I want a spell to work only within a small area just small enough for a single character. I thought of putting a trigger box over the area and having a condition on the spell to check if the player was within it before it takes effect. What is the best way to check if the needed condition is met?

In a script on the triggerbox add 1 to an integer property OnTriggerEnter and subtract 1 from the integer OnTriggerLeave. Then use a condition on your spell to check whether that property is 0 or 1 with GetVMScriptVariable.

So something like this:

Scriptname myTriggerScript extends ObjectReferenceint MyMagicInteger = 0 auto conditionalEvent OnTriggerEnter(ObjectReference akActionRef)MyMagicInteger += 1EndEventEvent OnTriggerLeave(ObjectReference akActionRef)MyMagicInteger -= 1EndEvent

Conditional has to follow ObjectReference too.