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Part VPart V: SpellsPower of the colors of magic: White (power from on high working beneficial magic) Black (demonic power, working infernal magic) Purple (elemental energies, twisting and reshaping reality; pure magical power) Gold (wood sprites, working elvish magic; faerie magic) Grey (natural laws controlling nature; magic from the earth goddess) I Righteous invocations (prayers, appeals, and invocations; since these can only be answered by the powers on high, all type I spells use white color). II Pagan rites of ancient human origin (wicca and druidic magic; these rites often bind nature spirits but can also be used to propitiate fairies or invoke demons) III Elvish Lore (ancient knowledge learned from elves rather than from books; consequently, all type III spells should be things Elves in fantasy literature traditionally know how to do, like hiding, misleading people, moving quickly, creating glamours or fairy gold, etc. Many will use gold but grey and purple are also possible (the latter representing elven high magic)) IV Energy binding alchemy (Rituals using complex magical principles and materials. I'm going to switch this one and type VI. Type IV will now be techniques used to conjure and bind forces, and can be used to bind natural spirits or even demons for grey or black color). V Diabolic ceremonies (rituals calling up demons to do the mages bidding, or using demonic knowledge to control elemental forces or natural spirits) VI Conjuring techniques (Switched to alchemy; rituals using complex magical principles and materials to either bind elemental energy, or demons or nature spirits.) VII Good Luck knacks (superstitious rituals that keep bad luck away) VIII Malicious tricks (special knowledge for manipulating fortune to your advantage) An attempt must be made to keep ritual types distinct from color. For example, type I represents any prayer or appeal (but only the powers on high answer such prayers). Type V represents diabolical ceremonies, i.e. ceremonies learned from demons and involving things like bloodletting, severed body parts (hands of glory), pentagrams, and inverted holy words. But these rituals don't have to call up demons: they can be used to influence natural forces or bind the elements as well. Elvish lore is ancient elvish knowledge, but can be elvish techniques for evoking the elements or using nature spirits. Pagan rites can influence nature spirits, but are also used to propitiate the fay folk or even call demons. (In other words, when trying to determine the type and color of a spell, keep in mind that Type indicates the sort of knowledge and its origin, while color indicates what forces are used for power) Druid - II and VIII (change to II and VII so he's not just like the witch) Elf - III and VII (change to III and VIII, so an elf is tricky rather than lucky) Pilgrim - I and VII Sorcerer - IV and VI Witch - II, V, VIII Witch King - IV, V, and VI (change to IV, V, and VIII so he's not just a better sorcerer) Woods Girl - VII (give her some III or something) Wizard (II, III, IV) (perhaps add on VI chit so the sorcerer isn't the only VI user. Of course the magician will probably take at least one VI spell....) Current Spells Ritual + Color: I + white Description: Righteous invocation + power on high Mages: Pilgrim, [White Knight] Spells: Exorcize, Make Whole, Peace, Small Blessing II + grey Pagan rites + natural laws Druid, Witch, Wizard Blend into Background, Fog, Prophecy, Stones Fly, [Witch's Brew] II + gold Pagan rites + wood sprites Wizard Talk to Wise Bird II + purple Pagan rites + elemental energy Wizard No spells (yet...) II + black Pagan rites + demonic power Witch (move curse here) III + gold Elvish lore + wood sprites Elf, (Wizard) Elven Grace, [Faerie Lights], Illusion, Lost, Persuade, See Hidden Signs III + grey Elvish lore + natural laws Wizard (move see hidden signs here?) III + purple Elvish lore + elemental energy Wizard (move protection from magic here?) III + black Elvish lore + demonic power * (how about a drow character?) No spells yet IV + purple Conjuration + elemental energies Sorcerer, Wizard, WK Blazing Light, [Elemental Spirit], Fiery Blast, Hurricane Winds, Lightning Bolt, Roof Collapses, Violent Storm IV + grey Conjuration + natural laws Wizard (move prophecy here?) IV + gold Conjuration + wood sprites Wizard No spells yet IV + black Alchemy + demonic power Witch King No spells yet V + black Diabolic ceremonies + demonic power Witch, Witch King Absorb Essence, Ask Demon, Broomstick, Pentangle, Power of the Pit V + grey Diabolic ceremonies + natural laws Witch Curse (move transform here?) V + gold Diabolic ceremonies + wood sprites No spells (not sure this category should exist...) V + purple Diabolic ceremonies + elemental energy Witch King No spells yet VI + grey Conjuring techniques + natural laws (move hurricane winds?) VI + gold Conjuring techniques + wood sprites No spells yet VI + purple Conjuring techniques + elemental