REVEALED ABILITY DESCRIPTIONS

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>Elemental Resistance - there are three instances of each resistance upgrade in the ability tree. Each one is better than the last; the first costs 2 EXP, the second 6, the last 10. The order in which they are purchased is irrelevant.

>Rocky Hide - physical defense bonus

>Fangs - armor piercing at close ranges. Greater chance of causing disease (with viral)

>Claws - Further bonus to armor piercing. Enhances the chance of applying poison during physical attacks (if that is purchased)

>Replicate - Bend light to your whim, perfectly replicating the appearance of things you've seen. But beware, magical foes may not be fooled...

>Iron Stomach - Nullifies negative effects from consuming nasty sorts of things. (Actual nutritional value may vary)

>Observe - better chance to detect tricks and traps

>Snuff - your shadow can put out lights it touches

>Shade - create an illusory projection of yourself to confuse the enemy (costs 1 mana, grants temporary dodge bonus)

>Mimic - take on the vague form of things you've seen. Won't stand up to close examination, but works well in the dark

>Shadow control - You can grab at the shadows near you, manipulating the object that casts them; success is based on physical shadow power and the object in question. Small passive bonus to shadow power.

>Shadow Power - Gain a significant bonus to shadow attack power.

>Fog - A cloud of darkness shrouds your form, helping you stay undetected out of combat and helping you dodge blows in combat.

>Shadow Walk - You no longer have to remain still to hide in the shadows of other objects, allowing you to move between shadows that touch each other. Small overall bonus to stealth.

>Spirit Whip - lash the enemy with a whip of spirit magic. (costs 2 mana)

>Bind - Trap an enemy in ropes of spirit magic. May spend 0 to 10 mana (determines strength).

>Robust immunity - Gain a greater natural immunity to ailments.

>Regeneration - You have slow health regeneration in dark areas. Regeneration will heal you to a maximum of 2/3 your total HP, rounded up. Regeneration starts the same turn you fall below 2/3 HP.

>Parasitic - potential for a larger heal after consuming something

>Poison - there is a 5% chance you will poison the enemy with any physical attack

>Doom Aura - Puts out all lights in an area at once. Large penalty to dodge if used during battle.

>Quiet - You naturally make much less noise, granting a bonus to physical stealth.

>Centipede - Your amorphous form allows you to create many additional legs which can immediately redirect you, reducing the impact of your own momentum and distributing your weight for better balance. Dodge, stealth, and accuracy bonus.

>Fist - all physical attacks gain a small armor piercing bonus

>Fear - Stun and disrupt foes nearby with a spiritual blast of magic. Weaker enemies may flee. (3 mana to cast)

>Shadow shield - Your aura is a shield against not only might, but magic. You gain a small bonus to all resistances.

>Compress - By sacrificing strength and defense, you can compress yourself and your aura to the size of a small mouse, greatly increasing dodge and physical and magical stealth. Warning: requires a turn to activate and deactivate.

>Lash - You become adept at whipping your amorphous body to strike your enemies, greatly increasing your range and accuracy.

>Shiva - You can become a tangle of claws and whips, striking the enemy from a dozen directions. This greatly boosts the accuracy and armor piercing of physical attacks.

>Shadowrage - Unleash the full might of your shadowy aura, gaining a huge bonus to shadow power. However, with your aura on the offensive, you're vulnerable to magical retaliation.

>Barrier of Darkness - Boost your physical defense, and gain a small boost to all magical resistances.

>Twisting Gloom - Your shadowy aura moves with a will of its own to protect and hide you. You gain a small defensive and stealth bonus, and are less susceptible to surprise attacks.

>Dark Blizzard - Summon a furious hail of ice crystals hardened and sharpened by shadow magic to engulf your foes. (costs 14 mana. Ranged area of effect. Moderate base attack with large chances to stun, disrupt, and freeze enemies)

>Pure Darkness - You can now use your shadow without a light source. Shadow attacks from stealth are just as strong as normal.

>Lightning Shadow - You move like the shadow of a lightning bolt--flickering, darting, able to confuse lesser opponents with your speed alone and pursue even the swiftest foes. Bonus to dodge and accuracy.

>Spirit sight - allows you to see and interact with spirits easily. Removes natural dodge bonus of spiritual creatures.

>Spirit Lash - Lash out with multiple strikes of spirit magic. (mana cost: 4. Takes best of 5 rolls rather than 3)

>Mighty Strength - You can shove and lift even sizable boulders. Carrying several people while flying would be no problem. Significant bonus to strength.

>Steel Shell - further harden your defenses. You're a walking suit of armor. (bonus to physical def)

>Diamond Barrier - your outer layers can become as hard as diamond, repelling all but the most crushing of physical attacks with ease. (bonus to physical def)

>Shadow assault - Launch several shadowy projectiles at the enemy. Costs 4 mana. 4 base magic power. Can hit multiple enemies.

Shadow Bomb - A bomb of shadow magic. Takes time to arrive at target, but delivers widespread destruction. (costs 8 mana. 8 base power)

Nightflare - Disrupt target spell or enchantment. (costs 2 mana)

>Shadow Blast - A wide, short blast of shadow magic. Costs 7 mana. 7 base damage at close range. Damage decreases rapidly at longer ranges. Can hit multiple enemies.

