Casting High Level Magic
Wizards are capable of far greater displays of magic than humble Mages but the forces involved in these displays mean that far greater preparation is required in order to unleash them.
Casting High Magic
High Magic is the official name for spells of levels 6, 7 and 8. To cast a high magic spell takes 15 minutes. At the conclusion of the casting time the Wizard should utter his casting vocals for that spell (30, 35 or 40 words at levels 6, 7 and 8) upon the completion of which he has 30 seconds to release the spell in the appropriate manner as listed under the spell description (usually touch or a target within 20 feet). As soon as the Wizard begins casting he expends a spell slot of the same level as the spell he is casting and at the conclusion of the casting suffers damage depending on the level of the spell (1 damage at level 6, 2 at level 7, 3 at level 8 - this cannot be reduced in any way). If for any reason the Wizard does not have a spell slot of the correct level he will fall dead. The casting time for High Magic is reduced by five minutes for being in the correct element for the colour of the spell you are casting. The casting time for High Magic can also be reduced by up to five minutes, at the referees discretion, if you have a good quality casting kit and vocals. If you often run away and hide in dark corners to cast it may be worth demonstrating your casting at the start of the dungeon. The referee will then inform you whether or not that will reduce your casting time and by how much. He will then monitor your casting during the dungeon to ensure that quality is maintained. The final way to reduce the casting time for High level magic is to become attuned to a particular spell. Spell attunement for High Magic is obtained through the purchase of the Status skill Learn Level 6 - 8 spells, but in place of learning a new spell you may gain attunement to a spell that you have already learnt. Spell Attunement means that you are always considered to be in element for that particular spell, reducing your casting time by five minutes. Note that actually being in element for a spell to which you are attuned does not reduce your casting time any further, thus the fastest achievable casting time for High Magic is five minutes (for being in element or attuned and having good quality casting kit and vocals).
Focus
A Focus is required for casting any spell above level 5. If a character attempts to cast a High Level spell without a Focus then the spell they are attempting to cast will fail and they will die.
Casting Kit
High level spells all require a set of casting apparatus commonly referred to as a "casting kit". A casting kit should comprise of a casting mat at least two and a half square feet in size (a square mat 18 inches on each side is fine) and a number of other components appropriate to your character (for example a red mage may use a small oil burner, a blue mage incense and a green wizard may use a small bowl of water). Candles are also a common casting component used by many people as are small stones or beads used to mark the passage of time. Your casting kit should be personal to your character and it should be obvious from the casting kit what Colour of Magic the kit is to be used for (Fiery for Red magic, Airy for Blue magic etc.).
Ritual
All High Magic spells require a ritual to be performed in order to harness the appropriate energies. This ritual is performed in conjunction with the casting kit explained above and should be performed for the full duration of the casting time. The ritual should be appropriate to the character. For example a light hearted Sprite who is a green wizard may play a game with an imaginary undine of water, the winning of which will grant them the energies required to cast the spell, an aggressive fire wizard may surround his sword with fire whilst summoning salamanders from the elemental plane to enchant it. You should have a unique ritual for each high level spell that you can cast. The easiest way to vary your ritual is to change the words that you use to perform the ritual although you may wish to be more elaborate than this. A good ritual with well performed vocals will help to reduce your casting times as explained above.
In Element
Magic is drawn from the Elements and the presence of large quantities of the associated element can make casting High level spells quicker. This is called being "in element". The colours of magic, and the means to get "in element" for the eight colours can be found below;
Black
Total darkness; (note hiding under a black cloak not acceptable)
Blue
In the open air, not enclosed by trees, bushes, walls etc. for at least 40 feet all round;
Brown
Underground, being within a cave or tunnel at least 10 feet from the outside, not including a building unless in a basement or cellar;
Green
Adjacent to a body of water, at least 4 buckets worth, or in the rain;
Grey
Adjacent to a large amount of metal, at least a pile of weapons and armour, 2 fully armoured warriors with weapons.
Red
Adjacent to a fire of at least 2 feet in diameter or in very hot sunlight;
White
In bright daylight without clouds and not overcast, sun must be visible;
Yellow
Moving air, better than a gentle breeze;
As ever the referee will make the final decision as to whether or not you are in element.
Timing
Most high level spells take between 5 and 15 minutes to cast as described above. It is the player's responsibility to time their own casting in a fair way. For this reason many casters use small beads or stones to mark of one minute intervals during casting. The player referee may wish to time you himself on occasion, he will indicate if this is the case. The player referee will monitor your casting times and give guidance if they are consistently too long or too short.
Spell Stores
Some Wizards are capable of casting spells which allow them to release Battle Magic spells, stored within their body, with but a few words. The High Magic Spells that allow this are called "Spell Stores" and most colours of Magic have access to them in some form or another. Spell Stores are listed as such in their description. Each Spell Store spell holds a number of battle magic spells as explained in the Spell Descriptions. The amount of mana and the type of spell stored varies from Store to Store. Store spells are prepared at the special casting area that each School of Magic maintains outside of the Towers. They require hours of preparation and for the appropriate element to be present. Due to the complex nature of Spell Stores they cannot be cast away from the casting areas under any circumstances (this means that they cannot be cast on adventures of any duration, they are always considered to have been cast before the event began). Neither can a store be "re-filled" with mana, this can only be done by recasting the Spell Store. However Spell Stores are unusual in that once bound to the caster they are essentially permanent, until dispelled or all of the stored spells are released. Should a Spell Store be dispelled any stored spells remaining are lost. The character is "out" slots for the Spell Store and any stored spells. Slots "out" on stored spells may be recovered (by sleeping or Memonicing) only once they have been released and ceased to be in effect. The slot "out" for the Spell Store may only be recovered once all stored spells have been released (at which point the store ceases to be "in effect") or it is dispelled. For example a Character with a Fire Bolt Store level 8, with six Fire Bolt 5's stored in it, would start the adventure "out" one level 8 and six level 5 slots. If he released two of the Fire Bolts on the first evening of the adventure he would be able to recover those 2 slots by sleeping. If he then released the remaining four Bolts the next morning he would be able to regain both the four level 5's and the 8, for the Spell Store, when he memoniced. A character may have no more than one Spell Store of any level running on him at any time. Thus if a character knew both the spells Flame Store and Fire Bolt Store he would have to chose which to have running at the beginning of each adventure he played, he could not have both at the same time.
Over Casting
If a character attempts to cast a spell, of any level, for which he does not have a spell slot of the appropriate level then his focus will explode and he will fall unconscious for 15 minutes. Should the same caster overcast again in the future then he will die.
Vocal Length
Some spells or abilities allow a character to cast a high magic spell at "vocal length". In this case the need for a ritual and casting kit is eliminated, the caster need only use the vocals (of 5 words per level of the spell) in order to conjure the effect.