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Realms of Arkania 1+2 Character Creation Guide
by bebopcolagood 09/20/2012, v 1.1

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The purpose of this guide is to demystify some aspects of the character 
creation process for the first two Realms of Arkania games, Blade of Destiny 
and Star Trail. Having not played Shadows over Riva, I can't confirm any of 
the information in this guide for that game. Most of the information here is 
from personal experience, the game's manual and hintbook, and other faqs for 
these games. Thanks to issasal specifically for his Star Trail FAQ, and 
LordCinnamon at GOG.com for the deity bonuses.

VERY IMPORTANT: Most of the information in this guide is for Advanced Mode, 
which is set at the very beginning of the game. When importing games from
Blade of Destiny into Star Trail, it tends to convert Advanced games into
Basic games. This can be reversed in Star Trail by hitting F3 to bring up the 
options screen, and changing 'Basic' at the bottom to 'Advanced'.

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Table of Contents
 I.   Stats
 II.  Archetypes
 III. Skills
 IV.  Spells
 V.   Other

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I. Stats

Positive Stats

� Courage
Courage is useful for everybody, making them better in combat by increasing 
physical and magical attack power, and increasing magic resistance.

� Wisdom
Not just useful for wizardly types; besides increasing spellcasting ability, 
it also buffs magic resistance.

� Charisma
Not terribly useful, except for your designated haggler.

� Dexterity
Good for rogue-types who pick locks and essential for wizards, as it 
influences the success rate of spellcasting.

� Agility
Very useful, as it increases your attack values and your chance to avoid 
enemy physical attacks.

� Strength
Increases carrying capacity for everybody, which means they aren't encumbered 
as quickly, which means more movement points on the whole. Also can increase 
attack values at higher levels.

� Intuition
May be good for your leader to bolster Perception / Danger Sense.


Negative Stats

� Superstition
The higher the value, the lower your magic resistance. Definitely the most
important negative stat. Get this low as soon as possible.

� Arachnophobia
Spiders are rare in Blade of Destiny and Star Trail, so my opinion is to 
assign your unlucky 7 to this.

� Claustrophobia
Cave-ins and dungeon encounters are somewhat more common than spiders, 
but unless this value is very high you wont notice.

� Avarice
At higher levels, there are a few occasions where your characters will do
dumb things resulting in minor penalties, but nothing major.

� Acrophobia
Fear of heights. There are plenty of mountains in both games, but I've never
seen a character with a high value for this ever run into trouble.

� Curiosity
I've run into a few instances where it'll make you touch stuff without
thinking first, but never in any disasterous capacity.

� Violent Temper
It can make someone attack in certain encounters with little provocation I 
guess.

� Necrophobia
There's a fair amount of undead in Blade of Destiny and Star Trail, plus 
there are a few non-combat encounters where necrophobia comes into play. So,
you should probably get this pretty low if possible.

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II. Archetypes

� Jester / She-Jester
Requirements: Courage 12, Dexterity 12, Agility 12, Superstition 7.
Weapon Skills: Pointed, Thrown.
Skills: Body, Social, some Craftsmanship.
Restricted Weapons: Crossbow, 2h Swords, high Cutting/Axes.
Restricted Armor: Plate Armor, Chainmail Shirt, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: Non-essential. Their ranged option is thrown weapons, which aren't
terribly useful, and they can't wear good armor, but their high agility makes
them likely to avoid attacks. Decent social skills and good body skills.
Not surprisingly, kind of a gimmick character.


� Hunter / Huntress
Requirements: Agility 12, Intuition 12, Claustrophobia 7.
Weapon Skills: Missiles, Polearms, Thrown.
Skills: Body, Nature, Intuition.
Restricted Weapons: Crossbow, 2h Swords, high Cutting/Axes.
Restricted Armor: Plate Armor, Chainmail Shirt, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: A decent choice, although everything they do, elves do better.
Awesome missiles skill makes them your go-to ranged combatant, although they
can't use crossbows for some ungodly reason. Good as a front man if you don't
want elves for some reason.


