DUM

Spoiler Warning!!!: Plot and/or ending details of a Fighting Fantasy publication follow. Please DO NOT read this article if you do not want foreknowledge of this publication. Although the article below is based on canon, some of its content is considered extrapolation because it assumes a certain course of events through an adventure that has many possible routes.

A creature affected by the DUM spell.

dum is one of the official six most useful spells in The Sorcery Spell Book and, like the other spells in that category, requires 4 stamina points to use.

This spell causes a creature to drop whatever it is holding and fumble any attempt to pick it (or anything else) up.

In the Advanced Fighting Fantasy version of The Sorcery Spell Book, the target may avoid the effects by Testing its Skill (or Testing their Luck in the case of heroes). It the spell is successful, then the victim fights with a penalty of -2 and will fumble on any double for a number of combat rounds equal to the caster's Inner Strength. Outside of combat, the victim will drop anything held in the hands on a roll of 1-3 on one die.

Use in the Sorcery! series

There is no effect upon enemies which are not holding anything in their hands (or which have no hands). Other opponents are affected in different ways according to how much of their combat ability is tied to their chosen weapon.

A Troll loses 4 skill points for four combat rounds and then has a 50% chance of retrieving its weapon each round thereafter. A Giant loses 3 skill points for the duration of the combat. A Birdman knocks himself unconscious on a table trying to recover his weapon, whilst one of the Archmage's guards is unable to fight at all without a weapon.

The spell must be aimed at the target. If used during a pit fight, the victim fights using only one die, but there is a chance to affect the wrong fighter or both.

Appendix

Appearances

Sourcebooks

• The Sorcery Spell Book