Runic magic/Ultima Underworld spells

This sub article lists all the documented runic magic spells of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss grouped by spell circle. Undocumented spells also appear, revealed by spoiler buttons.

For a list of undocumented spells and their locations, see: Runic magic/Undocumented spells

Notes

The spells documented here match how they are presented in the game's documentation manual, with these exceptions:

• Type: The spell types in the maunal were a bit ambiguous, so here they have been given as:
  • Duration: A spell that stays active for a certain period of time, leaving an icon in the appropriate area of the display.
  • Missile: A spell that will spawn a missle and provides the user an aiming cursor () to select a vector for it's trajectory.
  • Targeted: A spell that provides the user a targeting cursor () to select a target by touch, either out in the 3d world or in the inventory. The target must be within an arm's reach unless a telekinesis spell is active.
  • Instantaneous: A spell that has an immediate effect, no duration, and no user targeting needed.
• Icon: An icon has been provided to help visually represent some of the spells.
  • Duration spells icons have a dark cyan background, similar to the color of the in-game spell shelf they will be seen on.
  • Missile spells have an image of the projectile they create
  • Some other spells have an icon picked from the game's graphics to represent the action or effect of the spell.
• Notes: Clarifications about the spell in addition to the provided documentation.

Undocumented spells can also be found on this page, hidden in the tables. To view them, click the spoiler toggle at the right of each table header.

PSX port differences: Icons from both the PC and PSX versions are shown here as they are quite different. The rune stones shown here are the PC version ones. The PSX version ones are slightly different, but the difference isn't great enough to make it worthwhile to display both copies here. Differences in the rune stones can be observed in the PC-PSX Object Comparison image or in the Rune Stone Meanings article section.

Spells of the First Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Create Food	In Mani Ylem	Causes a fine bounty of food to appear	Instantaneous			Creates a single piece of fresh food
	Jump Leap	Uus Por	"Uus Por for large jumps"	duration			This spell is called Jump in the documentation but Leap just about everywhere else. It is found on level one on a scroll in the imp room.
	Light	In Lor	Illuminates a darkened area	Duration			Provides illumination greater than that of a torch but less than a lantern
	Magic Arrow	Ort Jux	Fires a magic arrow at your opponent	Missile			Can also be used to toggle switches.
	Resist Blows	Bet In Sanct	Has the same effect as wearing a suit of head-to-toe armor	Duration
	Stealth	Sanct Hur	Briefly prevents you from making any noise, making it less likely that creatures will notice you	Duration

Spells of the Second Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Cause Fear	Quas Corp	May cause an opponent to lose heart and flee	Instantaneous			auto-targeted
	Curse	An Sanct	(undocumented)	duration			seems to cause an opponent bad luck in combat. It is found on level four on a scroll in Sethar Strongarm's pit
	Detect Monster	Wis Mani	Reveals the presence of hidden or unperceived enemies	Instantaneous
	Lesser Heal	In Bet Mani	Heals your minor wounds	Instantaneous
	Rune of Warding	In Jux	Places an enchantment in an area which will report if anything disturbs it	Instantaneous			There is no visual indication of when this rune is in place. Once in place it remains until disturbed.
	Slow Fall	Rel Des Por	Briefly allows you to float in the air like a feather	Duration			Allows the caster to fall slowly and to avoid injury when jumping or falling from great heights

Spells of the Third Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Conceal	Bet Sanct Lor	Briefly obscures you, so you might remain unseen	Duration
	Lightning Electrical Bolt	Ort Grav	Hurls a bolt of arcane energy at your opponent	Missile			This spell is called Lightning in the manuals but Electrical Bolt in-game. The projectile is a lightning bolt.
	Night Vision	Quas Lor	Allows you to see without benefit of torch or candle	Duration			vision distance is greater than a lantern but vision is mostly grayscale
	Speed	Rel Tym Por	Slows down your enemies relative to your speed	Duration
	Strengthen Door	Sanct Jux	Spikes a door	Instantaneous
	Thick Skin	In Sanct	"Remove Bet from a Resist Blows spell for better protection."	duration			It is found on level three on a scroll in the orb room