� Warrior / She-Warrior
Requirements: Courage 13, Strength 12, Violent Temper < 4.
Weapon Skills: Swords, Two-Handed Swords, Cutting, Polearms, Missile, Thrown.
Skills: Some Body, some Lore.
Restricted Weapons: None.
Restricted Armor: None.

My Opinion: The powerhouse of Realms of Arkania, warriors are beasts. Best
armor choices, focus on swords and decent skill in all other weapons, and 
all-around excellent combat ability. I'd highly recommend taking one or two.


� Rogue / She-Rogue
Requirements: Courage 12, Dexterity 13, Agility 13.
Weapon Skills: Pointed, Thrown.
Skills: Body, Social, Craftsmanship, Intuition.
Restricted Weapons: 2h Swords, high Cutting/Axes.
Restricted Armor: Plate Armor, Chainmail Shirt, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: Everything jesters do, rogues do better. Rogues on the whole 
aren't terribly useful, but their pickpocket and locks skills make them worth
having around. To fill out their weak attack power, use poison.


� Thorwalian
Requirements: Courage 12, Strength 13, Superstition 7.
Weapon Skills: Axes, Cutting.
Skills: Some Body, some Lore, some Nature.
Restricted Weapons: High Cutting/Axes/2h Swords.

My Opinion: Kind of a poor man's warrior. Don't get me wrong, they're pretty
good: it's just that for the most part, warriors are better. Thorwalians have
decent swimming and some nature aptitudes, but are mostly forced to use axes
instead of swords, so they miss out on magic swords later on.


� Dwarf / Dwarvess
Requirements: Dexterity 12, Strength 13, Claustrophobia < 4, Avarice 7.
Weapon Skills: Axes.
Skills: Some Body, Lore, Craftsmanship, Some Nature, Intuition.
Restricted Weapons: High Axes/2h Swords, some Cutting.

My Opinion: A good second fighter-type, about on-par with thorwalians. They
have more LP than any other class, good axe skills, plus decent crafts-
manship, including treat wounds/disease and locks. If you bring a dwarf,
you don't necessarily need a rogue or jester.


� Warlock / Witch
Requirements: Charisma 13, Intuition 12, Acrophobia < 4.
Weapon Skills: None.
Skills: Some Body, some Social, some Lore, Craftsmanship, Nature, Intuition.
Spells: Mostly spread out, some Illusion.
Restricted Weapons: Most Pointed, Polearm, Sword, Cutting, Missiles.
Restricted Armor: Shields, All Leather, Toadskin, Pothelm, Iron Helm, 
All Chainmail, Plate Armor, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: Hmmm. Honestly, they're not very good. In the same way the
jester is kind of a gimmick character, the warlock is definitely the gimmick
spellcaster. They have bad combat abilities, weird spell selection, but 
pretty good skill choices. I personally don't put much stock in them.


� Druid / Druidess
Requirements: Courage 13, Wisdom 12, Necrophobia < 4.
Weapon Skills: None.
Skills: Some Body, some Craftsmanship, Nature, Intuition.
Spells: Mostly spread out, some Domination.
Restricted Weapons: Most Pointed, Polearm, Sword, Cutting, (Missiles in 
Star Trail onward).
Restricted Armor: Shields, Toadskin, Pothelm, Iron Helm, All Chainmail, 
Plate Armor, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: A decent choice. Definitely better in Blade of Destiny, where
they have the ability to use bows (and shoot arrows out of their chests),
but other than that, a good focus on domination spells (including Evil Eye),
good nature skills, and good treat disease/wounds/poison. Just be warned
that there's a portion in Star Trail where your druid won't be able to
come along unless you have a disguise/invisibility spell trained up.


� Magician / Magicienne
Requirements: Wisdom 13, Charisma 12, Superstition < 4.
Weapon Skills: Polearms.
Skills: Lore, some Craftsmanship.
Spells: Mostly spread out, some focus on a school of your choosing.
Restricted Weapons: Most Pointed, Polearm, Sword, Cutting, Missiles.
Restricted Armor: Shields, All Leather, Toadskin, Pothelm, Iron Helm, 
All Chainmail, Plate Armor, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: The workhorse of the spellcaster classes, the magician is like
the caster version of the warrior. Kinda weak on LP and combat ability, but
has insane AP growth and an amazing number of spell-up attempts at level up.
Plus, you can choose what school they focus on. Definitely take one along.