energies Sorcerer, Witch King (unless moved) Dissolve Spell, Enchant Artifact, Melt into Mist, Phantasm, Transform, Unleash Power VI + black Conjuring techniques + demonic power Witch King (unless moved) World Fades VII + any Good luck knacks + any Elf, Pilgrim, [W Girl] Control Bats VII + white Good luck knacks + power from on high Pilgrim No spells (should there be?) VII + grey Good luck knacks + natural laws * (druid, if moved) Premonition VII + gold Good luck knacks + wood sprites Elf (unless moved) Peace with Nature, Protection from Magic VII + purple Good luck knacks + elemental energies Sense Danger VII + black Good luck knacks + demonic power No spells (and probably shouldn't be) VIII + grey Malicious tricks + natural laws Druid (unless moved), Witch Guide Spider/Octopus, Remedy VIII + gold Malicious tricks + wood sprites * (elf, if moved) (move lost and whistle for monsters here? Seem like very elfin spells VIII + purple Malicious tricks + elemental energies Whistle for Monsters, (move illusion here?) VIII + black Malicious tricks + demonic power Witch, (Witch King, if moved) Deal with Goblins, (move control bats>) Right now we have the following specialty spells: Witch: curse, deal with goblins Wizard: talk to wise bird Witch King: world fades Elf: peace with nature, protection from magic Those are good except I don't think deal with goblins should be the witch's provenance; I would give her transform instead (if the Witch King has DWG as well it's not so bad). I would take both spells from the elf and give him Lost and Whistle for Monsters instead. The type VII spells are all mixed up. Good luck knacks are essentially little charms based on superstition; they require less training and knowledge than righteous invocations, pagan rites, elven lore, etc., but they should also be less powerful. The color merely indicates the power that responds to these knacks. So a little prayer your mother taught you might call power from on high, while dangling a certain ornament from your backpack gets the attention of the wood sprites. Of course you usually still have to provide the power yourself, i.e. your own personal holiness or your ability to summon the sprites in the first place. Anyway, control bats should be a trick or something, not a type VII since it's too powerful. Good type VII spells and the colors they could be are Protection from Magic (white), Premonition (purple), Peace with Nature (grey), and Sense Danger (purple). For type VIII spells I would put Ask Demon in with them if the Witch King's VI becomes an VIII. Actually if you put Control Bats in with the type VIII spells you could put them in the expansion with V and not have to worry about spells that control monsters in the base game. Control Bats should perhaps take black color, and the bats should act like underlings. Remedy should probably be a VII/grey spell. Whistle for monsters should be gold instead of purple, and Lost could be moved here with gold for the elf (it seems like a dirty trick if there ever was one). Likewise Illusion, another dirty trick, could be moved here with purple. Deal with Goblins is fine as black. Ideas for Changes to Spells: Spells should in general be more powerful than they are. I mean, I want to tone down Fiery Blast, Melt into Mist, and Absorb Essence, but all spells should be effective like Make Whole, Persuade, Broomstick, and Guide Spider or Octopus. Remember that casting a spell uses the equivalent of four phases: it takes two phases to rest both magic chits back, and two phases to turn one into color again. Spells should be potent enough to be worth a whole turn, not to mention the fact that the MU has to give up two move or fight chits to be able to cast them in the first place. I Peace: I would change this so that the Pilgrim can specify as many targets as he chooses. The spell should not be broken if the target is someone else's target. What should happen is that any target instantly becomes unassigned, and anyone targeting him/it ceases to target him. So if a dragon is on the pilgrim's sheet and the White Knight has picked the dragon as a target, when the spell goes off the dragon comes off the Knight's sheet and the Knight takes his attention chit back. If the dragon was on a member of the order's sheet, they would be separated and the Knight's attention chit would come back. Those affected by this spell cannot target anyone for any reason, and cannot be targeted themselves. Small Blessing: I'm not a great fan of the "wish for strength so you can smash things" aspect of this spell. I think replacing this with something else would be good. II Blend into Background: Causes the target to be hidden immediately when it takes effect. This only works if the caster does not have any monsters on his sheet and is not being charged. So you could Stones Fly and then disappear, but only if someone else is in the clearing to take anything you didn't kill. The spell also keeps the character from becoming unhidden as normal at the start