High power magic (Brainstorming welcome and requested)

[Lord Mhoram]

I'm working on pulling together one of the extra magic systems for my GH game.

Without going into detail, the minimum active points of a spell are 50, and many hit 100, 150, 200. I've been brainstorming for really cool high power spells, and I am trying to look for things that aren't the normal run of the mill "epic spells".

Infernos that lay waste to entire armies, weather control, death spells, mass healing - those things I can come up with.

The kind of things I am looking for, that I have come up with - and they are mostly noncombat, but combat applications I haven't thought of are nifty too...

A low power transform, with megascale, that turns packed earth into loose tilled earth - something the kings wizard (or the duke's wizard on a smaller scale) does on a day of celebration to make planting easier.

Similarly the head druid does a "heal all plants, but not weeds" kind of thing halfway through the growing season to ensure a good crop.

A 2d6 luck usable on other 2 billion people, megascale to the planet - only affects those that share the same faith, and fades when the reciepient does something he knows is against said faith. Duration is a week (or maybe a month) - the head priest of a religion does this as his special blessing every week (or maybe month).


I know I can come up with some, but I know that there are great creative minds here. :) (A little sucking up never hurt...). So throw me any really great "flavor" spells you have.

[Doc Democracy]

I know I can come up with some, but I know that there are great creative minds here. :) (A little sucking up never hurt...). So throw me any really great "flavor" spells you have.

I think that you have the right first path - look for the big annual festivals and look for the spells that would be colour for those. Spring festivals would have an ability to enchant a stone where newly wed couples could concieve and farm animals would bear strong young.

It would be a matter of looking to what festivals your civilisation celebrated and then look at the positive and negative rituals that might go with those.


Doc

[Teflon Billy]

Megascale, gradual, 1-pip transforms that change subjects within a geographic area to ensure societal stability (everyone speaks one language, linguistic drift is eliminated; no one wants to usurp the pecking order, people accept how power is distributed; people like to stay put, transient populations settle-down)

TB

[CourtFool]

I would use Change Environment for something like that.

+1 Overall Skill Level, Usable On Other 2 Billion People

Bless Childbirths - Aid to Constitution and/or Paramedics and/or PS Midwife [or] Change Environment, Megascaled, Only to Survive Childbirth (for both mother and child)

Return Travelers - Detect 'Home', Megascale

Find True King - Summon

Summon Hero - Summon

Sanctuary - Mind Control, Megascale, One Command (Do Not Attack)

Prosperity - Wealth, Usable by Other

[Lord Mhoram]

Ohh, I like what I am seeings.

A couple others I came up with -


Daylight (turns night into day) a megascale images that negates the -4 darkness penalty. Looks like the sum came back up, lasts an hour, and in that hour, the sun travels across the sky as normal, just done in one hour.

and this one, also the kind of thing I am looking for, but isn't nessesarily countrywide.

True Blessings
The kind of thing the head of a church, or a king, bestows upon someone who has saved the realm.
3d6+1 aid standard effect (10), vs all characteristics, fades per 25 years.
A D&D like instant stat boost for the rest of the playing life of the recipient. :)

[Lord Mhoram]

Sanctuary - Mind Control, Megascale, One Command (Do Not Attack)

Prosperity - Wealth, Usable by Other

Does Switzerland have that first one. :)

I like the second. 5 pts of wealth, usable on other and it lasts a long time, with extra time. A wandering do gooder comes along and eliminated serfdom. :)

[Inu]

"You can't hide from the Law." Mind scan activated by Marshall-equivalents to track fugitives..
"Diplomatic immunity." Constant low-level mind control placed on emissaries; couple this with a triggered high-level mind control when attacked.
"Command and Control." Mind link between heralds (placed with the generals) and the sovereign when they are at any distance away from the capital.
"I see you." Scrying device with massive clairaudence and clairsentience. One version megascale, for seeing big features, one version normal, for seeing details -- 'zooming in'.
"Cup of life." Life support: immune to diseases and poisons, usable by other (whole population -- 4 million is only around a +5 advantage, I think. Couple with famine-resistant rations (life support: need not eat) for emergencies.
"Battle-luck." luck, usable by other (leaders in battle).
"Decoy." Invisible teleport with linked duplication (exact copy). Optional trigger: when attacked. The ultimate escape hatch for those lucky enough to be protected.
"The strength of two." Duplication, usable by other (exact copy). Army needs a bit of a boost? Two soldiers for the price of one, just when you need it most. Castle not being built fast enough? Double the workers for the same cost!
"Army of one." Duplication, self, exact copy, x1024. Eat that.
"Domesday." A series of Detects (herd animals, metals, jewels, etc) that keep track of wealth in the kingdom. Link it to the scrying pool to get visual imagery if need be, as well as a nation-wide mind scan. The information outputs itself to a giant book, constantly updated, giving information of exactly who is where and what they own. If the Domesday book was how William truly conquered Britain, this will be even greater. (Possibly requires tax agents in the local area, conducting mundane assessments, using magic to ferret out secrets, and 'uploading' information to the Book.)

As well as thinking about the spells, it can be cool to think about how they can work in-game. Perhaps it's not as simple as the high mage waving his arms about, and suddenly all the fields in the country are fertile (to go with a previous suggestion). Perhaps the country's fields are first prepared by local priests with rituals designed to draw the magic down; so when the high mage does cast his spell, with all his ritual assistants, the magic goes where it needs. Makes the whole country part of the thing, like you have for your 'blessing of the faithful' idea.

Naturally, much of this also depends on how 'expensive' magic is. If it's running on the basic powers without limitations, then not really a problem. But if magic is difficult at higher levels, or has costs involved, then it might be not worth it to make the WHOLE country immune to poison/disease... just the more important people. There are always more farmers, after all.

[Lord Liaden]

Spiritual Transform, Area Of Effect, Megascale, to people with the "burden of sin" on their souls expunged. Requires a willing human sacrifice. ;)

[CourtFool]

Just a quick hop over to The Gatherer (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer) and searched for high cost Enchantments...


Angelic Chorus - +X BODY, Only Up to 10% of Number of Soldiers in Army
Angelic Renewal - Healing, Resurrection, Ranged, Megascaled, Trigger
Aysen Highway - Running, Reduced Endurance, Usable by Other
Bazaar of Wonders - +5 w/Trading plus Reputation plus Wealth, Usable by Other
Black Market - Aid all Magic, Only Up to .01% of Treasury
Beathstealer's Crypt - Xd6 Mind Scan plus Xd6 Ego Blast, X Only Up to 10% of Number of Target's Soldiers in Army
Caustic Tar - Xd6 Energy Blast, Side Effects (Something Bad to Land)
Cowardice - Teleport, Usable on Others, Must Pass Through Intervening Space

[Lord Mhoram]

Just a quick hop over to The Gatherer (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer) and searched for high cost Enchantments...