� Green Elf
Requirements: Wisdom 13, Agility 12, Avarice < 4.
Weapon Skills: Missiles, Pointed, Swords.
Skills: Body, some Craftsmanship, Nature, Intuition.
Spells: Clairvoyance, some Transformation, then spread out.
Restricted Weapons: High Cutting/Axes, 2h Swords.
Restricted Armor: Plate Armor, Scale Armor, (Chainmail restricted in Star 
Trail onward).

� Ice Elf
Requirements: Agility 13, Intuition 12, Acrophobia < 4.
Weapon Skills: Polearms, Thrown.
Skills: Some Body, Craftsmanship, some Nature, Intuition.
Spells: Mostly spread out.
Restricted Weapons: High Cutting/Axes, 2h Swords.
Restricted Armor: All Chainmail, Plate Armor, Scale Armor.

� Silvan Elf
Requirements: Agility 13, Intuition 13, Avarice < 4.
Weapon Skills: Missiles, Pointed, Swords, Polearms.
Skills: Body, some Craftsmanship, Nature, Intuition.
Spells: Mostly spread out, some Clairvoyance.
Restricted Weapons: High Cutting/Axes, 2h Swords.
Restricted Armor: All Chainmail, Plate Armor, Scale Armor.

My Opinion: Green and Silvan elves are pretty similar, in that they have
good missiles and swords skills, good nature and intuition, and decent
supplemental spellcasting abilities. Ice elves kinda break the mold with 
their polearms and thrown weapons, but otherwise they're similar. All in all
a good "multiclass" type character, with fair skill at everything, only really
lacking in armor choices. Like druids, there's a part in Star Trail where 
you'll need specific magic to allow them entry.

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III. Skills

Combat Skills

� Unarmed
Put a few points into it if you have some spares on a level up. You should
always carry a backup weapon, but lots of situations require decent unarmed
(such as putting your weapons away when stupid priests show up with their
love for Iron Rust).

� Cutting Weapons
Some sword-type weapons and also maces and stuff. High variety.

� Pointed Weapons
Rapiers, daggers, and the like. Decent for parrying.

� Swords
The standard weapon. Not much variety. In my experience, 99% of magic weapons
in Blade of Destiny and Star Trail are of the sword variety, so a Warrior
with high Swords can be very useful.

� Axes
More damaging than swords, but heavier as well.

� Polearms
Sticks, pointy or not. Not much to say other than the quarterstaff being 
the weapon of choice for Druids and Warlocks, and wands for Magicians.

� Missile Weapons
Pretty handy for the most part, for those that can use them. In Blade of 
Destiny you can only shoot in a straight line (suck), but in Star Trail 
you have much more flexible aiming. Bows are light but don't do as much 
damage as crossbows. Plenty of towns in Blade of Destiny means no shortage
of arrows/bolts, though I guarantee you will run out constantly in Star Trail 
unless you really stock up.

� Throwing Weapons
Honestly, not as good as missile weapons. They don't do as much damage as 
missiles, and typically have a larger penalty to attack, not to mention only
throwing stars stack neatly (every other thrown weapon takes up its own 
precious inventory slot). Typically, you can afford space for a cutting 
tooth or two for your fighter types, otherwise go for throwing stars. 
The only upside is, you get them back after combat so no running out of ammo.


Body Skills

� Acrobatics
You can use it to dance around in towns and make crappy money at it. Not used 
for anything useful really.

� Climb
Used quite a bit actually. You probably want to get everyone at least a few 
points in this, in both Blade of Destiny and Star Trail, due to mountain 
trails having disastrous results if you climb poorly. Also, bring a couple 
ropes while you're at it.

