Appendix 2 - Item Ability Types

Each item type can have a special ability. The types of abilities available range from shooting fireballs to weapons doing special damage to dragons to items being ingredients for alchemical recipes.

There are two types of item abilities: usable and inherent.

Usable abilities:  Usable item abilities are only activated by pressing the items use button on the PC inventory screen. Otherwise, the ability has no effect. Examples are a wand that shoots fireballs or a healing potion.

Usable abilities are always linked to the items charges. Whenever an item with a usable ability is actually used, the items amount of charges goes down by 1. When the items charge level goes down to 0, the item disappears. An item with a usable ability must have at least 1 charge.

The cash value of an item with a usable ability is calculated differently from normal items. The items actual cost is its value multiplied by the number of its charges. (Example: Suppose a Potion of Healing has a value of 100 and 2 charges. This potion would cost 200 gold and sell for half that.)

Inherent Abilities:  Inherent abilities are abilities that are always present and are activated automatically, as opposed to being activated by pressing the Use button on the PC Inventory screen. Examples are a shield with fire protection (which is activated automatically when the character takes fire damage) or comfrey root (whose ability it that it can be used as an alchemical ingredient, and which is used automatically when the party tries to make a potion with it).

Some inherent abilities have charges (such as alchemical ingredients). When used, the amount of charges goes down by one. When there are no charges left, the item disappears. The name of inherent ability types that require charges have a (c) after them.The value of these items is calculated the same way as for Usable abilities.

There are six different classes of item ability type, each with its own properties and varieties of items that can possess it. These are listed below, along with whether they are classes of Usable or Inherent abilities:

Weapon Abilities (Inherent):  Abilities of this type can be given to one and two handed weapons, weapon ammunition (darts, arrows, etc.) and non-ammunition missiles (like slings). None of these items have charges.

General Abilities (Inherent):  Abilities of this type can be given to non-missile items which can be equipped (e.g. rings, armor, sword, but not arrows) but not to items that cant (e.g. wands, potions). Only a few of these ability types require for the item having them to have charges.

Non-Spell Usable (Usable):  Abilities of this type change the status of the party or individual character in some way, such as making them more or less poisoned, or raising or lowering health. Abilities of these types can be given to any item thats not a missile (e.g. arrows, bolts). Being usable item abilities, any item having one of these abilities must have charges.

Spell Usable (Usable):  Abilities of this type cast some sort of a spell, such as firing a fireball or summoning monsters. Abilities of these types can be given to any item thats not a missile (e.g. arrows, bolts). Being usable item abilities, any item having one of these abilities must have charges.

Reagents (Inherent):  Items with these abilities are alchemical ingredients, spell reagents (e.g. smoky crystals, sapphires), or similar substances. All items with an ability of this type must have charges, and must be of variety Non-use Object.

Missiles (Inherent): These abilities can only be given to missiles (e.g. arrows, bolts, darts). Each ability is activated when the missile is fired (such as exploding a fireball on the target space).

As mentioned before, each item type has accompanying Ability Strength and Magic Item Adjust targets. For each ability, these two fields have different ranges and different affects, and their values will modify the affects of the item abilities in different ways. What each ability does and how the Ability Strength and Magic Item Adjust fields affect it are described below.

Ability 0 - No ability  The item has no special ability.

Weapon Abilities (Inherent):  For each of these abilities, the Ability Strength is a number from 0 to 10, which represents the strength of the ability (0 is weakest, 10 is most powerful). The Magic Item Adjust field is ignored.

Ability 1 - Flaming Weapon  The weapon does extra fire damage.

Ability 2 - Demon slayer  Does extra damage to demons.  

Ability 3 - Undead slayer  Does extra damage to undead.  

Ability 4 - Lizard slayer  Does extra damage to lizards.  

Ability 5 - Giant slayer  Does extra damage to giants.  

Ability 6 - Mage slayer  Does extra damage to mages.  

Ability 7 - Priest slayer  Does extra damage to priests.  

Ability 8 - Bug slayer  Does extra damage to insects.  

Ability 9 - Acidic Weapon  Sprays acid on anything it hits.

Ability 10 - Soulsucker  When it hits, the wielder is healed.  

Ability 11 - Drain Missiles  Drains missiles twice as fast. This only has an effect on bows and crossbows.  

Ability 12 - Weak Weapon  Does less damage than usual. If Ability Strength is 10, does no damage at all.

Ability 13 - Causes Fear  Drains morale of target.

Ability 14 - Poisoned Weapon  The weapon poisons any monster it hits.

General Abilities (Inherent):  For each of these abilities (unless otherwise stated), the Ability Strength is a number from 0 to 10, which represents the strength of the ability (0 is weakest, 10 is most powerful). The Magic Item Adjust field is ignored.

Ability 30 - Protection  This partially blocks weapon damage the wielder takes.

Ability 31 - Full Protection  This partially blocks weapon and spell damage the wielder takes.