Not a bad idea - I have Magic Suitcase, updated to the most recent set. :) Thanks.

[Lord Mhoram]

Spiritual Transform, Area Of Effect, Megascale, to people with the "burden of sin" on their souls expunged. Requires a willing human sacrifice. ;)

Don't bring up Omelas again, we had a big argument thread about it in the Champs forums a while ago. :)

[Lord Mhoram]

As well as thinking about the spells, it can be cool to think about how they can work in-game. Perhaps it's not as simple as the high mage waving his arms about, and suddenly all the fields in the country are fertile (to go with a previous suggestion).

Naturally, much of this also depends on how 'expensive' magic is. If it's running on the basic powers without limitations, then not really a problem. But if magic is difficult at higher levels, or has costs involved, then it might be not worth it to make the WHOLE country immune to poison/disease... just the more important people. There are always more farmers, after all.

Interesting ideas. And while I haven't got that far, I do know some of the social impact of this kind of magic system. The minimum Active point cost of a spell is 50 pts. And there are scads of lims, and it is something like (but not exactly) a fire and forget - each spell only has a charge or two.

So the spells are expensive and powerful, and there isn't "small magic" - which makes mages rare, incredibly powerful, and often arrogent. They would have assistant who do their "everyday" stuff for them, as magic can't help. :)

And yeah, the "help everyone" spells are from the more benevolent types.

A nastier variation of the "get the crops going" is a linked LTE drain on the populace - SFX is that the magic makes the farmers work harder to get the crops healthy. Something for a nasty government type to use.

And when throwing 150 to 200 pts around, you get all sorts of high levels of Mind Control, or Mental Transforms and such.

[Metaphysician]

Actually, if its not inordinately expensive, making the farmers immune to sickness and such is a *good* move. Healthy, happy farmers are more productive, which means the nobles both have more taxes and fewer revolts.

[dbsousa]

Here are the ten plagues:


Megascale Major Transform: Water to Blood
Megascale Summon: reptiles (frogs)
Megascale Drain CON: gnats
Megascale Change Environment: Flies
Megascale AE RKA, only livestock:Pestilence
Megascale Drain BODY: Boils
Megascale EB: Fire and Ice
Megascale Summons: Locusts
Megascale Darkness
Megascale AE HKA, First born males only

[Comic]

Bless Childbirths - Aid to Constitution and/or Paramedics and/or PS Midwife [or] Change Environment, Megascaled, Only to Survive Childbirth (for both mother and child)

Special effects can matter.

All spells need limits, conditions, targets, durations or ending conditions, after all.

The nature of how it can matter varies. The following story is in questionable taste, so you may not wish to read it.


I recall a story posted long ago elsewhere about a spell from another game system that involved specific wording along the lines of, "the cervix of the recipient of this spell will dilate painlessly until childbirth is complete, without complication or distress for child or mother."

For some reason, the GM of the game in question had a vile and ill-tempered queen hire the party to accomplish some target. At some point, courtesy broke down and the queen apparently insulted the party sorcerer.

Who cast the spell on the non-pregnant queen, and then left.

[Blue Jogger]

One that I liked.

During a particular nasty winter (below freezing), my wizard raised the temperature of the "nearby area" to "warm to the touch", calculating the maximum possible area that he could affect based on his dice roll, this worked out to borders of our covenant.

For those who play Ars Magica, it was a spontaneous Creo Ignem, Level 1 effect (heat object until warm to the touch), Duration: Until Sun Rises (+2), Target: Boundary (+4), Range: Near. This worked out to Level 15.

[Nekkidcarpenter]

Thou Shall Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain

Body Drain, 1d6, AoE Radius (gigantic), persistent, inherent, continuos, 0 end, cumulative (96 pts), Delayed Return rate (5/century),Trigger (no time to activate, resets immediately) -When Blaspheming Deity. Only affects Deitys followers, 8- activation.

You can usually get away with it. Usually.


Melee land

Change Environment, Huge Radius with huge minus to Sight perception, Only to make things appear in a different location, Inverted Explosion. The further something is away the bigger the penalty, so it makes Ranged combat and LoS attacks basically impossible.

[Comic]

Megascale Aid to Intelligence, Animals Only, linked to Language, Usable by Others, Megascale, Animals Only.

One week of being outsmarted at every turn by every farm creature, forest critter, rat, bug, predator, bird and worm in the country, I'm fairly sure the humans would surrender. ;)

[Teflon Billy]

My Realm will be Switzerland!

Change Environment, Megascale to the borders of the Realm, Massive OCV penalty (Only vs. Invading Armies)

TB

[Doc Democracy]

This is a cool thread.

I like the idea of a megascale transform providing everyone with an EDM power. This would be to facilitate every person who believes and follows the correct ritual to access the plane of their favourite/relevant deity. The ability to do so would be limited to a high holy day or something.


Doc

[Lord Mhoram]

This is a cool thread.

I like the idea of a megascale transform providing everyone with an EDM power. This would be to facilitate every person who believes and follows the correct ritual to access the plane of their favourite/relevant deity. The ability to do so would be limited to a high holy day or something.


Doc

Woo, I like this one.

[Comic]

This is a cool thread.

I like the idea of a megascale transform providing everyone with an EDM power. This would be to facilitate every person who believes and follows the correct ritual to access the plane of their favourite/relevant deity. The ability to do so would be limited to a high holy day or something.


Doc

Pair it with its opposite: everyone who doesn't believe in the caster's religion is EDM'd to a cubicle in Heck.

[Doc Democracy]

Pair it with its opposite: everyone who doesn't believe in the caster's religion is EDM'd to a cubicle in Heck.

Ah well - was avoiding the damnation bit - My vision was that believers could perform worship and arrive in their version of heaven.

Unbelievers would not be likely to perform the ritual - I reckon you'd be applying Usable as an Attack as an advantage if you wanted to damn people to hell. :)

Doc

[Doc Democracy]

Woo, I like this one.

Stolen really - it is similar to Hero Questing in Glorantha....


Doc

[Inu]

Stolen really - it is similar to Hero Questing in Glorantha....
Yeah, I was thinking that. =) My 'fertility ritual' thing was stolen from Glorantha, too. When thinking about small magic or big magic, it's my first stop.

[Lord Mhoram]

Now, I was asking for these idea for my game, but stuff I make for my game quite often ends up as fodder for my FH based Digital Hero articles. Would anyone mind if I ended using some of these ideas in an article?

[Basil]

RetCon: Megascaled Transform: memories and records of an event change to a different event.

Everyone remembers, and all records show, that something (other than what really happened) happened the way the caster wants. No actual results change (the palace is still ruined); don't let rules-lawyers claim a ruined palace is "a record."

