Magic

Note: For the game called "Magic" by Geoff Fortytwo, see Magic (game).

Classic Examples

In IF, magic is usually presented as spells: defined magical effects controlled by an individual, with discrete results.

Spells may be cast by the use of dedicated verbs, often unusual words such as GNUSTO or PLUGH. This is a common feature of Zorkian fantasy. Either the author should explain these in the ABOUT text, or they should be learnt over the course of gameplay.
Various objects may have magical properties:
- Spell scrolls typically allow a spell to be cast once only.
- Magical wands and the like may be waved, pointed or aimed to cast spells.
- Manipulating magical machines is a very common IF activity. These generally work just like normal machines, except with more fantastic results.
- Virtually any inventory object may be magical, although clothing, weapons and treasure are particularly common.
Magic may just be used as an extension of the player's body, with no special syntax; the player might use a spell to UNLOCK DOOR, for instance.
Magic may lie in the proper arrangement of various spell components (see also alchemy).
Summoning or creation magic, which (in theory) enables the player to produce any object out of thin air, has been tried in a few games, but tends to suffer heavily from combinatorial explosion.

Like sufficiently advanced technology, magic can be used to justify virtually any world behaviour.

The player will have to learn how the magic system works. This can be fun in itself if handled properly, but if bungled it can be confusing and frustrating.
Broad-purpose magic effects can impose a very heavy coding burden. A sword enchanted to be a bit sharper isn't, for the purposes of coding, a great deal different from a normal sword; a player endowed with telepathy or control over atomic structure is going to cause a lot more problems.