Cantrips: Difference between revisions

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Created page with "<pre> Cantrips -------- Cantrips were originally "minor" spells, often with an effect that could be fun but not very useful in..."
 
Refresh from new in-game help docs (Idles)
 
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<pre>
Cantrips are minor spells that live outside any guild's curriculum. Most are small, useful, or charming things — floating letters, return home, parlour tricks. A few are surprisingly powerful, but those are rare and well kept.
                      Cantrips
                      --------


Cantrips were originally "minor" spells, often with an
= How they differ from regular spells =
effect that could be fun but not very useful in
general. Floating letters is a good example of this. Some
were specialized, and only useful for a small amount of
people, ex. Return home. Later on, cantrips "evolved" into
its own branch of spells. Most are still pretty much as the
name originally implied, but some cantrips can be quite
useful and there are even rumours of some that do a not
insubstantial amount of damage to the target. These more
powerful cantrips are very rare though, and few know who
teaches them (and they do not readily share their
information). But as said, the vast majority of cantrips are
still of the original "pretty but not much use" -variant.


The biggest difference between cantrips and ordinary spells
Regular spells are taught in guild rooms by guild trainers. Cantrips are taught by individual people. The cantrip teacher might be a hermit in the woods, an old woman in a village, a half-mad scholar in some forgotten library — or anyone in between. There is no central list. You find them by talking to people and asking what they know.
these days are that cantrips are not ordinarily taught in a
guild, but rather learned from individual persons who are
willing to teach others. The only way to find out who these
are is to try talking to them and see if they reveal that
they can teach you something. It is not hard to find
teachers who teach the more simple and not-very-useful
cantrips, but the location of those who teach the more
useful or even dangerous cantrips are closely guarded
secrets, so you might have to search around for a while. The
command for actually studying cantrips is:
                "study <cantrip> from <teacher>"


Almost anyone can learn some cantrips, but the cost for
The simple cantrips have many teachers. The dangerous and useful ones have few, and those few don't always advertise.
studying and the chance of success depends on what
background one is, how intelligent one is etc. Obviously,
people with magical background and high intelligence are
better at casting cantrips than peasants with more brawn
than brains.


One cannot see the actual help for a cantrip before one has
= Studying a cantrip =
studied it at least 1%. The person teaching the cantrip
should be able to give more information about it, so that
one can decide if it's worth studying or not. Try asking the
teacher about the cantrip.


Also see: help talents.
Once you've found a teacher and a cantrip you want:
</pre>
 
study <cantrip> from <teacher>
 
Almost anyone can learn cantrips, but the cost and the chance of success depend on your background and your intelligence. A scholar with a magical upbringing learns faster than a peasant who never opened a book.
 
You can't read a cantrip's full help text until you've learned at least a little of it. Before that, ask the teacher about it — most will give a hint about what the cantrip does, so you can decide if it's worth your time and money.
 
= Finding teachers =
 
Try talking to NPCs you encounter, especially the unusual ones. <code>ask <person> about cantrip</code> or <code>ask <person> about teaching</code> is a good opening. Players who have learned rare cantrips sometimes share where they found their teachers, but don't expect the secret ones to be handed out.
 
= See also =
 
* [[Magic]] — regular spellcasting
* [[Talents]] — other learnable abilities
* [[Skills and spells]]


[[category:Player's_Handbook]]
[[category:Player's_Handbook]]

Latest revision as of 03:50, 23 April 2026

Cantrips are minor spells that live outside any guild's curriculum. Most are small, useful, or charming things — floating letters, return home, parlour tricks. A few are surprisingly powerful, but those are rare and well kept.

How they differ from regular spells

Regular spells are taught in guild rooms by guild trainers. Cantrips are taught by individual people. The cantrip teacher might be a hermit in the woods, an old woman in a village, a half-mad scholar in some forgotten library — or anyone in between. There is no central list. You find them by talking to people and asking what they know.

The simple cantrips have many teachers. The dangerous and useful ones have few, and those few don't always advertise.

Studying a cantrip

Once you've found a teacher and a cantrip you want:

study <cantrip> from <teacher>

Almost anyone can learn cantrips, but the cost and the chance of success depend on your background and your intelligence. A scholar with a magical upbringing learns faster than a peasant who never opened a book.

You can't read a cantrip's full help text until you've learned at least a little of it. Before that, ask the teacher about it — most will give a hint about what the cantrip does, so you can decide if it's worth your time and money.

Finding teachers

Try talking to NPCs you encounter, especially the unusual ones. ask <person> about cantrip or ask <person> about teaching is a good opening. Players who have learned rare cantrips sometimes share where they found their teachers, but don't expect the secret ones to be handed out.

See also