A limit on the total number of times each caster can use this spell would be a good idea.

[Blue Jogger]

World Travel
On the day of the solstice or the equinox, one can extra-dimensional travel to another world. This is a surprisingly cheap spell. If you are careful, you can travel to another world and be home for dinner OR end up being stuck somewhere for three months. (-2 Lim, Can be used anytime on the day of the equinox or solstice)

Mana Routes
Someone a few years back suggested that mana flows in directions along lay lines and thus mana surfing would become popular. (need to find that thread, it was fun).

[Markdoc]

Another possibility is a kingdom-wide teleport with a large number of fixed locations (which are of course all in the King's castles), so that he can walk from one end of the kingdom to the other simply by going from room to room. So it's raining in the library in the palace in Cartnia province? Take your book down the hall and walk into the yellow gallery where the windows look out on the sunny seaside of Doorn. :D

The Dymerian emperor in my game actually has this - the Palace of 10,000 Rooms - but it's a closely guarded secret and requires passwords (Trigger) to access the more secure palaces: use the wrong trigger on the wrong door and you end up in prison (if you are lucky) or in low orbit, if unlucky.

cheers, Mark

[Doc Democracy]

Nice one - also allows the King to maintain a personal and visible presence in every part of the Kingdom.

I like it.

More stealing from Glorantha would be to have an umbrella of effectiveness for your people and disability for enemies of the state.

This would manifest as a +2 Overall levels for all patriots and 2 Overall Negative levels for enemies (or invading forces) of the state. When your empire takes new territory there has to be a temple/palace/monument installed in a magical ceremony that extends the effects of the umbrella to the new territory.

This is the Glowline in Glorantha and it is extended by consecrating new Temples of the Reaching Moon - the borders of the Glowline are visible to those with Spirit Sight and within the Glowline the Red Moon is always full and her priest's magic at full effectiveness (outside their powers wax and wane with the moon).


Doc

[Lord Mhoram]

And of course there is the holy blessings - used in yearly purification rituals, or when the kingdom is attacked by demon or undead armies. A Change environment to Holy Ground that covers the entire kingdom.

[Doc Democracy]

Cool idea for a scenario.

There are taxes in the UK that have to be renewed each year or they become invalid.

If you had the Blessing that had to be renewed annually for the official church then there could be a scenario raised around the forces of evil looking to disrupt the Blessing and thus make their life easier in the coming year....


Doc

[Lord Mhoram]

Cool idea for a scenario.

There are taxes in the UK that have to be renewed each year or they become invalid.

If you had the Blessing that had to be renewed annually for the official church then there could be a scenario raised around the forces of evil looking to disrupt the Blessing and thus make their life easier in the coming year....


Doc

NIfty. There was something very similar in the opening book of the Bazil Broketail series.

[Doc Democracy]

I see a crafty necromancer begin to visit realms to break their blessings and suddenly priests find that they can no longer turn undead and that their healing spells etc are less effective - the undead and evil creatures suddenly begin to run riot as the necromancer turns his gaze to the neighbouring realm - all that might stand in his way are an intrepid band of heroes willing to risk their very soul to save their realm.

[Inu]

sunny seaside of Doorn.
Gotta love fonts.

Did anyone else read this as 'Sunny seaside of doom!'

[Stephen Mann]

Actually, if its not inordinately expensive, making the farmers immune to sickness and such is a *good* move. Healthy, happy farmers are more productive, which means the nobles both have more taxes and fewer revolts.

And the next group to give disease immunity is your soldiers. Give them a campaign season's duration for:

no need to sleep
no need to eat
fast healing
no fatigue from exertion
disease immunity
poison immunity
panic prevention


That'd get grotesque very quickly.

[Lord Mhoram]

And the next group to give disease immunity is your soldiers. Give them a campaign season's duration for:
[LIST=1]

That'd get grotesque very quickly.

Woo... About 30-40 base, plus the usably by other, megascale and time. That is going to go into my list.

And you are right - really really ugly.


Another one in the combat idea. Rather than huge fireballs to wipe out the opponent's army - A drain/pen KA that only affects foci - so as they come up to fight their weapons and their armor all fall to pieces.

[ghost-angel]

The Apocalypse:

Pestilence: 2D6 Drain CON, Area Of Effect: Megascaled, Delayed Return Rate: 5pts/year, Continuous: 1 Day

Famine: Change Environment: Land into Barren & Infertile Land, Area Of Effect: Megascaled, Long Lasting: 1000 years, Continuous: 1 Day.

War: 1/2D6 HKA, Area Of Effect: Megascaled, Continuous: 1Day, NND (Divine Protection); Does Body

The Megascales shouldn't be planet wide. I'm too lazy to do the math, but it should be big enough that each effect sweeps across the earth over the period of 1 Day catching the total area for an affected period of time. Perhaps each Curse is attached to a moving object with a SPD1 and enough movement to cover the earth. The idea is people are hit by Pestilence and War enough that many die, but not all.

It should leave, in it's wake, a broken land with broken people, and many dead but a few surviving.

(these aren't the Horsemen of Revelations, but the more traditional idea of what he Horsemen are. I left out death because it's no fun if every

Other happy curses:

Your Line Ends Here: 20D6 Minor Transform: Fertile Person to Infertile Person, Expanded Class: Everyone related by blood or marriage to seven degrees, Area Of Effect: Megascaled (Planet) Curse Of Ages: 20D6 Major Transform: Person into Person with 2D6 Unluck; Sticky (Offspring Only)

I think that might do it, Hero doesn't have any guidelines for modeling passing on of traits to ones children beyond GM Caveat. . .

[Blue Jogger]

Servants for Everybody: Summon 1024 servants (use Average Person with 8 REC, Psychological Limitation: Hyperactive, PS: Servant), Slavishly Loyal. (They work well for about a week and then they must be banished as their little minds melt. However, they will try to be "helpful" to the bitter end.)

[The Monster]

Tireless Workhorses - Aid REC, only to horses and oxen (or other draft animals per campaign). Charge could be built to duration of anything from a week to a season. (Could also be adapted to Aid STR for plowing season)
Another version might be to bless the royal roads with Aid REC, to assist travelers and cargo haulers.

Night Sentinels - Infravision, usable by others. Bestowed on soldiers of the watch for each night shift.

Spells to grant skill levels of various kinds could help the realm with various aspects of prosperity and well-being:
Canny Merchants: + Trading
Fine Cuisine: + PS:Cooking
Master Metalworkers: + Weaponsmith
Superior Mounts: + Animal Handling
Rhetoric Masters: + Oratory
...and so forth

Walls of Adamant: provide a castle or other large building with enhanced protection - extra Armor, Force Field, or even Damage Reduction. (Force Field could run off an END Reserve, which can be refilled by a ritual of your choice (sacrifice, prayer, burning magic items, etc.))

