Chapter 6:
True Dweomers
Spells Beyond 9th Level It is commonly supposed that the 9th-level wish spell is the most powerful and difficult enchantment known to mortals. The
supposition is only partially true, however. The wish spell’s ability to literally change reality to match the caster’s desires is
indeed mighty. Nevertheless, extremely powerful spellcasters have discovered a
whole new class of magic that, while more time consuming to cast than a wish spell, can create stupendous effects without a wish’s attendant dangers (five years of magical aging, possible weakness and
incapacitation, and the possibility of failure due to poor wording). The difference
between these new spells, often called 10th-level spells or true dweomers, is the
approach to magic the caster takes when employing them.
Standard AD&D game spells depend on painstakingly derived formulae that
produce fairly predictable effects when properly used. Characters who know how to
complete the formulas correctly can cast spells even though they don’t know why
the formulas work. Most spells involve laboriously building mental patterns that
channel and release external energies, often with the help of complex gestures
and material components. Wizards do the job all by themselves, and priests get
divine help.
Other approaches can also produce extraordinary effects. Psionics employ
intense mental discipline to tap internal energies that can be just as potent as the
universal energies spellcasters use. Some individuals have natural talents
that allow limited use of these personal energies (wild talents).
Very high-level spellcasters begin to understand how magic really works, and
they become aware of their personal energies. With enough attention and labor, a
spellcaster can manipulate universal and personal energy directly, without
building a mental pattern or developing a rigid discipline first. The process is
time consuming and often costly, but very flexible. On Athas, the process has
been formalized into a class of high-level spells called psionic enchantments,
but it works in essentially the same manner.
Because a true dweomer directly manipulates universal and personal energies
whose flows are constantly changing, every true dweomer is a little different
each time it is cast. The character is fully aware of exactly why the spell works
the way it does, but no spell works the same way twice.
A true dweomer can never be written onto a scroll, fully recorded in a
spellbook, or stored in a magical device.
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