| name | wiki_verify_spells |
| description | Instructions for comparing spells and spellbooks in GnollHackWiki with the GnollHack C code data structures (objclass and SPELL macro) to spot mistakes in the documentation. |
Verifying Spells and Spellbooks
When verifying spells and spellbooks on the GnollHackWiki against the GnollHack C code, you must compare the item's documentation with the struct objclass defined in include/objclass.h and the data instantiated via the SPELL macro in src/objects.c.
Important Rules
- NEVER compare item weights. Do not check or update
oc_weight or the weight listed on the wiki.
- Mana Cost Formatting: Mana costs under 100 have a single digit (e.g., 4.0), while mana costs of 100 and more have 0 digits (e.g., 160).
- Pay attention to which kind of data is present in
struct objclass and the SPELL macro.
Data Sources
Spells and spellbooks are defined together in src/objects.c using the SPELL macro. The SPELL macro arguments populate the struct objclass for the spellbook object. The player's runtime spell knowledge is tracked using struct spell (include/spell.h), but static properties for documentation are found in the SPELL macro.
SPELL Macro Structure
SPELL(name, desc, effectdesc, contentdesc, itemdesc, skill, prob, learndelay, cooldown, \
level, manacost, attr, range, radius, skillchance, savingthrowadj, mgc, dir, dirsubtype, extraspelldata, \
sdice, sdam, sdmgplus, ldice, ldam, ldmgplus, \
sflags, sflags2, mflags, adtype, color, soundset, flags, flags2, flags3, flags4, flags5, flags6)
What to Compare
1. General Spell Properties
- Level: Compare with the
level argument (maps to oc_spell_level / oc_oc2).
- Mana Cost: Compare with the
manacost argument (maps to oc_spell_mana_cost / oc_oc3).
- Spell Category / Skill: Compare with the
skill argument (e.g., P_ATTACK_SPELL, P_HEALING_SPELL; maps to oc_skill).
- Base Attribute: Compare with the
attr argument (e.g., A_INT, A_WIS; maps to oc_spell_attribute / oc_oc4).
- Cooldown: Compare with the
cooldown argument (maps to oc_spell_cooldown / oc_oc1).
2. Spell Effects (Damage, Duration, Range)
- Range: Compare with the
range argument (maps to oc_spell_range / oc_oc5).
- Radius: Compare with the
radius argument (maps to oc_spell_radius / oc_oc6).
- Damage (Base): Compare with
sdice, sdam (die size), and sdmgplus. (maps to oc_spell_dmg_dice, oc_spell_dmg_diesize, oc_spell_dmg_plus).
- Damage (Per Level) / Duration: Compare with
ldice, ldam, and ldmgplus. Depending on the spell, this represents per-level scaling or duration (maps to oc_spell_per_level_dice, etc.).
- Directionality: Compare with the
dir argument (e.g., RAY, IMMEDIATE, NODIR; maps to oc_dir).
3. Spellbook Properties
- Base Cost: Spells calculate cost dynamically based on level:
(level + 2) * 10 + (level + 1) * (level + 1) * 2 + 10. Verify the wiki price matches this formula.
- Reading Delay: Compare with the
learndelay argument (maps to oc_delay).
- Color/Description: Compare with the
desc argument (e.g., "parchment", "silver-plated").
How to Verify
- Locate the spell in
src/objects.c (search for SPELL("spell_name").
- Map the macro arguments to the properties listed above.
- Check the wiki page for the spell and its corresponding spellbook to spot discrepancies.