Army of Heroes: Aid +6 PRE for a large group (i.e., an entire army). Not a huge effect, but enough to nudge many PRE attack effects and skill rolls up or down a notch, which is all you may need to swing a battle.

Shadow of Terror: Drain/Suppress 2d6 PRE over a large area (a mile or so, most of a battlefield). Enough to knock most normal troops to 5 or less PRE, making them quite vulnerable to fear and oratory.

My Perfect Weather: Change Environment over a single farm, with a charge that lasts for a week, usable by other (the farmer) so that s/he can later the weather for that one farm by enough to improve the crop yield. Each week the local priest/wizard comes by to renew the spell and collect the fee/tithe/favor. Larger version might be usable by a baron.

Puissant Arms: add AP to all weapons of a large group/area. A group could include any company of an army; an area would still be useful if cast over the body of archers. To get really nasty, make the advantage AVLD (so that only magic protection/armor/force field is still effective).
As long as we're talking naked advantages, other good ones might include No Range Penalty, Indirect, Penetrating...

Lucky for Life: several Life Support effects would be extremely beneficial if applied to the community - disease resistance/immunity has already been mentioned, but consider the ability to eat/drink less often, or to eat/drink stuff normally harmful. Or the ability to ignore hot and cold temperatures. Even someting as minor as immunity to the venom of local snakes would be seen as a great blessing. (Be careful of the aging reduction, though - you'd likely run into population pressures, not to mention someone might object to being stuck in puberty for 30 years!)

[Doc Democracy]

Lots of nice examples of high power magic. Makes you wonder what the opposition wizards are doing to counter all this, dont it? :)


Doc

[Lord Mhoram]

Lots of nice examples of high power magic. Makes you wonder what the opposition wizards are doing to counter all this, dont it? :)


Doc

Yeah. I suspect that in the world I am going to have these as the main form of magic will feel a lot like the cold war - everyone on edge politically, because once one mage starts throwing around some of these attack spells, then everyone does - and after that - well, everyone loses. :)

[Lord Mhoram]

Army of Heroes: Aid +6 PRE for a large group (i.e., an entire army). Not a huge effect, but enough to nudge many PRE attack effects and skill rolls up or down a notch, which is all you may need to swing a battle.

It would be a great help using the FH Mass combat rules. Or buy +3 to moral rolls with the same kind of advantages - a mass courage spell or something. :)

[Lord Mhoram]

Mages Retribution:

10d6 Killing attack - Trigger (when the person who bought this spell dies) - Area Effect 1 hex, 2 levels megascale. 1 charge ever -4, focus, uses focus up in use (caster's body) can never replace. Not vs the ground (-0) non ranged
Then all the extra time ect stuff to originally cast it. :)

Kill the mage and everything the 5 kilo's in a circle around him takes 10d6 K. But the spells doesn't blow the earth up or open up a hole to the magma. :)

[atlascott]

This is a pretty weird one, so bear with me...

What about a spell which causes a ball of fire to issue from the hand of the caster, moving towards a target, and exploding in an area effect?

This is a real game imbalancing spell, so use with caution, because it combines a range attack and area of effect with the element of fire.

[Lord Mhoram]

This is a pretty weird one, so bear with me...

What about a spell which causes a ball of fire to issue from the hand of the caster, moving towards a target, and exploding in an area effect?

This is a real game imbalancing spell, so use with caution, because it combines a range attack and area of effect with the element of fire.

:tonguewav



:D

[Teflon Billy]

Mages Retribution:

10d6 Killing attack - Trigger (when the person who bought this spell dies) - Area Effect 1 hex, 2 levels megascale. 1 charge ever -4, focus, uses focus up in use (caster's body) can never replace. Not vs the ground (-0) non ranged
Then all the extra time ect stuff to originally cast it. :)

Kill the mage and everything the 5 kilo's in a circle around him takes 10d6 K. But the spells doesn't blow the earth up or open up a hole to the magma. :)Would it be possible to add "Team or Your Side Immunity" to that spell (would such an advantage be even legal?)

That would make indescriminate ranged attacks much less likely if every mage is a walking tac-nuke upon death.

It'd also be a nice insurance policy for battlemages to insure that they are taken alive (who cares about the peasant infantry?) I could see every mage guild in the world teaching their wizards this spell.

You could also add "Not in the case of suicide or accidental death" to insure that mages couldn't act as suicide bombers or other such mishaps.

TB

[Lord Mhoram]

Would it be possible to add "Team or Your Side Immunity" to that spell (would such an advantage be even legal?)

That would make indescriminate ranged attacks much less likely if every mage is a walking tac-nuke upon death.

It'd also be a nice insurance policy for battlemages to insure that they are taken alive (who cares about the peasant infantry?) I could see every mage guild in the world teaching their wizards this spell.

You could also add "Not in the case of suicide or accidental death" to insure that mages couldn't act as suicide bombers or other such mishaps.

TB

Good points.

I was seeing it as the last revenge of the old evil wizard when attacked. Or the putting the Bad mofo beyond much like Raven in Snow Crash.

[The Monster]

Now for some nasties...

Curse of Idiocy: Drain/Suppress INT, large area. As little as 2d6 can reduce normal people to the mental equivalent of cows and sheep. 1d6 is less drastic, costs half as much, but enough to reduce normal people to unusually stupid normal people (No, I won't suggest that another name for this could be "U.S. Public School System." I won't say that.) :whistle:

Curse of Leprosy: Drain COM, Sticky. A single die of "effect" turns into 2d6 of actual COM removed - enough to turn normal people absolutely hideous. The Sticky means you only have to cast it on one person to cause a plague - or even just a panic (especially when medicine and Cure Disease spells fail, since it ain't a disease!). To really get nasty, you cast it on the ground, which makes everything that touches that patch of ground ugly - ugly trees, ugly crops (perfectly edible and nutritious, but disgusting to look at!), ugly animals, ugly people.

Curse of Guilt: Drain 6d6 PRE, recovery time years, trigger. When the wizard is killed, the person who killed him suffers this effect, which pretty much reduces the killer to a quivering, crying wreck for the foreseeable future. So much for being the great hero!

Curse of Overpowerment: Aid (magical effect). Designed to operate on large-area spells, such as those which enhance crops or attributes, this greatly increases their potency. Carefully chosen, this could result in serious distortion of economies, social structure, and so forth: if everyone is rich, gold has no real value, as it were; if everyone's chickens lay a hundred eggs a day, what you have is a lot of rotten eggs (and a serious kingdom-wide cholesterol problem!).

Curse of Extreme Weight: Density Increase area effect, usable against others. Over a large area, this makes everyone in the realm weigh more - not fatter, just heavier. A lot heavier. While it also makes them a little tougher, it makes for difficulties with vehicles and buildings - not to mention riding animals! - as they are not built to carry such increased loads. With Gradual Effect, this might not even be noticed until several floors, wagons, and ships start collapsing.