>Cone of Destruction - Unleash a powerful destructive cone of shadow magic. Costs 10 mana. 10 base attack at close range. The most inaccurate shadow attack, but can hit multiple enemies. Bonus at extremely-close range.

>Shadow Beam - A concentrated beam of shadow power. Costs 6 mana; 6 base damage. Attacks faster than shadow strike/assault, and is more accurate.

>Ray of Darkness - Super-condensed shadow magic shoots from you in a ray of darkness. Costs 10 mana; 10 base attack. Extremely accurate even at long ranges. Can hit through enemies.

>Void Ring - annihilate the area around you and warp it directly into the nether. Costs 20 mana. If immediate destruction is resisted, 15 base magic attack. Max range 10 feet; hits all targets in range.

>Eclipse - Forcibly assert the power of darkness to eclipse the sun itself. Negates shadow resistance of all other individuals in a miles-wide area and doubles shadow magic power for 2-5 turns. Costs half of current mana, or 20 mana, whichever is greater. Only useable once per day.

>Detect Life - Enemies won't easily slip past your notice. You can sense the life around you for a half mile if you concentrate. (large bonus to enemy stealth detection)

>Detect magic - Even magical beings can't escape your senses. (large bonus to magical stealth detection)

>Berserk - Ignore your defenses and strike all around you in a vicious physical assault. Powerful bonuses to strength and armor piercing while maintained, but lowered dodge and defense. It becomes much more difficult for you to distinguish friend from foe, and you cannot flee battle. Minimum duration of two turns. You cannot use any other spells or abilities while in berserk.

>Mind Crush - A brutal spirit magic attack directly into the mind of your foe. (costs 10 mana)

>Supersonic - Fly at supersonic speeds. Extremely fast, but large penalty to stealth and magic stealth.

>Darkness Within - You are the immovable rock and the unstoppable force.  Your berserk is exaggerated in all aspects (except for defense penalty, which doesn't get any worse). Minimum duration of four turns.

>Viral - gain even greater healing from consumption, and a small boost to ailment resistance. Every physical attack has a small chance to inflict disease on your foes, which impacts their attack strength and prevents their regeneration.

>Shadowmeld - Magical stealth. Costs X mana. Physical and magical stealth increases based on how much mana was spent until stealth is broken. Can be used to re-stealth mid-battle.

>Focus - With a burst of concentration, you can significantly improve your detection of both the mundane and magical, but you also drastically increase the risk of giving yourself away...

>Fast Regeneration - double the speed of your regeneration while in dark areas or shadows

>Crunch - Use your entire form to crunch the enemy at close ranges, gaining a greater passive armor piercing bonus. Larger chance of causing disease with Viral.

>Shadow Eater - Eat an enemy's shadow for a small heal. Their shadow will regenerate over the course of a day. However, things might turn sour if they notice their shadow is missing...

>Kindle - Steal the darkness from a light that has gone out, letting it shine once more

>Multishade - Create several illusory copies of yourself, reducing the chance you’ll be hit. More effective against groups than Shade. (costs 3 mana)

>Blink - Sight-range teleportation. (Cannot blink through walls, through the ground, into places you can't see, etc. 5-turn cooldown in battle. Auto-cooldown if battle ends. You can only Blink yourself and inanimate objects on your person. Max range 1/4 mile or 0.4 kilometers)

>Fast Blink - You can unleash a flurry of sight-range teleports, baffling and confusing your enemies. (exceptional dodge buff for two turns; opens additional movement and escape options. Costs 6 mana. Negates enemy initiative. 5-turn cooldown.)

>Glide - Your aura allows you to glide, dropping safely from large heights or covering large distances if starting from a high point

>Flight - What it says on the can. Carrying capacity is based on physical strength. While flying, you have a slight dodge bonus and a slight accuracy penalty.

>Schattenkrieg - Wrap yourself in your aura and fly toward the enemy, becoming a living missile of darkness. Major bonus to physical attack and armor piercing. Optional: spend 5 mana to add additional shadow attack power. Chance for self-damage based on attack strength and target defense strength. Can stack with berserk, but self-damage is then guaranteed.

>Vampiric - You can gain an even greater heal from consumption, and have a further increase to ailment resistance. Your physical attacks have a greater chance to inflict disease. Small bonus to all EXP earned from consumption.

>Nightblaze - Spend 4 to 10 mana. Cancel all enchantments and spells in an area around you. Success and range based on mana spent. (about 30 feet. Additional 20 feet per mana. Alternate: Spend 10 mana to attempt to cancel any one spell in sight-range)

>Hydra - Your body endlessly regrows by drawing upon the shadows. (while in dark areas, damage from slashes and cutting attack will automatically heal next turn. You can still be bashed, stunned, thrown, etc. Does not help against other types of attacks.)

