The Arcanum
Book of Shadows / Powers & Spells

Book of Shadows

"Charmed"-style spellcasting system with the Crystal Cage and hidden powers.

Aggressive magic
Supportive magic
Crystal Cage
Hidden Powers
On this page

Powers & Spells

Every power and spell in the Book of Shadows, group by group. Use On this page to jump to a group, or press Ctrl + K and type a name.

How to read the cards

Type shows who the power affects: Self (only you), Target (one avatar you choose), Area (the space around you) or Projectile (it appears in front of you, with no menu). For Target powers, a menu lists the avatars the book has found in the region. To stop any power, click End Spell.

Aggressive Magic

The Aggressive Magic page

Powers of force, fire and time. Use them with care, and only on people who agree to play.

Push

Type Target

A telekinetic push. You swipe your left arm, and the target flies backward.

Pull

Type Target

Draws a target toward you from far away. When you walk, the target follows you.

Throw

Type Target

A stronger form of telekinesis. You lift the target and throw them backward through the air.

Repulse

Type Area

A burst of force pushes the avatars around you away.

Burn

Type Target

The power of a firestarter. The target bursts into thick, searing flames. For roleplay only.

Freeze

Type Target

Also called Temporal Stasis. The target is frozen in time. If they try to break free, the trap follows them and catches them again.

Blast

Type AreaRange 6 m in front of you

Causes an explosion 6 meters in front of you. It blows up physical objects, just as it would a person.

Telekinesis

Type TargetControls Click and drag the target to move it in the air

With a wave of your hand, you move others with your mind. The target levitates and floats beside you. Click and drag them to move them around in mid-air.

Energyball

Type Projectile

You summon a ball of electric energy in your hand and hurl it at your enemy. Works with Kill Zone.

Fireball

Type Projectile

A fireball forms in your palm. Throw it at a target to kill them or push them several meters back. Works with Kill Zone.

Crossbow

Type Projectile

You conjure a Darklighter crossbow. Its poisoned arrows can kill a target instantly. Works with Kill Zone.

Vanquish

Type Target

The strongest single power in the book. You raise your hands and blast the target into the sky, and the power does not let go. Vanquish also works on land where pushing is turned off.

Vanquish is not a toy

Because Vanquish works even on no-push land, it can be used to harass people. Griefing breaks the Second Life Terms of Service. Use it only with willing players.

Kill Zone

Energyball, Fireball and Crossbow work with the Kill Zone combat system.

Supportive Magic

Powers that protect, guide and help you.

Potion

Type Projectile

A smokescreen potion. Throw it and a cloud of smoke rises. Perfect for an escape or a distraction.

Astral Projection

Type Self

You send out your conscious mind. You can hear the conversations of others, wherever your sight goes.

After you cast it, hold Alt and zoom your camera to any place. You hear the local chat there.

Portal

Type Self

Opens a pair of connected portals you can travel through. See How to use Portal below.

Telepathy

Type Self

You open your mind to the thoughts of others. You can see commands that people type on hidden chat channels.

Click Telepathy again to close your mind.

Platform

Type Self

Summons a detailed witch's platform, where you can work your magic in peace.

Conjuring

Type Self

A half-Whitelighter power. Summon any item you like, as if by magic. You can add your own items to the HUD. See How to use Conjuring below.

Shield

Type Self

A shield that protects you from evil. It defends you against projectiles and physical attacks.

Empathic Sense

Type SelfRange 96 m around you

You sense everyone who is close to you. Their names and distances appear in your local chat.

Scrying

Type Target

The way witches track someone down. A charmed pointer appears and points you toward your target.

How to use Portal

  1. Click Portal. The first portal opens in front of you.
  2. Click Portal again. The second portal opens in front of you, and the two connect.
  3. Move each portal to any place in the region.
  4. Click a connected portal. You travel through it and step out of the other one.

Place one portal at home and one somewhere far away in the same region. You now have your own shortcut.

How to use Conjuring

Click Conjuring to open its menu. It has three choices:

  • Add: store a new item of your own in the HUD.
  • Delete: remove an item you stored.
  • Conjure: summon one of your stored items, magically, in front of you.

Spells

Spells are found on the Spells page of the HUD.

Conceal Person

Type Target

You cast the "Object of Objection" spell. The target shimmers beautifully out of sight.

The target gets a request to allow animations. They must click Yes within 8 seconds, or the spell fails.

Reveal Person

Type Target

The reverse of Conceal Person. It reveals a person who was hidden by magic.

Like Conceal Person, the target must click Yes within 8 seconds.

Snow

Type Area

A simple charm. A light blizzard falls over the area.

Witch's Pentacle

Type Self

A magic witch's circle. Meditate inside it, safe from the outside world.

Book of Shadows

Type Self

Conjures a decorative Book of Shadows for display. Click it to interact with it. The HUD button is called Call: Book of Shadows.

This book has secrets

The conjured Book of Shadows is more than decoration. Click it and read its chapters to find the hidden powers and the Crystal Cage. See Hidden Chapters.

Light

Type AreaRange 30 m around you

Lights up the area around you. Useful at night or in dark places. To turn the light off, click End Spell.

Flight

Type Self

An innate power. You fly to any height, and your flight speed is boosted.

Flight works by itself. Fly higher than 72 m, and at least 36 m above the ground. The book then holds you in the air and speeds up your climb when you fly up.

Cast from chat

You can also cast from local chat on channel /3. Only you, the owner, can use it. For example:

Type in local chat
/3 push
/3 freeze
/3 empathy
/3 spell_light

The command names are: push, pull, throw, repulse, burn, freeze, blast, telekinesis, energyball, fireball, crossbow, vanquish, smoke (Potion), astral, portal, telepathy, platform, shield, empathy, scry, spell_conceal, spell_reveal, spell_snow, spell_pentacle, spell_bos (Book of Shadows) and spell_light. The orbing commands are on the Orbing page.

Teleportation

Orbing has its own page in the HUD and its own page in this manual. Learn to orb.