Edgeless Weapons: Transform all sharp metal objects to dull metal objects. All medieval weapons which were Killing Attacks become Normal Attacks. While this isn't necessarily a fatal flaw, it does distort the enemy army's fighting a bit (especially arrows!). It also makes meat a lot harder to cook and eat, without sharp knives and skewers!

[The Monster]

This is a pretty weird one, so bear with me...

What about a spell which causes a ball of fire to issue from the hand of the caster, moving towards a target, and exploding in an area effect?

This is a real game imbalancing spell, so use with caution, because it combines a range attack and area of effect with the element of fire.

Naaaah.... that's way too munchkiny. Too overpowered. I'd sure never allow that in MY campaign! ;)

[Lord Mhoram]

Now for some nasties...

I like those. I can't believe I didn't think of the int drain one. :)

[The Monster]

A 2d6 luck usable on other 2 billion people, megascale to the planet - only affects those that share the same faith, and fades when the reciepient does something he knows is against said faith. Duration is a week (or maybe a month) - the head priest of a religion does this as his special blessing every week (or maybe month).



As a plot device, you could make this linked somehow to the lifetime of the head of the particular church. When the head dies, the new head's first offical act is to renew the blessing. In the meantime, though, every believer is a little less lucky...
Now, if the electoral process is as involved as the Pope, which can take several weeks, you have a window of opportunity for enemies. And these deaths can be arranged...

[Comic]

Hrm. Leap of Faith: Megascale Superleap, UAO, AoE, Megascale Area.

Watch that first step, it's a doozy.

Not sure how to build it to allow for safe landings, but if you're not overfond of the populace of a place, sending them all a half mile into midair and then letting them fall wouldn't need a safe landing.

[Doc Democracy]

It would be a great help using the FH Mass combat rules. Or buy +3 to moral rolls with the same kind of advantages - a mass courage spell or something. :)

tell you what. I'd hate top be a soldier in those magic based times - suddenly everyone is a meat cleaving superman while also believing they are invulnerable and would not run away - what carnage such battles would be!

[Lord Mhoram]

tell you what. I'd hate top be a soldier in those magic based times - suddenly everyone is a meat cleaving superman while also believing they are invulnerable and would not run away - what carnage such battles would be!

Yeah.

I threw the idea out for the thread, and with all the responces, and what that can mean to the world they are in, has really made me examine the world they were going to be in, and what exactly it will be like.

[Doc Democracy]

Got another battle oriented one.

Fog of War - throws a fog over the entier battlefield that causes visibility to be limited to a few feet. The caster can, with added effort and preparation ensure that his own side are immune to its effects.


This would be ideal for offence or for getting your people out of there when the battle begins to go the wrong way....


Doc

[CourtFool]

I threw the idea out for the thread, and with all the responces, and what that can mean to the world they are in, has really made me examine the world they were going to be in, and what exactly it will be like.

Two words for you, Megascaled Dispel.

[Lord Mhoram]

Two words for you, Megascaled Dispel.

I already have one of those written up. :)

[Blue Jogger]

The Wondrous Wheel

Once created, this wheel keeps magically turning with the power proportional to the size (although they can be stop and started with a command). Small ones (1.5 feet diameter) have 5 STR, bigger ones are like waterwheels (6 feet diameter) and have 15 STR. Each +5 STR after that requires that the wheel diameter double or another wheel constructed.

30 STR TK, 0 END, Persistent. 90 Active Points (48 feet diameter wheel)

[AnotherSkip]

Now for some nasties...
Curse of Idiocy: Drain/Suppress INT, large area. As little as 2d6 can reduce normal people to the mental equivalent of cows and sheep. 1d6 is less drastic, costs half as much, but enough to reduce normal people to unusually stupid normal people (No, I won't suggest that another name for this could be "U.S. Public School System." I won't say that.)

Curse of Leprosy: Drain COM, Sticky. A single die of "effect" turns into 2d6 of actual COM removed - enough to turn normal people absolutely hideous. The Sticky means you only have to cast it on one person to cause a plague - or even just a panic (especially when medicine and Cure Disease spells fail, since it ain't a disease!). To really get nasty, you cast it on the ground, which makes everything that touches that patch of ground ugly - ugly trees, ugly crops (perfectly edible and nutritious, but disgusting to look at!), (No, I won't suggest that another name for this could be "U.S. Public School System Food." I won't say that.) :whistle:
Slightly modified your "leprosy quote"....

[AnotherSkip]

Looking at all of these cool army spells tells me one thing, which is the first thing you thow out is a Dispell magic Riiiiiight before the opposing armies clash, negating all their superbuff spells....


now in Hero to the best of my understanding when you throw AOE spells they affect everyone in the area. So throwing AOE spells in the middle of combat (especially armies in combat) isn't a good idea.
So now they have debuffed your army So NOW you have to cast spells in the middle of combat. Take for example AOE CE +1 DCV Linked to an AOE CE +1 OCV, if everyone gets this it will be a null result. If you as a DM allow -0 "disadvantages" like "Only affects the Soldiers of LaLaLa Lands" that's fine and everything but then what happens during a cvil war? or with mind control? (my personal problem has been I and my GM's have allways seen that as an advantage!)
My personal favorite suggestion is Selective. (and using the laws of averages means you only have to roll for those who matter)
This means you don't really know who gets it but it will swing the battle to a more positive result that looks like they have guys who are well trained or vetrans rather than a more dramatic "superhuman army". It also doesn't affect the opposition no matter who they are. with the reverse being true for "curses".

Ya know I think i'm rambling a bit too much.

Of course I cast Darkness to normal sight 1 hex Megascaled (+1/4), Selective(-1/4) with a 22 point VPP.... which should give the Gm's out there the screaming heebie jeebies. :)

[Lord Mhoram]

My personal favorite suggestion is Selective. (and using the laws of averages means you only have to roll for those who matter)

That is how I've run such things in my game for years. :)

[ghost-angel]

Bow Down Before Me! Bow!! +100 PRE, only to make PRE Attacks. plus Images: Sight & Hearing, (a really big area), Set Sight Effect, only a hugely tall image of the caster (I think 1000 feet should do it).

(Also known at the "Who's Your Daddy?" spell)

[Lucius]

Bow Down Before Me! Bow!! +100 PRE, Area Of Effect: Megascaled appropriately, only to make PRE Attacks. plus Images: Sight & Hearing, (a really big area), Set Sight Effect, only a hugely tall image of the caster (I think 1000 feet should do it).

(Also known at the "Who's Your Daddy?" spell)

Presence automatically has an area of effect - it effects anyone who can percieve the character making the PRE attack.

So the Area and Megascale are not necessary.