Ability 32 - Fire protection  This reduces fire damage the wielder takes.

Ability 33 - Cold protection  This reduces cold damage the wielder takes.

Ability 34 - Poison protection  This reduces poison damage the wielder takes.

Ability 35 - Magic protection  This reduces magic damage the wielder takes.

Ability 36 - Acid Protection  Acid sprayed on the wielder is weakened.    

Ability 37 - Skill  Increases the wielders chance of hitting in combat.  

Ability 38 - Strength   The wielders bonuses due to strength are increased.

Ability 39 - Dexterity   The wielders bonuses due to dexterity are increased.

Ability 40 - Intelligence   The wielders bonuses due to intelligence are increased.

Ability 41 - Accuracy  Missile weapons are more accurate.     

Ability 42 - Thieving  Picking locks and disarming traps is easier.  

Ability 43 - Giant Strength  Improves odds of hitting and damage in combat.   

Ability 44 - Lighter object  Wielder can carrier more weight.  

Ability 45 - Heavier object  Wielder can carry less weight.  

Ability 46 - Occasional Bless  Sometimes blesses the wearer in combat.  

Ability 47 - Occasional Haste  Sometimes hastes the wearer in combat.  

Ability 48 - Life Saving (c)  When the wielder takes a death blow, he/she survives and is healed, and the item loses a charge. This item must be given charges.

Ability 49 - Prot. from petrify  Reduces chance of being petrified. 

Ability 50 - Regenerate   Heals wielder occasionally.

Ability 51 - Poison Augment  Wielders weapon poison more effective. 

Ability 52 - Disease Party  When carried (not just equipped), the item occasionally diseases the entire party. 

Ability 53 - Will  Wielder more effective in a mindduel, and resists sleeping and paralysis. 

Ability 54 - Free Action   Wielder resists sleeping and paralysis.

Ability 55 - Speed  The wearer gets more action points in combat (powerful). 

Ability 56 - Slow Wearer  Occasionally slows the wearer in combat. 

Ability 57 - Undead Protection  Protects from blows received from undead in combat. 

Ability 58 - Demon Protection  Protects from blows received from demons in combat. 

Ability 59 - Humanoid Protection  Protects from blows received from humanoids in combat. 

Ability 60 - Reptile Protection  Protects from blows received from reptiles in combat. 

Ability 61 - Giant Protection  Protects from blows received from giants in combat. 

Ability 62 - Disease Protection  Provides resistance from disease. 

Non-Spell Usable (Usable):  Each of these item abilities affects a characters statistics (e.g. health, spell points) or status (e.g. poison, flying) when the item is used. 

For each of these abilities, the Ability Strength is a number from 0 to 10, which represents the strength of the ability (0 is weakest, 10 is most powerful). The meaning of this changes depending on the ability affected. Sometimes, the number affects the duration, sometimes the damage done.

The Item Use Properties buttons affect whether using the item affects just the using character or the whole party, and whether the item helps or hurts the party.

Some of these abilities can only help (like Bliss) or only hurt (like Doom). For these abilities, the Magic Item Adjust values of 0 and 1 have the same effect, and the values 2 and 3 have the same effect. Also, some abilities only affect the whole party (like Light or Firewalk).

Example: Suppose you give an item the ability Dumbfound, set Ability Strength to 2, and Magic Item Adjust to 0. Then, when the item is used, the users level of dumbfounding will go down a little bit. If Ability Strength is set instead to 10, the user will be totally cured of Dumbfounding.

Example: Suppose you give an item the ability Cause/Cure Acid, set Ability Strength to 5, and Magic Item Adjust to 3. When someone uses the item, the entire party gets 5 levels of acid (which means the acid lasts about 5 turns).

Ability 70 - Poison Weapon  Increases or decreases the amount of poison on the users/parties weapons. If the item is beneficial, when used, the user has a chance (based on the Poison skill) of poisoning him/herself. 

Ability 71 - Curse/Bless User   

Ability 72 - Cure/Cause Poison   

Ability 73 - Speed/Slow User   

Ability 74 - Add/Lose Invulnerability   

Ability 75 - Add/Lose Magic Resistance   

Ability 76 - Add/Lose Web  Affects how much web is on the PC/party. 

Ability 77 - Cure/Cause Disease   

Ability 78 - Add/Lose Sanctuary   

Ability 79 - Cure/Cause Dumbfounding   

Ability 80 - Add/Lose Martyrs Shield   

Ability 81 - Cure/Cause Sleep   

Ability 82 - Cure/Cause Paralysis   

Ability 83 - Cure/Cause Acid   

Ability 84 - Bliss  Both heals and blesses. Only has a positive effect.

Ability 85 - Add/Lose Experience  Experience gained/lost is equal to 5 times Ability Strength. 

Ability 86 - Add/Lose Skill Pts. Amount of skill points gained/lost is equal to Ability Strength. 