of their next daylight segment. Fog: Maybe one of the lower level spells. No one can peer in the tile and all hide attempts are automatically successful. Prophecy: Would be more effective as a "phase" spell like Protection from Magic. When the target activates the spell he can change his moves for the rest of the day. Pretty powerful but then it does lose you four actions so it's like each unplanned action cost you double. Stones Fly: Bump up to L** so there's a chance of killing medium creatures. Talk to Wise Bird: The character should be able to do remote peer on any search in the next turn. Witches Brew: Ditch it. III Elven Grace: Good as it is. All of a sudden all my medium chits have a time of 2? Nice. Faerie Lights: Ditch it. Illusion: Have it affect everyone but the caster in the tile, so at least it keeps others from beating you to the treasures. Lost: Shouldn't be permanent; although it's cool to think of flipping a woods and putting the lost spell on it, it's not something that's going to be worth wasting a spell slot and a chit on. Cast this on someone and they can't chase you for one day. Cast it on the tile to screw a bunch of people up. Persuade: Pacifies the targets (so they stop battling you). Instead of using friendly table, get +1 level of friendliness while the spell lasts. If dealing with giants or ogres, you are considered friendly (since you would normally be neutral...) See Hidden Signs: Record an extra search phase. Get -1 on the peer, locate, and loot tables. (or perhaps, roll one die, but only on the search phase caused by this spell). IV Blazing Light: Anyone in the same clearing with the caster can move and search in the caves as one action, rather than two. Elemental Spirit: Ditch it. Fiery Blast: Six targets max. Or maybe make this an advanced spell and have a different spell, "Wizard Darts" that targets only 6 (or 4?) Hurricane Winds: Flies the target away immediately rather than making it "run away" which is confusing. The target lands in some hex of the next clearing at the end of the day. Lightning Bolt: Mountain clearing only restriction means it should do Heavy damage with three sharpness stars. Roof Collapses: I like this spell. Heavy damage for sure to whoever it hits...unfortunately, it'll only cream 1/3 of the monsters but if there are other people fighting they can strike in a different direction and so cover 1/3 of the bases. Violent Storm: This spell should allow the spellcaster to fly out of the tile as if with hurricane winds, so the violent storm does not affect him. That would make the spell better. Or just combine this with hurricane winds. Make the T1 chit like a fight chit, but when it hits it blows the target out of the clearing. V Absorb Essence: I've got to make this weaker, or get rid of it. Maybe make it an advanced spell. One problem with it is that you can absorb a goblin or centaur, and then the rules about transmorphizing don't make sense any more (why can't you loot and carry gold as a goblin?) Ask Demon: More useful if the spellcaster can ask about secret paths, treasure locations, etc. After all, you have to find the demon first. Broomstick: Fine Curse: Fine, if somewhat weak. Better as a threat than anything (like Bad Luck). Maybe a low level spell. Pentangle: Fine, if somewhat weak since you don't see magic fights that often. Maybe combine with Ask Demon? Power of the Pit: Fine if a bit unpredictable. VI Dissolve Spell: The worth of this spell depends on how many nasty spells like lost and illusion there are out there, since it can't stop curses or block attack spells. Enchant Artifact: Weak as it is. Maybe you should allow the caster to enchant any item, or even just have the chit represent an item. So if you cast "Enchant Artifact" with "Fiery Blast" you could always have a time 0 chit available to cast the blast.but you would have to fatigue two purple chits, one for the artifact and one for the spell. On the other hand you wouldn't need a spell chit. This could be pretty powerful in an enchanted tile. Otherwise it eats up a magic chit permanently, and requires two color chits to cast one spell, but it's good for emergencies. Melt Into Mist: Too strong; it just allows mages to run away without any risk or any prior preparation. I think changing it to a combat spell solves these problems. Although that takes away the disadvantage of not being able to enchant tiles. Maybe making it type IV instead so it takes up two of your purple chits? In general I'd like VI - VIII spells to be less potent since you can't use the chit for color anyway. Phantasm: Weak. The phantasm should be able to use any search table, including reading runes (since the mage can see what it sees; curses still affect the mage). It should also be unaffected by movement restrictions in mountains and caves. It should be able to hire natives, and even use a trade phase to see what they've got (but can't buy anything). Maybe phantasm could be one of a new spell category: "turn by turn". This is like a day