� Physical Control
At first you may ask, what the hell is this? Basically, it's damn useful. 
Higher values prevent you from fumbling attacks in combat, and out of combat, 
it helps you avoid falls and traps and stuff. Train it up for everybody.

� Ride
Worthless...until you pick up the Salamander Stone in Star Trail. Then 
everybody and his brother will be trying to ride you down and kill you. So
my opinion is to get everybody a couple points in it at least before then.

� Stealth
Only really useful if you put it on the leader, since that's the only person 
the games check. And then, rarely comes up.

� Swim
You should probably put a few points in this for everybody, as there are 
plenty of rivers to cross and the like.

� Self Control
According to the manual, it makes you feel less pain, which is badass. 
Apparently low values can cause you to flee battle uncontrollably, or take 
penalties when you've suffered damage.

� Dance
Can be used to make crappy money like Acrobatics.

� Hide
Like Stealth, only useful if it�s on the leader.

� Carouse
Makes you less likely to get drunk at the tavern or if drinking alcohol in 
the inventory. So, not terribly useful.


Social Skills

� Convert
Apparently used to convert people to your character's religion? I have never 
seen it used in Blade of Destiny or Star Trail; can't speak for Shadows over 
Riva.

� Seduce
Used for attracting members of the opposite sex. Again, never seen it used.

� Haggle
Very useful. Lets you get more for selling the dozens of worthless sabers you 
pick up, and buy useful stuff for less. You really only need one person with 
it though.

� Streetwise
Can prevent some in-town encounters if on the leader. I haven't run into any 
really bad in-town encounters, so not essential, but can be nice to have if 
you're into that sort of thing.

� Lie
I'm assuming that a lot of these social skills are used more in Shadows over 
Riva, since they never seem to come up in the first two games.

� Human Nature
Ditto.

� Evaluate
Allows you to estimate the value of items. I guess it could be useful in 
determining whether to keep an item for selling or not, but all in all, not 
that useful.


Nature Skills

� Track
I have on good authority that it can be useful if the lead guy has it. I 
can't speak from personal experience though.

� Bind
It can be used when travelling to catch game. I think. According to the 
manual,it can also be used to get out of ropes when you're tied up, but I've
never seen that happen.

� Orientation
Useful for the leader. It can affect travel time, ability to use maps, 
keeping your bearings in dungeons, and so on.

� Herb Lore
Absolutely necessary. It's used to find plants, which range from useless to 
everyone except alchemist, to incredibly useful (Whirlweeds, Joruga Roots, 
Belmarts, etc.). Put it on your Healer and Alchemist.

� Animal Lore
Supposed to increase attack power against animals in combat, and maybe make 
you more likely to catch game when hunting.

� Survival
Vital to survival when travelling. Used to find water and catch game. Make 
sure at least one person, if not two, has this.


Lore Skills

� Alchemy
Can be useful for a magician-type, although a) recipes are rare as heck, 
and b) I hope you brought a kit over from Blade of Destiny, because alchemy
kits are even rarer in Star Trail. All in all, a totally optional, but useful,
skill. Hyalian Fire is a decent recipe if you can find it.

� Ancient Tongues
Get one guy high on this, probably your Magician, then forget about it. 
Used once or twice to read a scroll.

� Geography
Not sure what use this has, if any. In a perfect world, it would decrease 
travel time.

� History
I think it comes up once or twice in Blade of Destiny. Like Ancient Tongues;
get one guy a few points in it then forget it.

� Ritual
Hit it and quit it.

� Tactics
Unlike all other Lore skills, actually useful! Makes you better in combat.

� Read / Write
Hit it and quit it.

� Arcane Lore
Actually useful again, although only for spellcasters. Makes their spells 
more powerful.

� Tongues
Hit it and quit it.


Craftsmanship Skills

� Train Animals
Self-explanatory I think. Never seen it come up in Blade of Destiny or Star 
Trail.

� Drive
According to the manual, how well you drive CARTS. Christ.

� Cheat
Makes decent money, but it seems like you can only use it in taverns and only
if the person with it is in the front. Not nearly as versatile as Pickpocket.

