Introduction
I was the original computer geek. Back in the olden days, a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 Level 2 microcomputer was placed in front of me, and I never looked back. I quickly learned BASIC and wrote dozens of games, all in glorious 128x48 monochrome graphics. Started my high school’s computer club, which quickly evolved into a computer GAMES club. We’d bring our TRS-80’s, Atari 800’s and Apple II’s in after school and game for a few hours. This was the first golden age of video games, when our idea of a fun night out was to fill our pockets with quarters and spend ‘em all on Galaxian, Tempest, Asteroids and Battlezone.

After I earned my Computer Science degree, I spent the next 12 years working for a variety of government contractors on just about every platform and programming language out there. And then, in June of 1999, I started working for ZeniMax, in the R&D group at first, and then starting in the Spring of 2001, I began helping out with Morrowind, specifically working on the magic system. And that’s what I’m going to talk about today.

Schools of Magic
In Morrowind, the Schools of Magic are Destruction, Alteration, Illusion, Conjuration, Mysticism, and Restoration. These govern the successful use of Magic Effects. They correspond directly to magic skills by the same names. The higher your skill in a particular magic school, the greater your chances of successfully casting spells with effects in that school.

Magic Effects
The fundamental basic building block of Morrowind’s magic system is the Magic Effect. There are over 130 different magic effects in the game. These include effects such as Resistance to Poison, Fire Damage, Levitate, Telekinesis, and summoning Daedra or bound weapons, as well as effects that modify attributes, stats and skills. Each Magic Effect has a variety of settings that you can view or modify in the editor, including the Magic School the effect belongs to, the base cost (in Magicka) of the effect, whether or not the Magic Effect can be used for spellmaking or enchanting within the game, particle texture and effect icons, visual effects and sounds, and lighting, speed and scale information.

Magic Types
There are several different types of magic used in Morrowind.

Scourge casts a fireball.

Spells
A Magic Spell can be cast by someone who has skills in the appropriate schools of magic as well as enough Magicka to cast the spell. Spells consist of up to eight Magic Effects. When you cast a spell, all of the Magic Effects occur at once, and the total cost in Magicka is subtracted from your spell points. Whether or not you successfully cast the spell is based on your skill in the school(s) of magic of the effects in the spell. You’ll get a few spells depending on your character’s race, class, and birth sign, and you can learn new ones from NPC’s within the game.

Potions
A Potion can also consist of up to eight Magic Effects. You drink a potion by equipping it in the inventory screen. Potions are a one-shot deal – once you drink a potion, it’s gone. You can purchase potions, and you can make your own if your Alchemy skill is high enough. Potions are nice for non-magic users because they do not require any skill to use -- they always work. The biggest difference between creating spells or enchantments and creating potions in the game is that the effects of the potion are determined by the ingredients you combine, so a working knowledge of ingredients is important. The greater your Alchemy skill, the more you’ll know about the effects of various ingredients.

Enchantments
An Enchantment is a spell that has been bound to an item. The item can be a weapon, piece of armor, clothing, or jewelry. As with spells, an Enchantment can consist of up to eight Magic Effects. There are several different ways that Enchantments can be cast:

Cast Once
An item with a Cast Once Enchantment will be destroyed when you cast the Enchantment. This is primarily used for Scrolls. You choose a Cast Once Enchantment from the Magic menu, ready magic and cast the Enchantment. It always works – there’s no check against your skills.

Cast When Used
These enchanted items can be cast multiple times. The item has a charge – an amount of Magicka available – and the cost of the Enchantment is subtracted from the charge each time you cast the Enchantment. Items recharge on their own slowly, but you can recharge them faster using a Soul Gem that contains a trapped soul.

Cast When Strikes
This is used for weapons. When the weapon hits a NPC or creature, the Enchantment is cast. As with Cast When Used Enchantments, Cast When Strikes Enchantments have a charge that decreases whenever the Enchantment is cast.

Constant Effect
As long as the enchanted item is equipped, the Enchantment is in effect. For example, you may have an enchanted robe that fortifies your magic abilities, or a helmet that fortifies your strength.