Scourge prepares to cast a spell.

Enchanting
There are plenty of enchanted items for you to find in Morrowind, but for that personal touch, nothing beats creating your own. In order to create your own enchanting you need a Soul Gem with a trapped soul and an item to be enchanted. Then, you can either purchase Enchanting services from an NPC who offers them, or (if your Enchant skill is high enough) you can create the Enchantment yourself.

You can find or purchase empty Soul Gems in a variety of locations, and if you’re lucky you can even obtain Soul Gems which already have a trapped soul in them. Otherwise, you’ll have to cast a Soul Trap spell on a creature and kill the creature before the spell expires in order to populate a Soul Gem. These can also be used to recharge enchanted items.

As with Spellmaking, you can pick up to eight spell effects (taken from the spells your character knows), and you can select the target type, area, and magnitude of each effect. The total cost of the spell must be less than the charge provided by the Soul Gem. Also, if you’re purchasing enchanting services from an NPC rather than doing the Enchantment yourself, the cost of the Enchantment will be based on the effects, magnitudes, etc.

If you create the Enchantment yourself, your Enchant skill will determine whether or not you are successful. If the enchanting fails, you’ll lose the Soul Gem. If you buy enchanting services from an NPC, however, the enchanting never fails, so the only thing you’ll be out is the money you spent on it. Your Enchant skill will increase with each successful use of a Cast When Used or Cast When Strikes enchanted item, and with each successful Enchantment you create.

Alchemy & Wortcraft
Wortcraft is simply the consumption of ingredients you find throughout Morrowind. You’ll get a mild effect from some of these ingredients, but more importantly, you’ll get a boost to your Alchemy skill whenever a consumed ingredient affects you. The result will be that you’ll be able to see what effects the ingredients have. Each ingredient has four effects. With a low Alchemy skill, you’ll be able to see the first one, and with a high Alchemy skill you’ll be able to see all four effects.

When your Alchemy skills are high enough, and you have access to alchemical apparatus, you can begin to create potions. This is accomplished by combining four ingredients using the appropriate apparatus. If the ingredients share enough like effects, the potion will be successful. This is where having a high Alchemy skill comes in handy, because the more ingredient effects you can see, the greater your chances of successfully combining them into a viable potion. Of course, successfully creating a potion will increase your Alchemy skill.

There are many, many potions available for purchase, plunder, and as quest rewards. They also make great items for barter.

Scourge casts Chameleon on himself.

Whew! That’s a lot of info!
Well, there you have it – the Morrowind magic system in “brief”. I think you’ll find that it adds a tremendous amount of depth to the game, and even non-magic users will benefit from the many scrolls and potions available. I’ve included a bunch of screenshots I’m sure you’ll enjoy, featuring my character, an Argonian Spellsword named Scourge, casting some of his favorite spells. See you on the forums!