Discern command

Discern
Reviews a spell you are able to cast, describing what it does, its targets, mana range, difficulty, skill, prerequisites and slot cost, and estimating how much mana you can weave into it.
DISCERN <spell> (the report closes with a mana estimate) You see: The spell requires at minimum <number> mana streams and you think you can reinforce it with <number> more, for a total of <number> streams.   Roundtime: <number> sec. DISCERN <spell> (alternate estimate) You see: You think you could weave at most <number> mana streams into this spell. DISCERN <spell> (effective skill below the spell's base difficulty) You see: You don't think you are able to cast this spell. DISCERN <spell> (spell you have not learned) You see: You have no idea how to cast that spell. DISCERN <magic device> (signature spell of another guild) You see: Your knowledge is insufficient to manage the preparation of this spell, even aided by a device.

The DISCERN command was introduced with DR 3.0 to review a spell you know and estimate the amount of mana you are able to weave into it.

Syntax

• DISCERN

Show the helpfile. DISCERN HELP does the same.

• DISCERN <spell>

Review a spell that you are able to cast. The spell's abbreviation may be used, and is matched before the full name.

• DISCERN <magic device>

Review the spell carried in a magical device you are holding, such as a runestone.

Game Helpfile

DISCERN allows you to learn more information about spell that you know.  To use this verb, you
must DISCERN {SPELL}.  Depending on your Arcana skill, you will discern information about how
the spell works, as well as the amount of mana that you can put into the spell.

This ability only works on spells that you are able to cast, including spells that you have
memorized as scrolls.

The report

DISCERN prints the spell's own description, then a paragraph assembled from the spell's properties, in this order:

• Type. Whether it is a battle spell, a non-battle spell, a ritual spell, a targeted spell or a metaspell, and whether it affects a single target or an area or group. Non-battle spells are noted as having significantly longer preparation times. Battle spells that contest a defense name the defense contested, and targeted spells name the damage types they do.
• Cyclic. Cyclic spells add a note that they are prepared at the amount of mana you want, then cast, and pulse as long as you can fuel them from harnessed mana, cambrinth or raw attunement.
• Targets. The combinations the spell accepts, such as without a target, on or at other adventurers, at hostile creatures, on some objects, or on dead adventurers. Spells that cannot be aimed report what they affect instead.
• Mana range. It requires a minimum of <number> mana streams, and can expand to a maximum of <number> mana streams woven into it. The numbers are spelled out as words.
• Difficulty. The skill rank at which the spell becomes castable and the rank at which it is mastered, both given as rank titles rather than numbers.
• Skill. The magic skill, or pair of skills, the spell uses.
• Availability. Whether the spell is open to any guild member, is found only on scrolls, or is currently on preview and castable without having learned it.
• Learning cost. The spell's prerequisites, and the number of spell slots it costs. A prerequisite may be another spell you must already know, or a circle you must have reached.

Metaspells have no targets, mana range, difficulty or skill to report, so those sentences are omitted for them.

A blank line follows, then the mana estimate and the roundtime.

Mana estimate

The estimate is worked out from your skill in the magic skill the spell uses, measured against the spell's base and maximum difficulty, and interpolated across the spell's mana range. It assumes a full preparation, so a spell cast before its preparation has finished may not carry the amount reported.

The estimate never exceeds the spell's own maximum. A caster near the spell's base difficulty is offered a total only slightly above its minimum, while one whose skill is well past the spell's mastery rank is simply told the spell's maximum.

The total is the most mana the spell can hold from every source at once: what you prepare, what you have harnessed, and what you add from cambrinth. Because it is an estimate, preparing a few streams under the reported figure is safer than casting at exactly that number.

Your Arcana governs how much of the report you see and how far it can be trusted. If Arcana is lower than the skill used to cast the spell, the amount reported is a usable preparation amount without necessarily being your true personal maximum. Arcana is also varied slightly each time the command runs, which can change how much of the report you are shown and how long the command takes.

Two cases produce no estimate. If your effective skill is below the spell's base difficulty, the report ends with You don't think you are able to cast this spell. Metaspells have no mana range, so no estimate is calculated for them at all.