� Treat Disease
You need at LEAST two people with HIGH levels in this. Disease will abso-
lutely MURDER you if you don't treat it RIGHT AWAY. Many diseases require
special herbs, so it's not a bad idea to put this on your herb guys too.

� Treat Poison
Not AS useful as Treat Disease, as generally you'll only get poisoned from 
traps, spiders, and the occasional fumble with your own poisoned weapon. 
Plus, there are Antidotes that cure poison, and a spell that cures it as well.
Train it if you want, but not necessary.

� Treat Wounds
A double-edged sword. Can be used for free healing, but on a botched roll it
can actually CAUSE disease. The other benefit is, it's supposed to make you
get disease from wounds less often. My advice is to get one guy really, really
good at it.

� Instrument
Similar to Acrobatics, can be used to make crappy money. Boy, there sure are
a lot of skills like this.

� Locks
Pretty essential. In Blade of Destiny, it's the only way to open chests, so
you need someone with it at pretty high levels. Not as essential in Star Trail
since you can Foramen or bust open most stuff, but still useful. Remember to
bring extra lockpicks in Blade, since they can break unexpectedly.

� Pickpocket
All those useless skills like Instruments, Acrobatics, Dancing, and so on,
pale in comparison to the almighty Free Money skill--I mean, Pickpocket. You
can easily take about 10D from each merchant (just save beforehand) and pad
your pockets right from the start.


Intuition Skills

� Danger Sense
Helps you spot ambushes, traps, and the like. Pretty darn useful for avoiding
unnecessary damage.

� Perception
Can be used to find hidden doors and stuff, which you need to find to
progress through the game, so pretty essential. Also the key stat for setting
lookouts when camping. 

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IV. Spells
Note: I have not cast some of these spells personally, so when in doubt, I
will paraphrase the text in the manual.

Dispell School

� Break Domination
Cancels a Domination school spell. Enemy druids love to cast Evil Eye on your
guys, so definitely have at least one or two people train it up to 0 or so.

� Destruction
Manual: Turns an artifact into a mundane item.

� Guardian
Conjures a dome that protects from Fulminictus and demon attacks. You can
choose how many AP to put into it when you cast it.

� Destroy Illusion
Manual: Counters illusions, including Duplication.

� Stop Transformation
Cancels a transformation effect, such as Paralyze. Might be a good idea to
train it up before Star Trail, since that's when it starts getting a lot more
common (high priests and magicians seem to know it).


Healing School

� Balm
Trades the caster's AP for the target's LP. Typically, your AP is better
spent, since you could just eat a Whirlweed instead.

� Witch Spit
Manual: Healing spell with different effects on poison, disease, or wounds.

� Pure and Clear
Cures Poison, in the rare occasion when it comes up.

� Rest the Body
Makes the target heal more during the next rest. It does sizeably increase
the amount of LP recovered, but eating tarneles does the same thing (at least
in Star Trail).

� Heal Animal
Heals animals I guess. Never really got a chance to use it.


Domination School

� Ball and Chain
Target is paralyzed and takes no actions.

� Bambaladam
The manual says "makes the target stop attacking the caster", but in reality,
it makes the enemy passive and stop attacking entirely, effectively removing
them from combat (you can't attack them anymore and they never fight back).

� Evil Eye
Useful when it works. Turns the target over to your side for the combat. Just
don't attack them again, or it will instantly wear off. Enemy druids love to
cast this on your guys.

� Great Need
Manual: Causes the target to ignore everything other than one specific thing.

� Confusion
Seems to make the target act strangely in combat.

� Master of Animals
Makes an animal stop attacking you for a while. Fairly expensive in terms of
AP for a fairly limited return.

� Horriphobus
Makes the target run away. I don't know for sure whether you still get EP for
enemies that flee, so use at your own discretion.

� Astral Theft
Steals AP from an enemy spellcaster. Could be useful if they were more common
in Blade of Destiny, though they are fairly common in the late game of Star 
Trail.

� Respondami
Manual: Makes a target speak the truth.

