When this spell is cast, a thin beam of shimmering, kaleidoscopic light shoots from the wizard's fingertips toward his target. The victim is allowed a saving throw to resist the beam.
This spell has no effect on nonspellcasters, causing them no harm whatsoever. Creatures with innate spell-like abilities are also unaffected. Against wizards and priests, this spell can be devastating. It "short-circuits" the arcane energy stored in a spellcaster's mind, wiping away a number of memorized spells. Lost spells must be rememorized.
The number of spells drained is equal to the caster's level minus 1d20. Thus, a 16th-level wizard drains a maximum of 15 spells, but could drain no spells depending on the die roll. After subtracting the die roll from the caster's level, any result of zero or a negative number indicates that the victim loses no spells.
Spells are drained from the wizard's memorized spells beginning with 1st-level spells and working up to higher level spells. Any decision regarding which spell should be drained from a specific level should be determined randomly.