In fact, wouldn't they give +100 PRE to everyone in the area?

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary startles everyone by vanishing, thus executing an Absence Attack

[ghost-angel]

Presence automatically has an area of effect - it effects anyone who can percieve the character making the PRE attack.

So the Area and Megascale are not necessary.

In fact, wouldn't they give +100 PRE to everyone in the area?

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary startles everyone by vanishing, thus executing an Absence Attack

good point. never mind. remove the AoE.

[Inu]

Looking at all of these cool army spells tells me one thing, which is the first thing you thow out is a Dispell magic Riiiiiight before the opposing armies clash, negating all their superbuff spells....
+1/4 'difficult to dispel' on army buffs. For a, say, 150 AP effect, that means you need about 100 dice of dispel in order for it to work. AoE 100 die dispel costs 600+ AP, putting it well out of the price range. Not so much of a problem!

[ghost-angel]

+1/4 'difficult to dispel' on army buffs. For a, say, 150 AP effect, that means you need about 100 dice of dispel in order for it to work. AoE 100 die dispel costs 600+ AP, putting it well out of the price range. Not so much of a problem!

Depends on the Limitations, these are epic after all.

Make it a Ritual Spell, Incantations, Expendable Focus, Gestures, Extra Time, Spell . . . I'm sure we can think of more. Cut that sucker down in price real quick :)

[Inu]

Depends on the Limitations, these are epic after all.

Make it a Ritual Spell, Incantations, Expendable Focus, Gestures, Extra Time, Spell . . . I'm sure we can think of more. Cut that sucker down in price real quick :)
Yeah, but Mhoram was talking about 150-200 AP spells, not RP. That doesn't mean that bigger spells don't exist (such as a battlefield debuff), don't exist... but it's certainly not just THAT simple. And if spells are getting bigger, then you just put on another +1/4 difficult to dispel and now you need 200 dice of dispel. Basically, it's much easier to make an undispellable spell than it is to make a bigger dispel. =)

[Lord Mhoram]

Yeah, but Mhoram was talking about 150-200 AP spells, not RP. That doesn't mean that bigger spells don't exist (such as a battlefield debuff), don't exist... but it's certainly not just THAT simple. And if spells are getting bigger, then you just put on another +1/4 difficult to dispel and now you need 200 dice of dispel. Basically, it's much easier to make an undispellable spell than it is to make a bigger dispel. =)

If dispels were used, I'd see them with a much smaller area, and increased dice, so they could be specific uses - your line is weakening in one area - hit the opponent with a Dispel.

I've loved the stuff I've seen here, can't wait for some time this weekend to fully write them all up. :)

[Doc Democracy]

So now they have debuffed your army So NOW you have to cast spells in the middle of combat. Take for example AOE CE +1 DCV Linked to an AOE CE +1 OCV, if everyone gets this it will be a null result. If you as a DM allow -0 "disadvantages" like "Only affects the Soldiers of LaLaLa Lands" that's fine and everything but then what happens during a cvil war? or with mind control?

Well, in Glorantha, you have particular regiments with their own totemic spirit guide/protector.

If you get into industrial magic then lots of the buff spells would be focussed through those connected to the spirit or have been prepared with the necessary precursors for the magic to work.

It does become difficult in civil wars but they are always messy aren't they.

Mind control is another way to get around a better army than your own - you steal their soldiers to work for you.

Essentially I see these armies being the playthings of the mega-magicians...not a nice place to be and a good place to find yourself in a major mincing machine...


Doc

[Inu]

Well, in Glorantha, you have particular regiments with their own totemic spirit guide/protector.

If you get into industrial magic then lots of the buff spells would be focussed through those connected to the spirit or have been prepared with the necessary precursors for the magic to work.

It does become difficult in civil wars but they are always messy aren't they.

Mind control is another way to get around a better army than your own - you steal their soldiers to work for you.

Essentially I see these armies being the playthings of the mega-magicians...not a nice place to be and a good place to find yourself in a major mincing machine...
Armies might even work better if you just summon them. Draw power from the natural terrain in your realm, focus it towards your magic which you aim at your enemy...

"Hey, after that army attacked, why did it wheel about to turn its flank to the enemy?"

[The Monster]

To pre-select friendlies, you could have them carry or wear markers or foci - amulets, helmets, or even tattoos. Then design your spells so that they only affect people who have that particular focus.
Of course, this means that a significant "special ops" mission is to discern and obtain those items from the enemy for your own use and study (or to prevent the theft thereof). Another "special op" might be to mark enemies for a magical strike - kind of like "painting" a target like they did in the Iraq war, where specforces infiltrated to mark advance targets for the airstrikes (especially SAM sites, IIRC - analogous to taking out magical personnel or prepared ritual sites?).
And civil wars would get really nasty. All the markers would be available to both sides, at least until the war went on long enough to make new ones. Of course, this might also mean that people just don't make markers for everyone; just their chosen personal/elite forces. These things would also be tightly controlled by higher-ups (kings, emperors, archbishops, etc.).

My thought for a long time has been that high-magic worlds would have a lot less emphasis on massed armies, but I've never really hacked seriously at the issue. My initial thought is that there would be a lot more raiding-type activity, since any large concentration of force would invite magical hits. Large armies would still have an advantage, since they can cover more places and areas than small armies, but most battles, even sieges, wouldn't be the mass assaults so delightfully depicted in most fantasy books and movies.
There's be a lot more emphasis on maneuver and sustainability; the ability to get to the critical point, and assemble potent strike forces from among scattered components, would count for a lot. And sustainability - the ability to keep pressure on an enemy position, with multiple waves and directions of attack - would take advantage of the typical limitations on most fantasy magicians: limited ammunition. Sure, the wizards can cast fireballs at you, but after three or four waves, they're gonna start running low on mana/charges/spells. A grim arithmetic, to be sure, but when isn't it?

[Shadowsoul]

Hmmm. Perhaps something like transform, megascale, turns target landscape or geographical feature, (forest, mountain), into a living being with extra limbs and multiform, plus various other appropriate abilities such as life support breathe under water and so on. This would be why the Elven forest seems particularly eery and is capable of informing its inhabitants that there are trespassers about or 'disappearing' said trespassers without any pointy eared help at all, also the kraken island or the insanely immense rock troll.

[Lord Mhoram]

My thought for a long time has been that high-magic worlds would have a lot less emphasis on massed armies, but I've never really hacked seriously at the issue.

I remember the desingers of Battlesystem for AD&D (way back in the day) commenting that really huge battles looked more like modern warefare with air support (Dragons, Griffon mounted troops ect) and no pike squares or lines of infantry because spells would blow them to pieces.

This thread has been really interesting for looking at the social dynamics of what would happen with really high power magic.