� Meekness
Like Evil Eye, but for animals (although Evil Eye works on animals?). 
Additionally, can be used to calm someone in an advanced stage of Rabies or
in certain non-combat encounters where someone is flippin out.

� Somnigravis
Puts the target to sleep, where they'll stay for a while or until attacked.
Combat does not end if the only opponents left are asleep.

� Dance!
Makes the target dance uncontrollably, and they take no actions.


Demonology School

� Blood and Furor
Conjures a low-level demon. Sometimes. Maybe. Also seems to have a decent
chance of summoning an enemy demon.

� Banish Spirits
Banishes ghosts, spirits, and other haunts. Used to get some nice optional
treasure in Star Trail.

� Conjure Spirits
Manual: Summons a ghost.

� Heptagon
Manual: Summons a high-level demon. I've heard it can turn on the party.

� Summon Crows
Summons crows that attack enemies.

� Skeletarius
Turns a slain enemy into a friendly skeleton.


Elements School

� Conjure Elemental
Manual: Conjures up a friendly elemental.

� Nihilatio
Manual: Nullifies gravity around the caster.

� Solidirid
Manual: Summons a rainbow bridge.


Movement School

� Acceleratus
Gives the target way more movement points for about dungeon-length period of
time. Useful for heavily armored guys that are slowed down by their eq.

� Foramen
Pretty useful. Used on locked doors in Blade of Destiny and additionally on 
chests in Star Trail, opens them up, no muss no fuss. Doesn't work on 'plot' 
doors though, and the level determines the 'strength' of lock it can open,
so train it up for those hard locks.

� Motoricus
Seems to move small items.

� Without a Trace
Allows the caster to leave no trace of their passing. 

� Transversalis
A teleport spell that can be used to bypass some barriers and puzzles, but 
it's a bitch to learn.

� Walk on Ice
Manual: The caster can walk on ice or snow more easily.


Clairvoyance School

� Eagle's Eye
Increases the caster's Perception, so it can be very useful if you're on the
lookout for secret doors.

� Analyze Magic
When cast on an unknown magic item, tells you its properties (if it has any).
Doesn't seem to work on some magic items.

� Attributes Reveal
Tells you an enemy's stats in combat. Useful for determining what level a 
monster is in Star Trail, since they look identical. Other than that, you'll
pretty much only ever need to cast it once per enemy and write the results
down.

� Exposami
Manual: Reveals the presence of living beings nearby.

� Odem Arcanum
Tells you whether an item is enchanted or not. Many items do not show any 
signs of being enchanted, but there are a couple unbreakable swords and 
such that just look like normal swords, so it's up to you if you want to 
check everything (most artifacts in Star Trail look unique though).

� Penetrating
Let's you see through walls on the automap only for a few squares around 
you. Useful for finding out where secret doors are, and can be used in 
conjunction with Transversalis (sometimes).

� Sensible
Manual: Read an opponent's feelings.


Illusion School

� Chameleony
Makes the caster blend in, as long as they don't move.

� Duplication
Creates a mirror image of the caster (or target in Star Trail), making them 
harder to hit. Pretty effective and cheap in terms of AP cost.

� Camoflague
Makes the caster appear as a non-threatening being. Definitely can be used in
Star Trail.

� Witch's Knot
Manual: Creates an illusory barrier.


Combat School

� Lightning
Blinds a target for a few turns, making them take no actions. Seems to wear 
off if you attack them though. Cheap to cast, can be useful in temporarily
disabling an enemy.

� Darkness' Power
Makes the target's shadow come alive and assist them in combat. I haven't 
noticed any major difference when this spell is active.

� Iron Rust
Short range, but destroys a target's weapon. Seems to be long-range in
Star Trail. Pretty useful in neutering pirates and the like. Watch out for
druids and priests, they know this one.

� Fulminictus
The go-to attack spell, it costs as much AP as the damage it does, so unless 
you want to burn through your AP real quick, just use it to finish guys off.

� Ingifaxus
A 'leveled' attack spell, where you pick the level when you cast, and it 
costs more and does more fire damage. Pretty decent attack spell.

� Plumbumbarum
Reduces the target's attack when cast.

