Zero energy spells

[Henchman99942]

Has anyone compiled a list of spells that have a cost to cast or maintain of 1? (so at skill 15 they are free to either cast or maintain)

[GodBeastX]

The spells list in the back of magic book has a column for energy cost. You can use that to help.

I don't know that anyone has done the exercise though because 0 energy changes based on skill.

[ericbsmith]

What GodBeastX said. In addition many spells have variable effects for variable cost, so may be castable at low level for free but not necessarily at higher levels. Other spells open up as skill gets higher. My favorite is the story of Dr. Kromm the Necromancer who had Zombie-50, which allowed it to be cast instantly and for free. I believe the relevant quote was "Many of my compatriots died that day. Multiple times."

[William]

Still, it could be an interesting exercise. I would say there are three breakpoints that would useful: spells with energy cost 1 (so that they are free at skill 15, which is common); spells with a maintenance cost of 1, so that a skill-15 mage might pay to cast them but can then maintain them indefinitely, and an enchanted object could also do so without Power; and to a lesser extent, spells with energy cost (or maintenance cost) 2, so that a high-skill mage with effective skill 20 can cast (or maintain) the spell indefinitely. This is a much longer list, however.

Another reason to have such a list around is creatures that cannot have or spend FP -- machines, for instance, although an entire setting with this rule was possited on the forums a while back. With sufficient skill those casters could cast such spells without Powerstones.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

My favorite is the story of Dr. Kromm the Necromancer who had Zombie-50, which allowed it to be cast instantly and for free. I believe the relevant quote was "Many of my compatriots died that day. Multiple times."

The other advantage to having Zombie at 50 is that it becomes "no time" in 3e and 1 second in 4e.

Instead of 1 minute.

[AlexanderHowl]

Assuming that you had an IQ 18 and Magery 3 (or some combination of lower IQ and higher Magery), you would be spending 315 CP for IQ, Magery, and Zombie. Of course, you would barely notice Low Mana areas and you could raise zombie cows, horses, lions, tigers, etc with minimal effort. Imagine a necromancer with Zombie-50 raising an army of zombie horses from a battlefield.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Assuming that you had an IQ 18 and Magery 3 (or some combination of lower IQ and higher Magery), you would be spending 315 CP for IQ, Magery, and Zombie. Of course, you would barely notice Low Mana areas and you could raise zombie cows, horses, lions, tigers, etc with minimal effort. Imagine a necromancer with Zombie-50 raising an army of zombie horses from a battlefield.

Zombie horses are IQ1, and thus annoyingly limited in what they can be order to do without direct supervision, unfortunately. OTOH, given a day or two to get a nice big herd up, they'd be good for simply stampeding over your enemies.