>Gaping Maw - Your jaws crush and warp what you chew directly into the Nether. (costs 4 mana. Buff to strength, huge buff to armor piercing. Close range only. If combined with successful consumption attempt, you don't take the extra turn to consume)

>Deep Focus - Enhance focus, and gain the ability to focus over very long ranges (several miles) to detect foes or sources of magic. But you yourself will be that much more vulnerable to detection.

>Reinforce - Temporarily boost the physical strength of objects. Costs 5 mana.

>Water Strike - A pressurized blast of water imbued with magical force. (2 base power. Costs 2 mana)

>Purify - Spend 3 Mana: 100% chance to heal 1 ailment on target. Spend 6 mana: 85% chance to heal all target's ailments. Spend 9 mana: heal all of a target's ailments and the ailments of all those you are physically touching.

>Ice Strike - Attack the enemy with a flurry of ice. (4 base damage. costs 4 mana. Can hit multiple enemies)

>Heal - Spend either 2, 4, or 6 mana to heal a target 4, 7, or 10 HP, respectively.

>Shadow Mask - Gain a small bonus to magical stealth.

>Water Recovery - While in or near water, you have enhanced regeneration speed and can regenerate to full health. Requires larger natural bodies of water or deep wells.

>Mighty Regeneration - You regeneration occurs still faster in dark areas, and you regenerate slowly even in lighted areas. Your regeneration limit is now 4/5 of your total HP, rounded down.

>Magic Power - upgrade your magic, increasing available mana. Higher levels unlock mana regeneration. Like resistance, order of purchase doesn't matter. First costs 5 EXP, each following costs 5 more than the last.

>Vaporal - all physical attacks have a 25% chance to simply not hurt you. The magical components of physical attacks are still dangerous.

>Pool of Darkness - Spend 30 experience points to create a Shadow element mana pool. Cannot be performed in battle. Mana pools can recharge your mana indefinitely, and may be useful for other things as well...

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>Servant - With the assistance of a mana pool, you can make any sentient soul a servant for 15 EXP. Your servants are stronger, faster, and have more magical power than normal individuals of their race.

Servants gain all the abilities you've unlocked for them. All old servants are upgraded when you purchase new servant abilities. Even without any extras, your servants have boosted physical abilities. You can have any number of servants.

A servant's mind is unaffected. They can disobey you, and even turn against you. You can withdraw the power you've granted a servant at any time, but you don't regain your experience points.


>Shared Resistance - your servants share half all your magical resistances. They also share half your weaknesses, too.

>Shadow Gift - your servants can cast Shadow Assault, Shadow Bomb, and Nightflare, if they have the mana to cast these spells.

>Multishade - your servants can cast Multishade, confusing opponents with a troop of illusions

>Shadow Eater - your servants all gain the Shadow Eater ability

>The Sense - Your servants share many of your unnatural senses, giving them a greater awareness of the world around them.

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Summoning
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Summons cost mana to bring forward, and then follow you around passively. Each battle action they take costs you additional mana, and, for better summons, risks them breaking your control.

A summon can be dismissed at any time, but this triggers a control-break check.

If you run out of mana while controlling a summon, either from casting a spell or using the last of your mana to direct it in some task, your summon is automatically dismissed, and a riskier control-break is triggered.

Summoning takes a turn. Summons above Level 2 take 2 turns of battle.

Commanding a summon to do something is a free action, and theirs will take place simultaneously with your own next action. For example, you could have your summon distract an enemy while you flank it, and these happen at the same time.

When using a ritual to summon a demon, the summoning cost is cut in half (rounded up). Additionally, the demon has no maintenance cost. However, demons summoned in this manner always have a risk of breaking your control, which is somewhat greater than summoning via spell. The more demons summoned, the greater this risk.

Types of summons:

Ethereal - ghosts, spirits, and haunts. These summons have weaker attacks, but are highly resilient, and generally have a cheaper action-cost once summoned. They are difficult to detect by mundane means, but easily visible to most kinds of magical detection. They are found in the left branch of the summon tree.

Demonic - demons of the nether. While not stealthy by any means, they are physically strong and command powerful fire magic. They have some of the highest raw attack power, but tend to be more expensive, and have higher control-break risks. They are the central branch of the tree.

Shadow - animated undead, as well as shadow spirits and wisps. While these summons tend to be the weakest in endurance and attack power, they are cheaper. They also passively gain whatever stealth bonus you have, and have lower control-break risks. They make up the right branch of the tree.

The description of each summon will detail its summoning cost, its order cost, its level, and its type.

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>Summoning I - level 1 and 2 summons will not break from your control

>Wisp - summon a shadowy wisp from the nether. (2 base shadow attack). Costs 1 mana to summon, 1 mana per action. Never breaks your control; if you run out of mana, it will vanish. [Level 0, Shadow]

>Ghost - summon a ghost, a weak spirit condensed from the nether (2 spirit attack). Costs 2 mana to summon, 1 per action. [level 1, Ethereal]

>Fae - summon a tricky and playful imp from the nether (3 fire attack). Costs 4 mana to summon, 1 per action. [level 1, Demonic]

>Ghoul - animate a corpse with shadow magic (2 physical attack). Costs 2 mana to summon, 1 per action. [level 1, Shadow]