help with new char

[mbz]

I'm new to this game. I'm really enjoying playing it!

I'm thinking of creating a pure mage or mage/thief.
Which race is better? elf or half elf?

What does magical aptitude do? does it increase spell damage?

Which is better? the heal skill or the heal spell? does major healing recover lost limbs as well?

How does the 2nd Level Necromancy work? can you really make conversations with the dead?

I wonder if char attributes could be increased beyond 20. For example, if I have 20 charisma and received a blessing on charisma, do I get 21? If I have reaction bonus of 100, and receive a blessing of +5, do I get105?

Lastly, can you really finish the game (main quest) using social skills and doing no fighting at all?

I haven't gotten a chance to test all these yet. Thanks to any one who answers my questions!

[Lonelypilgrim]

Well,if you want to make a pure mage then usual elf is much better than a half-elf.
The magical aptitude makes spell stronger,yes,but it also increases the effect you get from magical items.If you choose a background Nature Mage,or something like that then with higher aptitude you can make stronger special spells.
In my opinion heal spell is much better than heal skill,because you can get heal that recovers loose limbs and scars from herbalists in major cities like Tarant.Heal spell doesn`t recover scars or limbs.Besides having heal spell also increases your magical aptitude.
Oh yes,the spell works.I haven`t played Arcanum for a pretty long time and thus i don`t remember the name correctly but i am sure that you know what i mean.There are some special dead people where you can use it and gain new quests by using this skill.
Well,i am pretty sure than you can get it over 20 but not entirely so i won`t say much about that.
That is a very interesting question but Arcanum is that kind of RPG where you just can`t do without any fighting at all.
I hope that at least some of this text will help you.

[mbz]

Oh, wow, thanks for the explaination. One last question: can efficiency of spell damage or magical equipment be raised over 100%?

If not, isn't high magic aptitude a waste?

[swcarter]

There are only a couple dead people you can talk to using that necromancy spell, like the archeologist where you get the elven funerary stone. Just cast the spell on the corpse to use it.

If your magical aptitude is very high, then that means you could learn some tech stuff and not hurt yourself. I can't remember the break-down of the skills, but if the repair skill, for example, was a tech skill, then you could learn it and if your magical aptitude was high enough you'd stay at 100%.

SWC

[Lonelypilgrim]

I got my magical aptidude real high,and i noticed that it continues to rise even if the bar if full.It won´t show it though.So i think you will get stronger spells even when having the MA 100%.Maybe i am wrong,but it seemed true to me.

[mbz]

Thanks for all your replies. I think I'm better off with half-elf or human. The penalty on elf's attributes is way too high.

[tom the terribl]

Try being a human with elven blood. This adds +5 to magic without any loss in constitution. No other changes occur.