DISCERN works with any spell you are able to cast, including spells temporarily memorized from scrolls and spells contained in magical devices. An unrecognized spell, or one you have not learned, produces You have no idea how to cast that spell.

Roundtime and experience

DISCERN takes roundtime and grants a small amount of Arcana experience.

Roundtime is random. It is never shorter than 7 seconds and never longer than 15, and the upper bound falls as Arcana rises until it settles at 10 seconds, so a practiced caster sees 7 to 10 seconds.

The experience award is timed separately for each spell, so discerning the same spell repeatedly does not keep paying.

Examples

The body of the report belongs to the spell and reads the same for everyone who can see it. Only the estimate and the roundtime are personal.

A caster near the bottom of a spell's range

DISCERN EASE, for a character with little Augmentation skill:

The Ease Burden spell does precisely what the name implies. Through the careful weaving of kinetic force, providing support particularly along the subject's shoulders and lower back, the caster is able to ease the burden of carrying heavy objects on the recipient of the spell.

This is a non-battle spell that can be cast on a single target. Non-battle spells have significantly longer preparation times than battle spells. It can be cast without a target and on other adventurers. It requires a minimum of one mana streams, and can expand to a maximum of one hundred mana streams woven into it. To begin to be able to cast this spell, you will need to reach the rank of a lowly novice. By the time you have mastered this spell, you will be ranked as a professional in your abilities as a caster. It requires the Augmentation skill to cast effectively. This spell has no prerequisites. It will also cost one spell slot.

The spell requires at minimum 1 mana streams and you think you can reinforce it with 6 more, for a total of 7 streams.

Roundtime: 7 sec.

A caster past a spell's mastery rank

DISCERN CV, for a character with a great deal of Augmentation skill. Clear Vision shares Ease Burden's mana range and difficulty band, so only the last two lines differ in kind:

Clear Vision enhances the subject's perception at the psychic level, increasing the acumen of his senses. All the senses are affected to some degree, but the spell is best known for the clarity of sight that inspired its name.

While all the sects had tools to augment their senses, Clear Vision was invented by the Nomads of the Arid Steppe. To this day, Nomad casting techniques allow the spell to be cast with unusual finesse.

This is a non-battle spell that can be cast on a single target. Non-battle spells have significantly longer preparation times than battle spells. It can be cast without a target and on other adventurers. It requires a minimum of one mana streams, and can expand to a maximum of one hundred mana streams woven into it. To begin to be able to cast this spell, you will need to reach the rank of a lowly novice. By the time you have mastered this spell, you will be ranked as a professional in your abilities as a caster. It requires the Augmentation skill to cast effectively. This spell has no prerequisites. It will also cost one spell slot.

The spell requires at minimum 1 mana streams and you think you can reinforce it with 99 more, for a total of 100 streams.

Roundtime: 7 sec.

The estimate has reached the spell's stated maximum of one hundred streams and can go no higher.

A spell held in a device

DISCERN RUNESTONE, while holding a runestone carrying Glythtide's Gift. The report describes the spell in the device, and its prerequisite is a circle rather than another spell:

The Glythtide's Gift spell provides refreshment for the parched, a bit of liquid courage to the cowardly, a drop of sunshine to warm chilly bones, a most efficacious draught to wet the whistles of Bards and Barbarians, chieftains and cutpurses, lords and layabouts, Gnomes and Gor'Togs.

This is a non-battle spell that can be cast on a single target. Non-battle spells have significantly longer preparation times than battle spells. It can be cast without a target. It requires a minimum of five mana streams, and can expand to a maximum of one hundred mana streams woven into it. To begin to be able to cast this spell, you will need to reach the rank of a promising novice. By the time you have mastered this spell, you will be ranked as a genius in your abilities as a caster. It requires the Augmentation skill to cast effectively. Before you can learn this spell, you must be circle 10. It will also cost one spell slot.

The spell requires at minimum 5 mana streams and you think you can reinforce it with 95 more, for a total of 100 streams.

Roundtime: 7 sec.

See Also

• PREPARE
• CAST
• HARNESS
• MANA
• CHARGE
• FOCUS
• INVOKE
• RELEASE
• Spell Preparations

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