[Lord Mhoram]

While flipping through Mythus Magic (before getting ready to convert spells for my FH game) I saw something that led to this idea:

Curse of Bable - Drain 2d6 (standard effect 6 pts) vs all language skills +2, delayed return rate (at least an hour, as long as months), area effect, megascale, selective. :)

Cheesy, but it makes a great effect - all of a sudden no one on the enemies side can communicate with each other. Hit that at the start of a battle... whoo boy. :)

[Lucius]

Not in MY Kingdom You Don't!:
Suppress 1d6

All magick powers simultaneously (+2), Difficult To Dispel (x1 Active Points; + ¼ ), Affects Any form of Desolidification (+ ½ ), Area Of Effect, Megascale 1,000 km (+1 ½) Zero END Persistent (+1 ½ ) , No Normal Defense (+1), Continuous (+1) Autofire (5 shots; +1 ½ ), Cumulative (54 points; +2 1/2) (54 Active Points)

Gradual Effect (1 Week; -2), Extra Time (1 Hour, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 3/4), Can only cast once per week ( -1 ½ ), Gestures (Requires both hands; - ½ ), No Range (- ½ ), Incantations (- ¼ ), Only in My Kingdom ( - ¼ ), Concentration (1/2 DCV; - ¼ ) (Real Cost: 8)


Probably with some linked Power Defense, Mental Defense, and maybe other defenses, megascaled.


I'm still thinking of writing up

I Am One With The Land
Multiform into a Base, where the Base is the Kingdom.


Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary is at Two with itself

[The Monster]

Or...

Stupid Wizard!
Drain INT, big area, continuous, etc.
Only affects targets with Sorcery skill.

or, again...

Silly Wizard!
Add naked limitation: Side Effects Always to any magical power


...of course, these only work if you don't want to use any of your own magic (unless, of course, you buy Personal Immunity!)

[Blue Jogger]

Our group discussed the possibility of this one:

Hostile Magic Zone
CE: -3 to all Magic Skill Rolls, Long-Lasting

In a world where most of the magic requires skill rolls and side effect, this is just viciously cruel.

[Markdoc]

Yeah.

I threw the idea out for the thread, and with all the responces, and what that can mean to the world they are in, has really made me examine the world they were going to be in, and what exactly it will be like.

Our own experience with battles in a high magic setting has shown that the mass of soldiery is merely there to soak up a few spells: it's like the first day of the Somme (and in such a setting, you bet the regular soldiery starts digging trenches and bunkers, for a little cover as soon as they realise a battle is looming, adding to the similarity). And unless charmed or otherwise coerced, they'd know that, so their morale is pretty shot even before the battle starts :D Being an armoured knight on a mighty steed is not much better than being a peasant with a pointy stick when one guy on the opposing side can sling big area effect 8d6 RKAs.

As a result I redesigned the armies of the major powers so that they have a cutting edge of high-powered warriors and mages, kitted out with potent antimagic protection, weapons of mass destruction or both, with a small number of cannon fodder simply to stopp them being over-run. Battles become games of "Kill the majors" and the first side to lose their heavy hitters either surrenders or is wiped out to the last man, woman and wombat. The common soldiery is relegated to carrying stuff, building stuff and garrison duty: being called up for battlefield support only when absolutely necessary.

cheers, Mark

[Doc Democracy]

I see the magic colleges developing some kind of magical military equivalent of the pike block.

If you want to retain the look and feel of medieval warfare then you get massed units which, when they retain their cohesion and numbers can frustrate large magical battlefield spells. Thus you need to break down the men in the old fashioned way before you can mop up the ones running away with your mass action spells.


Doc

[Lord Mhoram]

I see the magic colleges developing some kind of magical military equivalent of the pike block.

If you want to retain the look and feel of medieval warfare then you get massed units which, when they retain their cohesion and numbers can frustrate large magical battlefield spells. Thus you need to break down the men in the old fashioned way before you can mop up the ones running away with your mass action spells.


Doc

Woo, nifty idea there. A huge Def vs SFX Magic (or something) that only works when a certain number of people are within a certain area.

[Doc Democracy]

Woo, nifty idea there. A huge Def vs SFX Magic (or something) that only works when a certain number of people are within a certain area.

Could give a whole new meaning to the term Shield Wall.....

[Markdoc]

I see the magic colleges developing some kind of magical military equivalent of the pike block.

If you want to retain the look and feel of medieval warfare then you get massed units which, when they retain their cohesion and numbers can frustrate large magical battlefield spells. Thus you need to break down the men in the old fashioned way before you can mop up the ones running away with your mass action spells.

In Dymeria (the biggest empire in the current game) they have colleges of battle magic, where mages are trained to be basically living artillery. They work in teams of 20 (a "battle" - the basic Dymerian unit), usually two adepts and 18 apprentices of various capabilities. In battle, one mage concentrates on offensive spells while the other holds an action or manipulates defensive magics. The apprentices assist with either Aid spells to pump the Adept's spells up or support their casting, or cast minor defensive magics to deflect arrows, telekinese charging warriors away, etc. This lets the adepts focus on big, flashy killing spells, teleporting their elite warriors on top of enemy spell casters or into the middle of pike blocks or similar tricks , turning the ground to mud, etc.

I'm not sure protecting the troops alone would be enough to retain traditional tactics. In my game, telekinesing a really big chunk of something and then hitting any infantry silly enough to gather en mass with it is a favourite - even if they are protected with antimagic, that won't stop a perfectly non-magical 20 ton rock. Likewise, it wouldn't stop you moving your own troops about the battlefield by magic, or using images or invisibility: there's a lot you can do without directly interacting with the enemy soldiers.

However, if you wanted the traditional feel alluded to above, you could have a system of magic where mages could dampen out each other's spells within a certain radius (perhaps up to the active points of their own largest spell, or something similar): perhaps as a perk, or alternatively as a limitation on magic*. That might make an interesting system: a more powerful mage would be all but immune to lower level magic - but would be reduced in power, making himself vulnerable to attack. It'd give a fantasy world with a very different feel.

cheers, Mark

*actually, now that I think about it, a system very much like this was in force in Tim Powers's book The Drawing of the Dark: the world's two most powerful wizards are present at the siege of Vienna, but neither can do anything while the other is there. However, they don't dare leave because the other one could instantly win the battle if his power was not held in check. As a result, they sit and watch while the siege is fought by conventional means.

[Lucius]

Why do I feel like I'm in Valdemar now?

Lucius Alexander

And the inevitable palindromedary

[Markdoc]

Why do I feel like I'm in Valdemar now?

Lucius Alexander

And the inevitable palindromedary

Who's Valdemar?

Cheers, Mark

[Doc Democracy]

isn't it Mercedes Lackey's world or heralds and soft soap romances?

