Realms of Darkness/Magic and abilities

Spell points

 * Spells points per level, Priest & Sorcerer
 * Spells points per level, Horseman & Champion

Priest spells
Priest spells focus on healing and curing. 33 spells total.

Healing spells (priest)
Most of these spells can be cast anytime. They are the most useful spells by far.
 * Heal (SL.1), Heal Wounds (SL.3), Cell Rejuvenation (SL.6): three spells of increasing power that restore health points. The last one always restores full health.
 * Restore Sight (SL.1), Remove Paralyzation (SL.4): two spells that cure specific status ailments.
 * Weaken Poison (SL.3), Depoison (SL.5): two spells against the same status ailment. Poison progressively depletes health points. Before a priest learns Depoison, you should cure this status ailment at a temple for characters of level 1 to 7; then, for characters of experience level 8 or higher, a depoison balm is a cheaper option.
 * Restore Senses (SL.3): cures any other status ailment except for the three already mentioned;
 * Restore Lost Levels (SL.6): enemies who can lower the characters' experience levels are extremely rare. This is a double improvement over The Bard's Tale, where this spell was completely missing and level-draining enemies were way too common in the last dungeon.
 * Restore Life (SL.5), Restore Ashes (SL.6), Restore Dust (SL.): three spells that resurrect dead characters. If one of them fails, the character status gets worse: from dead to ashes to dust. If the last spell fails repeatedly, then you will have to go to a temple.

Field spells (priest)
These spells can only be cast outside combat. See also, because some are in common.
 * Light (SL.1), Instant Lantern (SL.2): alternatives to torches and lanterns; the player can decide whether to give priority to spell points or silver pieces.
 * Trap Detection (SL.2), Disarm Chest (SL.3): spells that can only be cast when a chest is found after a combat.
 * Depth Detection (SL.4): useful if you get lost in a dungeon, or if you want to check your location after casting the sorcerer's "Teleport" spell.
 * Safety (SL.7): a teleport spell that sends the party back to the nearest city.

Combat spells: support (priest)
These spells target the caster and the party members.
 * Pray (SL.1), Chameleon (SL.3): they improve armor class for a single target. The sorcerer has a larger selecion of similar spells.
 * Tower of Protection (SL.2): similar to the two above, this spell only targets priests, but all of them at once; this is probably the reason the manual suggests to use two priests in your party. Hardly worth it.
 * Gnithon spell (SL.2): the spell's name is "nothing" spelt backwards; either it does nothing, or it improves the characters attack. Who knows,
 * Magic mace (SL.4): it improves the caster's attack; useful in lengthy combats, after the priest cast some other spells, and only if he or she is in the front row.

Combat spells: disable (priest)
Disabling spells have a chance of failing, that depends on the overall power of the enemies.
 * Peace (SL.1): it interrupts the combat. Only useful if your party is really in danger.
 * Blind (SL.2): stuns all enemies, or none. It lasts one turn only.
 * Confuse (SL.2): similar to blind, but it lasts longer and it affects few enemies only.

Combat spells: attack (priest)
All these spells target a random number of enemies.
 * Crossfire (SL.1), Earth Attack (SL.4), Shock (SL.5), Acid Rain (SL.6): they simply inflict damage.
 * Poison (SL.4): it inflicts the poison status, that progressively damages the enemies. Usually, combats are over before this spell becomes relevant.
 * Dispel Undead (SL.5): more effective than the basic skill of the same name.
 * Annihilation (SL.7): it instantly defeats the affected enemies.

Sorcerer spells
Sorcerer spells focus on combat magic. 37 spells total.

Healing spells (sorcerer)

 * Unpetrification (SL.5): the "petrified" status is functionally identical to "dead", but it requires a different cure. Enemies who can inflict this are extremely rare. This is a double improvement over The Bard's Tale, where this spell was completely missing and petrifying enemies were way too common in the last dungeon.

Field spells (sorcerer)
These spells can only be cast outside combat. See also, because some are in common.
 * Light (SL.1), Instant Lantern (SL.3): alternatives to torches and lanterns; the player can decide whether to give priority to spell points or silver pieces.
 * Neutralize Gravity (SL.2): an alternative to "rope and hook".
 * Unlock (SL.1), Open Sesame (SL.3): they open magically locked doors, with a different success probability. The game will notify you if a door canonly be opened with a puzzle solution.
 * Identify an Item (SL.1), Charge Detection (SL.2): whenever you find a weapon, armor or scroll, you should better identify it. If it is magical, its name will change: a "+1", "+2" or "+3" means an enchantements makes it stronger, but a complete name change means it is a spellcasting item. Then, use the "charge detection" to determine how many times the spell can be cast before the item disappears.
 * Disarm and Identify (SL.6): more powerful than the priest's "Disarm Trap", but you might better save lv.6 spell points for other sorceries.
 * Teleport (SL.6), Improved Teleport (SL.7): they send the party to a dungeon floor of your choice (0 is the surface). They may be game breakers, but some scenarios are organized to prevent players from abusing them. The lesser spell can fail and send the party to a random floor, hence the usefulness of the priest's "Depth Detection".

Combat spells: support (sorcerer)
These spells target the caster and the party members.
 * Protection (SL.2), Invisibility (SL.3), Party Protection (SL.4), Mass Invisibility (SL.5): four spells that improve the armor class of one or all the characters. Different spells are cumulative.
 * Spell Diversion (SL.4), Defensive Field (SL.5), Reflection (SL.6): spells that protect from enemy magic; the first one targets the caster alone, the third one instantly defeats the enemy spellcasters.
 * Fighter strength (SL.3), Fighter Power (SL.7): spells that increase the caster's fighting prowess. The lesser one affects strength only, the greater one also affects armor.
 * Valhalla Spirit (SL.6): similar to "Fighter Power", but it can target any ally.
 * Valhalla Power (SL.5): the target will attack twice per turn.

Combat spells: disable (sorcerer)
Disabling spells have a chance of failing, depending on the overall power of the enemies.
 * Absentmidedness (SL.1), Paralyze (SL.2), Mass Paralysis (SL.4): three spells of increasing effectiveness; affected enemies will skip one or more turns.
 * Fine Focus (SL.2): it removes some special defences from the affected enemies.
 * Make Illusion (SL.3): affected enemies may decide to flee; somewhat similar to the priest's "Peace".
 * Snail Spell (SL.4): affected enemies will act later during the combat turn; limited usefulness.
 * Insanity (SL.4): spellcasting enemies will go berserk, and only attack physically. SL.6 Reflection is more useful.

Combat spells: attack (sorcerer)
All these spells target a random number of enemies.
 * Ignite (SL.1), Fireball (SL.1), Frost Byte (SL.2), Flames (SL.3), Lightning Bolt (SL.4), Ion Explosion (SL.5), Blizzard (SL.6): they simply inflict damage. Lightning Bolt is only effective outdoors.
 * Destruction (SL.7): instantly defeats affected enemies.

Skills
Skills per class
 * Thief: sneak attack, disarm
 * Barbarian: berserker fury
 * Friar: ironwill, flying kick, stun