Spellcasting in SLASH'EM is different from that in vanilla NetHack in a number of ways. SLASH'EM adds new spells, changes the difficulty of some existing spells, and has different limits on which roles can cast which spells.
SLASH'EM spellbooks[]
SLASH'EM spells, like vanilla ones, are organized into schools; but SLASH'EM has Protection instead of Clerical, and Body instead of Escape.
SLASH'EM spells are listed below, with the type and level the spell has in vanilla NetHack if that is different.
Reading a non-cursed spellbook is always successful in SLASH'EM. Cursed spellbooks still have the usual negative effects, though.
Attack spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of force bolt | 1 | Same |
| spellbook of create monster | 2 | Level 2 Clerical |
| spellbook of magic missile | 2 | Same |
| spellbook of drain life | 3 | Level 2 |
| spellbook of poison blast | 4 | New spell |
| spellbook of command undead | 5 | New spell |
| spellbook of summon undead | 5 | New spell |
| spellbook of finger of death | 7 | Same |
Body spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of jumping | 1 | Level 1 Escape |
| spellbook of haste self | 3 | Level 3 Escape |
| spellbook of enlighten | 4 | New spell |
| spellbook of invisibility | 4 | Level 4 Escape |
| spellbook of levitation | 4 | Level 4 Escape |
| spellbook of passwall | 6 | New spell |
| spellbook of polymorph | 6 | Level 6 Matter |
| spellbook of teleport away | 6 | Level 6 Escape |
Divination spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of detect monsters | 1 | Same |
| spellbook of light | 1 | Same |
| spellbook of detect food | 2 | Same |
| spellbook of clairvoyance | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of detect unseen | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of detect treasure | 4 | Same |
| spellbook of identify | 5 | Level 3 |
| spellbook of magic mapping | 5 | Same |
Enchantment spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of sleep | 1 | Same |
| spellbook of confuse monster | 2 | Same |
| spellbook of slow monster | 2 | Same |
| spellbook of cause fear | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of charm monster | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of enchant armor | 7 | New spell |
| spellbook of enchant weapon | 7 | New spell |
Healing spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of healing | 1 | Same |
| spellbook of cure blindness | 2 | Same |
| spellbook of cure sickness | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of extra healing | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of stone to flesh | 3 | Same |
| spellbook of restore ability | 4 | Same |
| spellbook of create familiar | 6 | Level 6 Clerical |
Matter spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of knock | 1 | Same |
| spellbook of flame sphere | 1 | New spell |
| spellbook of freeze sphere | 1 | New spell |
| spellbook of wizard lock | 2 | Same |
| spellbook of fireball | 4 | Level 4 Attack |
| spellbook of lightning | 4 | New spell |
| spellbook of acid stream | 4 | New spell |
| spellbook of cone of cold | 5 | Level 4 Attack |
| spellbook of dig | 5 | Same |
| spellbook of cancellation | 7 | Same |
Protection spells[]
| Name | Level | In vanilla |
|---|---|---|
| spellbook of protection | 1 | Level 1 Clerical |
| spellbook of resist poison | 1 | New spell |
| spellbook of resist sleep | 1 | New spell |
| spellbook of endure cold | 2 | New spell |
| spellbook of endure heat | 2 | New spell |
| spellbook of insulate | 2 | New spell |
| spellbook of remove curse | 5 | Level 3 Clerical |
| spellbook of turn undead | 6 | Level 6 Clerical |
Spell timeout[]
Successfully reading a spellbook will grant knowledge of the spell for 10,000 turns. Re-reading the spellbook for a known spell will increase the timeout by 10,000 turns if the timeout is below 60,000 turns. A successful casting of a spell will also increase the timeout by 500 turns[1]. Finally, the Reinforce memory technique possessed by Wizards, Flame mages, Ice mages, and Necromancers will increase knowledge of a usable spell by 10,000 turns. Thus spellbook management is significantly more lenient in SLASH'EM than vanilla Nethack, as any spell that is successfully cast every 500 turns will never be forgotten. Spells that are likely to be used often, such as a Wizard's magic missile, can simply be read once and abandoned. Careful spell management can allow a spellcaster to completely avoid the task of both carrying heavy spellbooks and maintaining a stash of more spellbooks.
Roles and skills[]
SLASH'EM is generally more permissive than NetHack in terms of spell skill limits; several roles can reach at least Basic in all schools.
Roles and their skill limits are shown below.
| Skill \ Role | Arc | Bar | Cav | Fla | Hea | Ice | Kni | Mon | Nec | Pri | Ran | Rog | Sam | Tou | Und | Val | Wiz | Yeo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | b | S | - | S | b | b | - | b | E | b | - | - | - | - | - | - | E | - |
| Healing | b | - | - | b | E | S | S | E | - | E | b | - | - | - | - | - | S | - |
| Divination | E | - | - | E | b | b | - | b | - | E | E | S | - | b | - | - | S | - |
| Enchantment | b | - | b | b | b | E | - | S | - | b | - | - | - | b | - | - | S | S |
| Protection | b | - | - | b | b | S | S | E | - | S | - | - | S | - | S | - | S | S |
| Body | b | S | - | S | b | b | b | b | - | b | b | S | - | S | S | b | S | b |
| Matter | S | - | S | E | b | E | - | b | E | b | - | S | b | - | b | E | S | - |
