MageSpell: NPC Spellbook Generator (v1.0)
                            and
          NPC Clerical Spellbook Generator (v1.0)
            (Amiga programs, part of Disk 1242)

                   Reviewed by P A Hardy

The NPC Spellbook Generator and the NPC Clerical Spellbook
Generator programs are player aids for Dungeon Masters of the
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) Role Playing Game. They are
identical in function and usage, the only difference being that
one program generates Mage spells and the other one Clerical
spells. For the sake of this review, we shall examine the
MageSpell program in some detail, and mention its sister program,
the Clerical Spell Generator, only infrequently, due to their
similarity in operation.

Most Dungeon Masters (DMs) will create powerful Mages in their
games at one point or another, usually as evil villains, tutors or
plot devices, and this is where MageSpell will come in handy. The
program is a database of all the spells available in the AD&D
Player's Handbook, for all nine spell levels, and these may be
accessed for every Mage NPC you wish to create.

Upon loading, MageSpell asks you to enter a name for the output
file you want the spell list to be saved to. Once this is done,
the time has come to specify the spellbook parameters for your new
Mage, which are achieved with three very simple questions: (1)
What is the highest level of spells your Mage can cast? (Between
spell levels 1 and 9). (2) What is the highest level of spells
your Mage can cast?  and (3) What is the maximum number of spells
per level your Mage may cast?

Once you have input these parameters (by simply keying in a number
and pressing <Return> MageSpell will sort through its vast library
of spells and randomly select magics based upon the information
you entered. (For instance, if you specify you want a Mage's
highest spell level to be 4, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of
5 spells per level, MageSpell will randomly select between 4 and
20 spells available to this Mage, selecting spells from spells
levels 1 to 4 only. These spells can then be written down as the
spells your Mage has in his grimoire).

It is important to remember that MageSpell deals with spells
solely in a mage's spellbook, and NOT spells he or she has
memorized. Thus no duplicate spells will be selected.

MageSpell does however mark which spells are reversible (such as
Protection from Evil and Remove Curse) but will not tell you what
the spells do, how long their duration or any required spell
components, so the AD&D Player's Handbook is still required for
this information.

MageSpell's biggest problem is the screen space needed to print
the spell list. For ease of viewing, the spells are printed by
level, one spell under another and in alphabetical order. This is
fine, if you only need one or two levels and a handful of spells.
But if you wish to view lots of spells, the top spells - or top
few levels of spells, if there are many - scroll off the top of
the screen. There is no scroll bar available and no way to look
back upon the entire spell list, so spells which have scrolled
off-screen are consequently lost for good. Even re-loading the
saved file is of no help either, as only the bottom screen full of
spells will be visible as before. This, to me, is a major
oversight.

The only way to counter spells scrolling off the top of the screen
into oblivion is to create only one or two levels at a time,
depending on the number of spells required per level, which can
take a little while as you have to input each new output file name
and fresh parameters each time you wish to create a new spell
list.

Another annoying oversight in the program is that the screen is
not cleared when a new spell list is activated; rather, the older
information on-screen is merely over-typed, which always looks
messy and can often get quite confusing to read. The fact there is
no print function available as well is perhaps the program's
biggest downfall.

The NPC Clerical Spellbook Generator suffers from exactly the same
faults as it uses the same control program but with a database of
Clerical rather than Mage spells. Again, all the Clerical spells
in the AD&D Player's Handbook are available, with reversible
spells marked, along with `Godly Grant', a single Level 8 Priest
spell which does not appear in the manual.

In overview, both NPC Spellbook Generator programs could
potentially save a Dungeon Master a lot of time creating spells
for NPC Mages and Clerics. The programs' faults - whilst being
impractical and at times frustrating - in no way diminish the
usefulness of either program and, combined with Digital Char,
which I will review next issue, they can be a real life saver for
DMs without access to a PC and the CD&D Core Rules CD-ROM. It's
just a shame both programs lack that useful Print option!




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