down around a Grimswarm troll guard.
A Grimswarm troll guard seems to lose some dexterity.
>;eq multifput "stance off","incant 118","stance def"
[exec1]>stance off
You are now in an offensive stance.
[exec1]>incant 118
A salty sea breeze stirs as you chant an old sailor's ditty, invoking Web.
Your spell is ready.
You do not currently have a target.
[exec1]>stance def
You are now in a defensive stance.
Raincail searches a Grimswarm troll guard.
A Grimswarm troll guard decays into compost.
>l
[Warcamp, Approach]
A dirt path leads over a rise of earth and down towards a collection of mismatching tents and huts. The rotting stench of the encampment's inhabitants lingers in the air, mixed with the aroma of cooked flesh and burning wood. A heavy grey haze of campfire smoke hangs over the warcamp and drifts down behind the rise of land, creating a pocket of concealment from the eyes of the nearby Grimswarm. You also see a wooden shield, a giant sticky web and an obscured path leading out.
Also here: Grand Lord Raincail
Obvious paths: north
Raincail ponders.
>get my spoon
You remove a mangled steel spoon from in your small metal case.
>rub spoon
You rub the steel spoon in your hand.
Feels smooth!
1d100: 50 + Modifiers: 223 == 273
You lose control of the steel spoon and a bolt of energy strikes you!
... 20 points of damage!
Wreath of energy burns away your hair and leaves skin blackened!
You are stunned for 8 rounds!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
The wall of force disappears from around you.
>"Ow
You are still stunned.
Raincail stares at you.
Raincail is trying to drag you. If you want to prevent this type "GROUP CLOSE".
Raincail just wandered down an obscured path leading out, dragging you with him.

---

On another note, you'd think with about 100 ranks in Magic Item Use I wouldn't get an 8 round stun. That's really vicious. In that sense, I suppose decreasing this penalty for high ranks of MIU or Arcane Symbols might be another possible solution, but it's more attempting to resolve a symptom of the larger problem which is...I didn't want to have a spell prepared!

>But I really got nailed by this system yesterday, in part because my FE doesn't have a "prepared" spell box. Although that could be consider a problem mainly for my front end, keeping a spell prepared is almost entirely a deprecated feature, and arises almost always from an unintended usage. The time you really get hammered with the present system is if you INCANT after the last target died, and try to invoke a scroll or use a magic item once the room is clear of creatures.

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You may think it is a deprecated feature, but it is not. INCANT still needs to follow the normal PREPARE & CAST steps during any spell attack. INCANT is more of a convenience to save you from having to enter 2 commands to cast a spell at a target.

Having been victimized by this very problem myself, (usually in the form of me blasting myself with a fireball or something) and it will still occasionally happen when I fail to pay attention to whether I have a spell prepped before attempting to cast at a friendly target.

By habit now I RELEASE every time I INCANT and didn't have a target to hit. It is almost a reflex reaction for me now.

However, I can see your point about not preparing a spell if there wasn't an available target. I am not promising anything here, but I can certainly bring it up to the Dev team, and see what they say.

~Contemplar~

Whoah! Thanks GMs!

And props to Daid for being the impetus for a nice change.

nice change. I haven't found a way to blow myself up in spite of it yet. ;)

I'm with Sepher here. I hate trying to cast 609 to make bandits come out only to have it use the attack variety at a one of them that just came out of hiding. I NEVER want the attack variety of 609.

Keith/Brinret/Shiun

Be nice to Wyrom or I will cut you!

Actually 609 attack form on undead is really nice, I use it on liches as they tend to leave the room when I hide, so 609 keeps them stationary long enough.

>Agreed. INCANT will now try to find a target before trying to prepare an offensive spell.

Yay! No ranger will accidentally spike thorn themselves again!

I have been pondering the idea that when using incant, and the target is no longer present, the spell should release. For all intent, the caster did cast the spell, it just missed it's target. I am still on the fence on if this action should create RT, it probably should, but can see why players may not wish it to.



- Guards haul off the stupid corpse. -

I think there is a pretty big implied difference between Cast at what? and You don't see that here. However, that is a valid point, perhaps we just re-message them all, OR add RT to that mstrike in an empty room?

It does seem from messaging that the square is a more controlled killing machine than the semi or pure, when in theory the roles are likely reversed.



-Guards haul off the stupid corpse. -

went hunting for the first time since this change yesterday, the impact for me was very noticeable, especially with an animate.

Wow I didn't realize this update broke 609 so it doesn't work with incant at all anymore. Please revert this change or fix it to work properly with 609.

Keith/Brinret/Shiun

Be nice to Wyrom or I will cut you!

Thank you.

Keith/Brinret/Shiun

Be nice to Wyrom or I will cut you!

>You can now "incant 609" without a visible target in the room and it will cast the undirected version of the spell. It'll function exactly as it did prior to the other update, meaning if there is a visible target in the room, it will direct the spell at it.

Thanks for that tweak, too. My wife was confused at first looking for arrows and complained at me for the initial suggestion. I could only make a sheepish grin at the time.

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"What Kaldonis does on his off time is totally Kaldonis's business, dude." ~Scribes

Great suggestion Brian. I hadn't thought of that but there are times when you want to cast those because you know something is hidden there.

Keith/Brinret/Shiun

Be nice to Wyrom or I will cut you!

Well, you already couldn't incant it before this change without targets, but the incant DID prepare the spell. (I see that you know this.)

However, I found that annoying with Quake because I often used it to hit creatures in a different room.

I agree that these spells shouldn't need targets. They are self-cast, and casting them at a target is no different than the open version so far as I ever knew. Thus incanting such spells (410, 435, 709, 909, 912...am I missing some?) shouldn't bother checking for the targets.

On the other hand, incanting 435 is known to happen when people mistype certain buff spells in town. Woe to them I guess!

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Check out who's dying any time! https://twitter.com/GSIVDeathLog

I'm glad these spells check for targets. Helps prevent wasted casts, not to mention embarrassing mishaps. And although some of these spells are strictly area-effect, some CAN be targeted on a specific target, thus the target check. No system is perfect and certainly won't please everyone, but I think the way it currently works provided the most balanced compromise.

~ GtG