Miscast Magic is a 3rd level priest spell. It inflicts the status effect of the same name, causing the victim to fail spellcasting 80% of the time.
Description[]
| “ | Any spellcasting creature that is affected by this spell has its casting ability severely disabled. When the creature attempts to cast a spell, it suffers an 80% chance of failure. Creatures can save vs. Spell to avoid the effect, but do so with a -2 penalty. | ” |
Gameplay[]
The caster directs this spell at single creature selecting it with the targeting cursor.
When the spell cast is finished, a sparkling projectile speeds to the target who is exposed to the spell's effects.
The target is allowed a Saving throw with a 2-point penalty to resist it - If the save is successful, the spell is finished and has no effect.
If the target fails the save, then a sound effect audibles, a gold splash-drop effect renders on their sprite, and for the duration of the spell their form pulses with a color glow efffect.
A party character affected will show an icon (No. 105) titled "Miscast Magic" on their portrait for the spell's duration, and a sound effect audibles to signify the expiration.
This spell's miscast magic effect causes all wizard or priest spell casting to fail with an 80% probability when attempted.
If a spell cast is attempted and it fails, a text is displayed, reading <CASTER>: Spell Failed: Casting Failure.
This spell can potentially be blocked by Magic resistance, and a Spell Immunity: Enchantment will nullify it outright.
Any Spell protections type defense such as a Minor Spell Deflection or Minor Globe of Invulnerability will also block it, and Minor Spell Turning will bounce it back at the caster.
Any applicable Dispel Magic effect can remove it from the victim.
One advantage of Miscast Magic over Silence, 15' Radius is that effects that counter or prevent silence (such as Vocalize) will not cure or prevent the miscast magic effect. However, both spell effects can be used in conjunction by the player, to achieve full spellcasting prevention (via silence) and cause Vocalize to fail (via the 80% chance of spellcasting failure).
Note that arcane and divine spells are affected, but not item abilities, casting from wands or scrolls, or innate abilities (e.g., obtained from Spell Trigger or Shapechange). There are other sources of spell failure that do affect the latter in the game.
Miscast magic is flagged as a "hostile" spell and will provoke hostility if cast on any non-party creature, as well as a good chance of aggravating others in the vicinity.
Trivia[]
The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition priest spell Miscast Magic behaves in an entirely different manner than the BG video game version.
Miscast magic can be cast only on a wizard. It causes the next spell cast by the affected wizard to be chosen randomly from his memorized spells of the same or lower level. Thus, if a wizard affected by miscast magic had four 1st-level spells memorized (armor, feather fall, jump, and sleep) and he attempted to cast the sleep spell, the DM would determine the resulting spell randomly from the wizard's four memorized spells. The wizard has only a 25% chance of casting the sleep spell.
See the external links for further reading.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Internally, this spell's range is 50 ft. Targets must be within the caster's line of sight, limiting this to roughly 26 feet.
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Spell Revisions mod has changed this Divine spell, revising its casting time, duration, effects and description. See below:
Miscast Magic
Level: 3
School: Enchantment
Sphere: Chaos
Range: Long
Duration: 5 rounds
Casting Time: 3
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: Spell negates
Miscast Magic causes spells cast by the affected creature to take on an effect different from what they intend, similar to what happens during a wild surge. There is a chance that the result will be beneficial to the spellcaster, but generally, the effects are undesirable. The target must make save vs. spell at -2 to negate the spell’s effects. Those who fail the save will miscast any spells cast in the next round, and each round after the first must make another save to avoid miscasting for one further round. The effects of the spell last for 5 rounds, or until dispelled.
External links[]
- Miscast Magic on the Icewind Dale Wiki, a wiki for the first Icewind Dale game.
- Advanced D&D 2nd Edition Wiki - Miscast Magic (Priest Spell)