It plainly states in the rules that spells can´t be ditched in a space but must be used in order to get rid of them.

It does not state however that spell must have a "valid" target to be cast.

By valid of course I don´t mean that you can target a random spell (the one with the die roll not just any spell ) into thin air but MUST target a character. It would be nice though if someone would back me up on that little potential loophole though .

By valid I mean something like target a heal on yourself, just to get rid of it, without having lost any hp. Or maybe cast alchemy without turning any of your items into gold. If spells can be used like that then a character like the wizard and anyone with that-wand-I-can´t-remember-the-name-of who gets to draw a spell when using their last one, can really burn through the spell deck looking for excactly what they want. Somehow this doesn´t seem in the spirit of the game and regardless of what the verdict will be on this issue I think I´ll institute the house rule that you would have to put the spell to some sort of practical use.

Anyways enough with the rambling .

CAN a spell be cast legally without it´s abilities taking effect?

No, you cannot. From John Goodenough :

"A player cannot cast a Spell unless he has a legal target. For example, you cannot cast Mesmerism if your opponents do not have any Followers. This will also be added to the FAQ since the rulebook leans more towards the spirit of the rules instead of the letter of the law."

I had this healing issue come up last night.

Spell = Healing

"Cast as required. By casting it on yourself or any other character the recipient is healed up to his life value."

So if the player casting the spell has full life he must cast it on another character since he already has full life?

The player wanted to just get rid of the spell so he could draw another but being able to cast it on yourself when you dont meet the required conditions of the spell doesnt seem fair.

Msrushing said:

You may not cast healing on yourself, if you have full life.

Nor on a other player if his life is full !

Every spell that you can cast must work as usual.

It also need a legal target ! As Jon mentions...

So.. he has not play fair that night

We played it correctly but it took a bit convincing!

Thanks guys.

Msrushing said:

This is the critical wording here that everyone is missing. The spell is not "required" by any target with full lives, obviously, so it can't be cast on such. In this case, the limitation is already explicitly built into the spell's wording. It does not say "desired/needed/wanted."