Editing Magic and Abilities (section)

==Spells==
:''Full article: [[Spell List]]''
Magical spells are incantations cast by characters to suit a variety of situations and can be grouped into five categories: dealing elemental-themed damage to the targets, healing damage done to the self and allies, weakening enemies while strengthening allies, trying to inflict negative conditions on to the enemy in order to make them lose a turn, and easing the player's ability to traverse the world map. 

In order to be cast, all spells require {{MP}}--Magic Points. MP is the resource that fuels magic with each spell having its own price per usage, with the cost being approximate to the strength of the spell. For example, the weakest explosion spell [[Bang]] usually costs 5 MP but the stronger [[Boom]] costs 8 MP. Recovering MP when away from a village [[Inn]] can often only be done via rare items like the [[Magic water]], so carefully conserving a character's MP when exploring a [[Dungeon]] is crucial to keeping the party alive.

All games in the series allow magically-inclined characters to learn a spell by accumulating enough experience points in battle to advance to the level when a particular spell is set to be learned, but certain titles allow characters to learn magic via other means. Some examples are the {{Hero 5}} of the fifth game learning the [[Zoom]] spell by helping an old researcher hunt down the final ingredient he needs, and more recently {{Veronica 11}} learning [[Kaboomle]] by unlocking it through her character builder. Magic amongst common folk is not unheard in the worlds seen in the series, at least as far as weaker spells go: every [[Priest]] is able to cast [[Squelch]] to cure a disease or poison and NPC dialogue implies that anyone can learn a few spells with enough study. 

Magic spells have been around since the earliest computer RPGs such as the [https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Main_Page Ultima series] and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry Wizardry games]. These titles made casting a spell rather tedious, with both series requiring the player to type out the incantation on their keyboard and the former requiring several components know as reagents to be able to cast in the first place. Dragon Quest creator [[Yuji Horii]] greatly simplified this concept by having the player select a spell from a menu and check if a character has enough MP to cast it--if they do not then the action cannot be taken during battle and the player will have to choose something else for that character to do during their turn.