Spellcasting

Wizard Dueling is a time-honored tradition at Huffwarts and within the greater magical community. At its essence, it is an exchange of spells and magical will that demands discipline and practice.

Principles of Ethical Magical Combat

In order to provide a safe environment for all our students and faculty, students are required to abide by the Principles of Ethical Magical Combat:

  1. No Lethal Intent: The primary purpose of dueling is to test magical skill, not to cause serious harm. Spells should be cast with the intention of incapacitating, not injuring.
  2. No Unforgivable Curses: The use of Unforgivable Curses, including Avada Kedavra, Imperio, and Cruciatus, is strictly forbidden and will result in severe consequences.
  3. Wand Etiquette: Participants must use their own wands and refrain from tampering with or using their opponent’s wand during a duel. Expelliarmus – a Jinx which can disarm one’s opponent – is, however, permitted. 
  4. No Dueling in Restricted Areas: Dueling is prohibited in specific areas of the school, such as student dormitories, faculty quarters, bathrooms, or any location deemed off-limits by school authorities.
  5. Time Limited: Participants should make every effort to ensure duels are completed within ten minutes to ensure they do not disrupt the normal functioning of the school.
  6. Duel Interruption: A faculty member or administrator may interrupt a duel if doing so is deemed necessary for the safety of participants or spectators. In the event of a duel being interrupted, duelists may choose to duel again at a later time.
  7. Right of Refusal: Students and faculty may decline to participate in a duel. No House Points are awarded in the event of a refusal. However, the wizard who refuses may not duel another wizard for the remainder of the day without first dueling the challenger they declined.

Spell Terms

  • Magical Aptitude: the resource required to learn spells independently. Each student begins the term with 10 points of Magical Aptitude.
  • Mana: The energy required to cast a spell. Each student begins a duel with 7 points of Mana. A spell’s Mana cost is equal to its Magical Aptitude unless stated otherwise.
  • Spell Saves: When a spell allows a target to resist its effects, they roll a d20 against a difficulty of 5 × the spell’s mana cost. For example, resisting a level 3 spell requires a roll of 15 or higher. Bonus dice do not apply to saves.

Magical Aptitude, Mana costs, and descriptions of spells are available online at huffwarts.org.

Building a Spellbook

Studious Growth: Each student begins the term with 10 points of Magical Aptitude which can be used to select a starting collection of spells (presented upon arrival). Additional points of Magical Aptitude can be earned in one of the following ways:

  • Duel someone from another House: 1 point (max 3 points/day)
  • Tame a magical creature: 1 point/day (max 2 points/day)
  • Participate in a school-sanctioned class or event: 2 points/day (max 2 points/day)

These additional Magical Aptitude points can be used to purchase new spells once per day. New spell requests must be made by the end of breakfast. Unused Magical Aptitude Points do not carry over to the following day.

Spell Research: A student may choose to research a spell to reduce its Magical Aptitude cost by 1 (minimum 1) and its mana cost by 1 (minimum 1). This involves studying ancient texts in foreign languages to unlock the spell’s origins. Mechanically, researched spells have non-English names and descriptions, no image, a cost of 1 fewer Magical Aptitude to purchase, and a cost of 1 fewer mana to cast. Due to Huffwarts’ demanding curriculum, only one spell may be researched per day.

Dueling System

All duels are to be conducted according to the procedure outlined in Octavia’s Revised Rules of Magical Order (2025), printed here in its entirety for your convenience:

  1. Duelist A issues a challenge to Duelist B. 
  2. Each duelist selects a judge.
  3. Each duelist rolls a d20. The duelist who rolls highest chooses which duelist will cast first in the first round. The duelists alternate who attacks first for each subsequent round.
  4. Each round is conducted in three phases:
    • Declaration: Duelists declare and describe the spells they will cast.
      1. Duelist A declares their spell.
      2. Duelist B declares their spell. If Duelist A chooses, they may respond by casting a different spell, known as a counterspell. This does not affect the casting order in future rounds. However, if the new spell has a lower Mana cost than the original, the original Mana cost still applies.
      3. Duelist A casts, describing their actions and effects in 15 seconds or less. 
      4. Duelist B casts, describing their actions and effects in 15 seconds or less.
    • Adjudication: Judges award bonus dice to each duelist, and spell saves are litigated.
      1. Judges consider the quality and appropriateness of the spell cast as well as the quality of the duelist’s description to optionally award a bonus die of d4, d6, or d8 (it is possible that a judge will choose not to award a bonus die).
      2. If either declared spell requires a saving throw to be performed this round, the save is rolled. If both spells require a save, they are rolled in the order the spells were declared.
    • Reckoning: Duelists make opposing rolls, taking into consideration any bonus dice or active effects. Winning a round represents outmaneuvering or overpowering your opponent’s spell No hit points or damage are tracked. 

Dueling Rules

  1. Once-Spoken Spell Rule: To encourage tactical variety and showcase a wizard’s full repertoire, no spell may be cast more than once per duel by the same duelist.
  2. Basic Magic: In lieu of casting a declared spell, a duelist may choose instead to release a surge of raw magical energy. This is treated as a basic magic attack and costs 0 Mana. The duelist rolls 1d20 with no bonus dice and no additional effects (though duelists are still encouraged to describe their magic creatively). This option cannot be counterspelled.
  3. Winning a Duel: Each of the first two rounds is decided as a win, loss, or tie. If Duelist A and Duelist B each win one round, the third round acts as a tiebreaker. However, if the same duelist wins both rounds, Duelist B may still claim victory through the Rule of Last Resort.
  4. The Rule of Last Resort: If a duelist loses both the first and second rounds, they can still seize victory by outscoring their opponent by 10 or more points in the final round. This is determined by each duelist’s final roll total, which includes:
    • A d20 roll,
    • Any awarded bonus dice, and
    • Modifiers granted by spell effects (if applicable).
      (Duelists who choose to cast Basic Magic in the final round do not receive bonus dice or additional modifiers, and their total will consist of their d20 roll only.)
  5. The Rule of “Yes And”: The duelist who acts second must consider the actions and description of the duelist who acted first when describing their own action in response.
  6. The Spoils of Victory: 10 House Points are awarded to the winner of the duel. It is possible for a duel to end in a tie, in which case each duelist is awarded 5 House Points. A maximum of 50 points/day can be earned through dueling. No House Points are awarded for having dueled a member of the same House.
  7. Advantage/Disadvantage: Unless otherwise stated in a spell’s description, Advantage and Disadvantage apply to the d20 within the Reckoning phase of the current or future round.
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