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Whether it comes in the form of mystic artifacts, mysterious creatures, or wizards weaving strange spells, magic brings fantasy and wonder to Pathfinder. This chapter explains how spells work and how spellcasters prepare and cast their spells.

With special gestures and utterances, a spellcaster can call forth mystic energies, warp the mind, protect themself against danger, or even create something from nothing. Each class has its own method of learning, preparing, and casting spells, and every individual spell produces a specific effect, so learning new spells gives a spellcaster an increasing array of options to accomplish their goals.

Spellbooks

Carefully maintained and jealously guarded, there are few things more valuable to a wizard than a spellbook. These repositories of magical lore are often trapped and warded to ensure that no one meddles with the secrets inside. 

Although spellbooks play a central role in a wizard’s daily routine, other prepared spellcasting classes have been known to use spellbooks to record uncommon or even rare spells. Such a resource allows a caster to treat the spell like any other common spell, so long as they can reference the book during their daily preparations.

Tradition and School

The fundamental building blocks of magic are the magical traditions and the schools of magic. The four traditions are arcane, divine, occult, and primal. A spell’s magical tradition can vary, because many spells can be cast using different traditions. A spell’s school, on the other hand, is intrinsic to the spell and establishes what the spell is capable of. Abjuration spells, for example, can raise protective wards, enchantment spells can change thoughts, and evocation spells can create blasts of fire.