Spells of the Fourth Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Heal	In Mani	Heals you of grievous wounds	Instantaneous
	Levitate	Hur Por	Briefly allows you to rise vertically into the air	Duration			gives vertical control at the cost of reduced horizontal velocity
	Poison	Nox Mani	Poisons your opponent with toxic venom	Instantaneous			poisons all nearby creatures, hostile or not, even through walls
	Remove Trap	An Jux	Negates the targeted snare	Targeted
	Resist Fire	Sanct Flam	Briefly grants a partial resistance to damage from flame	Duration			called Resist Fire in documentation but Flameproof everywhere else
	Water Walk	Ylem Por	"For walk water, Ylem Por do."	duration			It is found on level three on a scroll held by Iss'leek in the Red Lizardmen Area

Spells of the Fifth Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Cure Poison	An Nox	Acts as an antidote to any poison	Instantaneous
	Fireball	Por Flam	Hurls a mighty flaming missile at your opponent	Missile
	Missile Protection	Grav Sanct Por	Renders you invulnerable to missiles	Duration
	Name Enchantment	Ort Wis Ylem	Reveals the true nature of the object on which you cast the spell	Targeted			identifies magical items and bones
	Open	Ex Ylem	Unlocks a locked door or chest	Targeted
	Smite Undead	An Corp Mani	"An Corp Mani deals great blows to undead."	instantaneous			This spell auto-targets a nearby undead. It is found on level five on a scroll on a ledge across the lava river, off the path to the mine dispatch chamber.

Spells of the Sixth Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Daylight	Vas In Lor	Provides bright illumination for extended periods of time	Duration			the brightest light in game
	Gate Travel	Vas Rel Por	Allows you to travel instantly to a moonstone	Instantaneous
	Greater Heal	Vas In Mani	Brings you back to your original vigor (full Vitality)	Instantaneous
	Paralyze	An Ex Por	Prevents target from moving	Instantaneous			auto-targeted
	Sheet Lightning	Vas Ort Grav	"I should have known better than to mention that accursed spell. If thou must know, it is cast by using the Vas, Ort and Grav runestones."	instantaneous			It is found on level six, the Talking Door knowns it.
	Telekinesis	Ort Por Ylem	Allows you to pick up a single item and use it from a distance	Duration			can also be used on objects like doors and switches, and extends the range of touch spells

Spells of the Seventh Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Ally	In Mani Rel	Causes the ensorcelled being to fight the last enemy he or she saw you attack	Instantaneous
	Confusion	Vas An Wis	Causes foes to act as if drunk	Instantaneous			sets all nearby monsters to upset state
	Fly	Vas Hur Por	Allows you to fly through the air for a time, and then glide gently to the ground	Duration
	Invisibility	Vas Sanct Lor	Causes you to become nearly impossible to see	Duration
	Monster Summoning	Kal Mani	"How to summon? Kal... Kal what? No Xen runestone... Mani perhaps? Must experiment in controlled environment..."	instantaneous			It is found on level six on a scroll in the lavaflow room in Vilus Domain.
	Reveal	Ort An Quas	Reveals hidden objects and concealed exits from current location	Instantaneous

Spells of the Eighth Circle

	Spell	Words of Power	Description	Type	Icon		SPOILER Toggle Notes
					PC	PSX
	Armageddon	Vas Kal Corp	"the spell Vas Kal Corp will bring an end to life as you know it"	instantaneous			Taught by Wisps, they can be found on level eight or in the Tower of Courage.
	Flame Wind	Flam Hur	Casts multiple flaming missiles into the area	Instantaneous
	Freeze Time	An Tym	Stops the flow of time for all but you	Duration
	Iron Flesh	In Vas Sanct	Greatly increases your resistance to damage	Duration
	Roaming Sight	Ort Por Wis	Allows you to see the world from a bird's-eye view	Duration			allows caster to move their point of view at will, regardless of physical constraints
	Tremor	Vas Por Ylem	Causes the ground to quake and rocks to burst	Instantaneous