Ability 87 - Add/Lose Health  Amount added or lost is 10 times Ability Strength plus or minus a small random amount. Health will not be reduced below 0. This can be as high as 20.

Ability 88 - Add/Lose Spell Points   Amount added or lost is 5 times Ability Strength plus or minus a small random amount.

Ability 89 - Doom   Poisons, damages, diseases, dumbfounds, and drains experience. Only has a negative effect.

Ability 90 - Light  Acts as a Light spell. 

Ability 91 - Stealth  Acts as a Stealth spell. 

Ability 92 - Firewalk  Acts as a Firewalk spell. 

Ability 93 - Flying  Acts as a Flying spell. 

Spell Usable (Usable):  When an item with one of these abilities is used, it casts a spell (which may need to be targeted). For each of these abilities, the Ability Strength is a number from 0 to 10, which represents the level the spell is cast at (0 is weakest, 10 is most powerful). The meaning of this changes depending on the ability affected. Sometimes, the number affects the duration, sometimes the damage done.

The Magic Item Adjust field is not used, except as noted below.

Ability 110 - Flame  Casts a Flame spell. 

Ability 111 - Fireball  Casts a Fireball spell. 

Ability 112 - Firestorm  Casts a Firestorm spell.

Ability 113 - Kill  Casts a Kill spell. 

Ability 114 - Ice Bolt  Casts an Ice Bolt spell. 

Ability 115 - Slow  Casts a Slow spell. 

Ability 116 - Shockwave  Casts a Shockwave spell. 

Ability 117 - Dispel Undead  Casts a Dispel Undead spell. 

Ability 118 - Dispel Spirit  Casts a Dispel Spirit spell. 

Ability 119 - Summoning  Summons one monster. The Ability Strength field contains the number of the monster to summon. When the party leaves the scenario, all items of this type are taken away (because the monsters in the next scenario might be completely different).

Ability 120 - Mass Summoning   Summons 3-5 monsters. The Ability Strength field contains the number of the monsters to summon.  When the party leaves the scenario, all items of this type are taken away (because the monsters in the next scenario might be completely different).

Ability 121 - Acid Spray  Sprays acid on target. Amount depends on value of Ability Strength field. 

Ability 122 - Stinking Cloud Casts a Stinking Cloud spell. 

Ability 123 - Sleep Field  Creates a Sleep Field at target. 

Ability 124 - Venom  Casts a Venom spell. 

Ability 125 - Shockstorm Casts a Shockstorm spell.  

Ability 126 - Paralysis  Casts a Paralysis spell.  

Ability 127 - Web Spell Casts a Web spell.  

Ability 128 - Strengthen Target  Makes the target monster stronger. Can only be used on unfriendly monsters. 

Ability 129 - Quickfire  Creates quickfire on space where its used. 

Ability 130 - Mass Charm  Charms all monsters nearby.

Ability 131 - Magic Map  Casts a Magic Map spell.

Ability 132 - Dispel Barrier  Casts a Dispel Barrier spell.

Ability 133 - Ice Wall  Casts an Ice Wall spell.

Ability 134 - Charm  Casts a Charm spell.

Ability 130 - Antimagic Cloud  Casts an Antimagic Cloud spell.

Reagents (Inherent):  To perform alchemy or cast certain spells, the alchemist/caster must have items with certain abilities in his/her inventory. For example, to make a Weak Poison potion, the maker must have an item with the Holly ability, or to cast a Magic Map spell, the caster must have an item with the Sapphire ability.

These items must have charges, representing the number of times they can be used. The Magic Item Adjust and Ability Strength fields are not used (except for Lockpicks).

The name of each ability represents the ingredient/spell component that the item with that ability can substitute for. For example, a gem with the ability Smoky Crystal can be used to cast Mindduel.

Ability 150 - Holly/Toadstool   

Ability 151 - Comfrey Root

Ability 152 - Glowing Nettle

Ability 153 - Crypt Shroom/Wormgrass

Ability 154 - Asptongue Mold

Ability 155 - Ember Flowers

Ability 156 - Graymold

Ability 157 - Mandrake

Ability 158 - Sapphire

Ability 159 - Smoky Crystal

Ability 160 - Resurrection Balm

Ability 161 - Lockpicks  This item can be used as a lockpick. The Ability Strength determines how good a pick it is.

Missiles (Inherent): These abilities can only be given to missile ammunition. The Magic Item Adjust and Ability Strength fields are not used, except as noted below.

Ability 170 - Returning  This missile is not used up when fired. It is best to only give it one use.

Ability 171 - Lightning  Target takes an amount of magical damage equal to the Ability Strength.

Ability 172 - Exploding  Fireball explodes at the target, cast at a level equal to the Ability strength.

Ability 173 - Acid  Target is sprayed with acid. 

Ability 174 - Slay Undead  Does major extra damage versus undead.

Ability 175 - Slay Demon  Does major extra damage against demons. 

Ability 176 - Heal Target  Restores health to target.