� Terror Broom
Manual: Makes a broom come alive and attack enemies.

� Terror Power
Bolster's the target's attack power and damage dealt for a few turns. I can 
verify that this spell is pretty powerful.

� Accurate Eye
Seems to make missile and thrown attacks more accurate for the target.


Communication School

� Witch's Eye
Manual: Lets a warlock/witch identify another warlock/witch.

� Nekropathia
Manual: Contact the spirits of the dead.


Transformation School

� Eagle, Wolf
Turns the caster into a dog. It can be used in that spot in Star Trail I
keep talking about where you need to disguise magicians, druids, and elves.

� Arcano
Raises the target's magic resistance by a couple points.

� Magic Armor
Raises the caster's armor rating by a selectable value. Better armor costs 
more AP, so you may want to check the enemy's attack with Attributes.

� Increase [STAT]
Can be useful since it's decently cheap and lasts for a dungeon or so. Use 
Increase ST for your fighters, DX for rogue, and AG for everybody.

� Fire's Bane
Makes the caster resistant to fire.

� Paralyze
Petrifies a target at range. It seems to work permanently on some targets,
but only temporarily on others. Doesn't cost that much AP so it's worth
training up. Enemy high priests and magicians can use this so watch out.

� Salother Mutother
Instantly and permanently turns the target into a toadstool. After training
it up fairly high, it still doesn't work terribly often, and it costs a whole
lot of AP. But it certainly will take care of an enemy.

� Ocean's Floor
Allows breathing underwater. There are plenty of underwater portions in Star
Trail (swamp) where this comes in handy if you don't have Swim trained up.

� Visibili
Makes the caster only invisible, allowing them to go unnoticed. Definitely 
used in Star Trail; can't speak for Blade of Destiny.


Transmutation School

� Abvenenum
Manual: Purifies poisoned or spoiled food.

� Aeolitus
Creates a small breeze. Never found any use for it.

� Burn!
Can be used to light torches and crap.

� Claudibus
Locks a door or chest. Buy why?

� Darkness
Makes EVERYONE's attack values drop, yours and the enemy's. I don't know what
use it is. I guess if your values are way higher? 

� Freeze the Soft
Manual: Solidifies liquids.

� Fiat Lux
Light spell. Useful until you have your Magician get to Wand Spell No. 2.

� Melt the Solid
Can melt ice and stuff. So far I've only come across one time where you need
it in Star Trail, but right next to where you need it is an altar to Hesinde
who will give you a +15 bonus to it if you've donated enough to her (100D).

� Silentium
Makes the party more sneaky by cancelling sound. There is at least one point
in Star Trail where this may come in handy.

� Calm the Storm
Manual: Creates a zone of calm around the caster and allies, protecting from
winds.

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V. Other

There are other aspects to character creation as well. Obviously the biggest
difference is Basic v. Advanced, but you already knew that since you just
read all the Advanced rules.

Your character seems to be randomly assigned a deity. This has two effects.
One, it gives a small bonus based on the deity (listed below). Secondly, and
more importantly, if the character dies, you can donate and pray at a temple
of that god (or at Tsa) to raise them from the dead. This is the ONLY way
to return dead characters to life, so note where temples of various gods are
for when the inevitable Rabies plague happens.

Deity Effects

� Praios   +1 Courage
� Rondra   +1 Swords
� Efferd   +1 Swim
� Travia   +1 Treat Poison
� Boron    +1 Human Nature
� Hesinde  +1 Alchemy
� Firun    +1 Missile, Track
� Tsa      +1 Charisma
� Phex     +1 Stealth, Pickpocket
� Peraine  +1 Treat Disease, Treat Wounds
� Ingerimm +1 Tactics
� Rahja    +1 Dance, Seduce, Instrument 


Name has no impact, but remember that only the first 7 or so characters show 
up.

Gender has no impact, although in Star Trail women that don't wear pants can 
attact unwanted attention.

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Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, comments, are mad that I stole
something you wrote (I believe I credited everyone correctly), or have 
additional info to give, email me at rebbejfox AT gmail.