:)


Doc

[jaws]

Mages Retribution:

10d6 Killing attack - Trigger (when the person who bought this spell dies) - Area Effect 1 hex, 2 levels megascale. 1 charge ever -4, focus, uses focus up in use (caster's body) can never replace. Not vs the ground (-0) non ranged
Then all the extra time ect stuff to originally cast it. :)

Kill the mage and everything the 5 kilo's in a circle around him takes 10d6 K. But the spells doesn't blow the earth up or open up a hole to the magma. :)

This is excellent. If it is common for a spell like this to be in effect on spell casters, even if they all don't have it, people will think twice about our tight killing a spell caster. Perfect for worlds where spell casters are rare.

Imagine the chain reaction of one spell caster dying if you have a high population of spell casters that have this. It would be like popcorn. Kaboom end of civilization.

However if you remember limitations need to be limiting. So 1 charge never recovers for a dead person is not limiting. Irreplaceable focus is not limiting either.

However considering the focus, disintegrate mage is probably a very common spell. :D

Hrm. Leap of Faith: Megascale Superleap, UAO, AoE, Megascale Area.

Watch that first step, it's a doozy.

Not sure how to build it to allow for safe landings, but if you're not overfond of the populace of a place, sending them all a half mile into midair and then letting them fall wouldn't need a safe landing.

Unless I am mistaken a leap automatically allows for a safe landing as long as you land form the same hight you leaped from.

Best to use flight UAA

My personal favorite suggestion is Selective. (and using the laws of averages means you only have to roll for those who matter)
This means you don't really know who gets it but it will swing the battle to a more positive result that looks like they have guys who are well trained or vetrans rather than a more dramatic "superhuman army". It also doesn't affect the opposition no matter who they are. with the reverse being true for "curses".


Forgive the new guy... I didn't quite get that...

Hmmm. Perhaps something like transform, megascale, turns target landscape or geographical feature, (forest, mountain), into a living being with extra limbs and multiform, plus various other appropriate abilities such as life support breathe under water and so on. This would be why the Elven forest seems particularly eery and is capable of informing its inhabitants that there are trespassers about or 'disappearing' said trespassers without any pointy eared help at all, also the kraken island or the insanely immense rock troll.

Wouldn't that be a summon? With that SFX

I see the magic colleges developing some kind of magical military equivalent of the pike block.

If you want to retain the look and feel of medieval warfare then you get massed units which, when they retain their cohesion and numbers can frustrate large magical battlefield spells. Thus you need to break down the men in the old fashioned way before you can mop up the ones running away with your mass action spells.

Doc

This is excellent. Though there still are many ways around this, it is an excellent start. You can have formation units trained with a special skill while working in unison.
Such as Magical Resistance Training Skill
If you specially train units that works cohesively where there is at least 1 element per X(5 suggested) AP. They make a Skill vs Skill Roll or just a straight skill roll with AP penalty to resist any spell with an AoE that includes at least 10% of the unit (This makes obscenely large units to resist every single spell just as dangerous as no unit at all).

Very much like a trained Spell Resistance (such as the **oh no he is going to say it** d20 system has) based on unit tactics. Justified as the will of many vs. the will of one.

Just an Idea to make combat units effective and more than just cannon fodder.


I'm not sure protecting the troops alone would be enough to retain traditional tactics. In my game, telekinesing a really big chunk of something and then hitting any infantry silly enough to gather en mass with it is a favourite - even if they are protected with antimagic, that won't stop a perfectly non-magical 20 ton rock. Likewise, it wouldn't stop you moving your own troops about the battlefield by magic, or using images or invisibility: there's a lot you can do without directly interacting with the enemy soldiers.

True but at least it gives them a fighting chance again. It also means that mages need to sacrifice more of their learning time to learn sneaky tactics and additional spells instead of just sticking to *blow them all up* spells.

Also attacks are at least partially mundane now so they can be stopped by mundane means (however spectacular they may need to be).


*actually, now that I think about it, a system very much like this was in force in Tim Powers's book The Drawing of the Dark: the world's two most powerful wizards are present at the siege of Vienna, but neither can do anything while the other is there. However, they don't dare leave because the other one could instantly win the battle if his power was not held in check. As a result, they sit and watch while the siege is fought by conventional means.

I hadn't heard of this but its good. So all spell casters have a Suppress (up to highest AP power) all other mages magical abilities AoE, Always On, NCC.

[Lucius]

Who's Valdemar?

Cheers, Mark

M. Lackey's land of Heralds and Herald Mages.

I don't know if she grew up reading comics or what, but her characters strike me sometimes as being very much overpowered comic book superheroes in a fanasy setting. Enough so that you sometimes wonder what the soldiers are hanging around for, if not for "spell fodder."

Mind you, I'm not saying I don't like her characters or her stories. But some of them have powers that probably break a standard Champions game's active point limits.

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary says "and what is it with these Companions, anyway?"

[The Monster]

In Dymeria (the biggest empire in the current game) they have colleges of battle magic, where mages are trained to be basically living artillery. They work in teams of 20 (a "battle" - the basic Dymerian unit), usually two adepts and 18 apprentices of various capabilities. In battle, one mage concentrates on offensive spells while the other holds an action or manipulates defensive magics. The apprentices assist with either Aid spells to pump the Adept's spells up or support their casting, or cast minor defensive magics to deflect arrows, telekinese charging warriors away, etc. This lets the adepts focus on big, flashy killing spells, teleporting their elite warriors on top of enemy spell casters or into the middle of pike blocks or similar tricks , turning the ground to mud, etc.
.


A set of apprentices casting various Aid spells makes for an extremely powerful wizard. I've used this scheme a couple times, and it's always really scary until the players twig onto the fact that the apprentices are fairly easy to take down, and once they're gone the main villain is much less awesome. Even a simple team of three (Aid INT for the spellcasting rolls, Aid END, and a Force Field or other defense) works very well. (It also plays into the one advantage NPCs really have over PCs - teamwork. I've seen almost no PCs who were built primarily to assist other PCs.)

[Zorak1003]

I like the 10 plagues a lot better than the blessings- Almost any of those would end up giving you a really nice, stress-free, prosperous- and hence BORING- Fantasy Realm.

Just because you CAN do it in the system doesn't mean it would be good for the campaign. (Like the harmless looking self propelled wagon in the original Magic Items book- Essentuially a CAR that used no fuel. Horrifying in its implications to the world.)

[Blue Jogger]

Alter Terrain

This is the spell for making mapmakers cry. It raises mountains from molehills, bends the course of mighty rivers, creates (nearly) bottomless chasms and generally alters the landscape to the wizard's liking. Luckily, few mages have felt the need to spend their magical energies in this direction.

5d6 Major Transform (Terrain into other Terrain), +1 Area Effect, +1/2 Any type of Altered Terrain, Megascale +1/2 (225 active points, Affects a 220 km radius)