spell, except the caster can choose whether it expires or not at sunset; but if to keep it active he has to fatigue another color chit. This could be pretty powerful if the caster is sitting on an enchanted tile, but phantasm isn't that great anyway. If the spell is extended then the phantasm starts from where he left off. Transform: Okay, but that deal about getting new gold and belongings while you're transmorphized is bogus. If you are a frog or a lion or whatever, you shouldn't be able to hold any gold and thus you can't trade, hire, loot, etc. You can search, move, and hide, but you can't enchant, rest, or alert since these require chits or items. You can follow and be followed (unless you walk the woods or fly of course). Unleash Power: Cool spell, although having T chits is normally somewhat useless for the wizard types. Still, if you had a horse to carry that great sword around most of the time. World Fades: Pretty powerful, but also very cool since it has two effects: you hide, and you use magic sight. Lots of flavor. Type VII Control Bats: Make it a color, for gosh sakes. How about black so the witch can use it. Shouldn't she be the one anyway? And shouldn't this be a dirty trick? Peace with Nature: Good as it is. Another "Day to day" spell? Premonition: Not hugely powerful, but can be useful. Maybe combine this with "Sense Danger" so it's more useful. Protection from Magic: Not hugely powerful, but good as it is. Good to activate before you read runes. Sense Danger: Sucks. Combine with premonition. Type VIII Bad Luck: Nasty spell, but like curse it doesn't really do the caster any good except as a threat. How about this: the caster radiates bad luck to all in the clearing but himself when the spell is in effect. That way if people are attacking you or trying to loot ahead of you it's harder for them. Deal with Goblins: Fine Guide Spider or Octopus: Fine Poison: Can be a useful spell, but only if you have hired natives or allies to fight. The characters who cast this aren't really the fighting type. Not sure what to do with this. Remedy: Better than dissolve spell even, 'cause it gets curses. But how is this a dirty trick? Whistle for Monsters: This seems like a gold spell to me. I think it works well as a possibility for the elf. New Spell Ideas Blunt: All targeted weapons/natives/goblins/ogres/giant clubs lose a sharpness star. Or "fumble" all targets add 1 when they use the fumble table. Fiery Arrow: Magic chit becomes L** missile that can be used every round. Mystical Blades: Target Magic chit (or chits?) becomes a Fight chit that cannot be used with a weapon, but does H* harm when it hits. Time and effort asterisks are as on the chit. Or maybe the harm is determined by the speed of the chit? Web: Monsters are not assigned randomly; they can be lured, and if they are chosen as targets they immediately go on the targeting player's sheet. (Perhaps this should be some sort of illusion instead of webs.monsters can't find you unless you lure or attack them. Pretty powerful, perhaps it should only last 1 round.) Magic Steed: Magic chit becomes a horse with heavy vulnerability and armor, which gives pony movement. From characters: Get an extra move phase (or mountains/caves only cost 1 move phase); increase vulnerability; roll one die on meeting table; roll one die on reading runes table; rest counts double; find secret paths/treasure sites From treasures: Summon monsters; belt of strength, fleet feet (turns magic chit into move chit like a boots card), shield (like ointment of steel: acts as armor in all directions until a T hit destroys it) From Robin: control other monsters (wolves, trolls, dragons); reroll a result; keep monsters from changing tactics; keeps people in tile from hiding; causes monster on your sheet to disengage; "banish" monsters from your clearing to the set up card; wounds those who remain in tile; Resurrection (white): brings a dead character back to life, if cast immediately after the combat in which he/she dies. Victim loses 20 notoriety points. Reincarnation (grey): if cast immediately after the combat in which a character dies, the player can bring on a new character (chosen at random?) that keeps all the old players equipment and gold. However, the new character starts with 0 fame and 0 notoriety, and all hirelings become unhired (they don't recognize their former master). Fascination (gold): Charm a native into following you; they act as a hired native until the spell ends. Magical Servant (purple): summons an invisible, unharmable force that has T strength for carrying things, opening the vault, etc. The servant can fly and can follow a character that flies (making it useful in places a horse is not). Summoning spells: taking a page from Diablo's book, having summoning spells will make spells that worsen the stats of enemies, or aid allies, much more useful. As it stands, these spells would only be useful if functioning as part of a team. With summoning spells you can conjure up your own team... |