Should mage to be able to cast spell 'Light' in the darkness?

[tangar]

One of players in T suggested the idea to be able to cast 'Light' spell while in the darkness (he lost his torch and struggled to cast Light). Let's discuss it?

We all remember how Gandalf ignited his staff after he entered Moria. So maybe 'Light' spells should be a an exception and mage would be able to cast them in the darkness?

[will_asher]

for one, Gandalf and other wizards of middle earth were maia, not mortal mages.

for another, if any class should be able to cast light in the darkness it should be the priest and/or paladin.

That said, it'd be cool to have a couple especially thematic spells be castable without reading from a spellbook.

[tangar]

That said, it'd be cool to have a couple especially thematic spells be castable without reading from a spellbook.

yep, innate-spells. to be able to assign it directly in p_race/class.txt

[ekolis]

In ADOM, spells are normally cast from memory, but you can also cast them from a book, which takes longer but doesn't deplete your memory of them. (Why casting a spell too much makes you forget it is beyond me.) Maybe there could be some option to cast a spell from memory, rather than from a book, for some appropriate tradeoff? m and p do the same thing right now; mabe one of them could be repurposed? Let's say if you cast a spell from memory, the fail rate is increased but it costs less mana, and of course you can do it in the dark?

[Pete Mack]

Casting and forgetting is straight out of original D&D.

[will_asher]

In ADOM, spells are normally cast from memory, but you can also cast them from a book, which takes longer but doesn't deplete your memory of them. (Why casting a spell too much makes you forget it is beyond me.) Maybe there could be some option to cast a spell from memory, rather than from a book, for some appropriate tradeoff? m and p do the same thing right now; mabe one of them could be repurposed? Let's say if you cast a spell from memory, the fail rate is increased but it costs less mana, and of course you can do it in the dark?

I like that idea and might do some form of it for my variant. (Probably only for a limited selection of spells though.)

[Ingwe Ingweron]

We all remember how Gandalf ignited his staff after he entered Moria. So maybe 'Light' spells should be a an exception and mage would be able to cast them in the darkness?

Ummm.... anyone notice that he had a STAFF? Even in Angband, if @ has a staff that is "of light" @ can activate the staff in darkness.

[tangar]

he had different staff; not 'consumable' staves like we have in bands to 'U'se for light, tele etc (which we have in stacks, like bunch of brushwood); but a Mage Staff

[ekolis]

Well there's an idea. Staves that can be imbued with spells. By sacrificing... something... a mage can imbue an "empty" staff with a spell, allowing it to be cast in the dark and without consuming mana a certain number of times.

[fph]

This sounds a lot like casting Recharging on a Staff of Light.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

he had different staff; not 'consumable' staves like we have in bands to 'U'se for light, tele etc (which we have in stacks, like bunch of brushwood); but a Mage Staff

Yeah, an "artifact" staff. So, an artifact staff that has Light Area as an activation. I don't follow the leap from - Gandalf has an artifact staff that he can use in darkness - to every mage should be able to cast light in darkness. That intellectual leap I do not understand.

[tangar]

We are not not canonic to LotR, even close. Eg Gandalf didn't need spellbooks to cast spells, while in V you can't cast spells you've learned without having spellbook in backpack So there is no leaps, just assumptions. Being able to cast light spell in the darkness is quite logical.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

We will have to agree to disagree, as I find it illogical (as, so far, does the poll).

[Pete Mack]

Tangar--
I don't quite see much advantage. It's been a long time since I last ran out of light. Second, the first time it happens, it's a relatively painless lesson in taking enough consumables into the dungeon. Plus, until I find ESP (or an Arkenstone), I carry rods of light, so I'm almost never completely without light.

That said, I agree that it should be possible to cast spells from other creatures' lighting.

[Grotug]

he had different staff; not 'consumable' staves like we have in bands to 'U'se for light, tele etc (which we have in stacks, like bunch of brushwood); but a Mage Staff

Yes, he had an artifact staff (which don't exist in Angband, but maybe one day?) I think I made a post about such staves not terribly long ago.