Dispell and line of sight to the enemy caster

[The Admiral]

Do you play that this is required? I normally would, but it doesn't specify on the card, and I can accept that a fellow spellcaster would be able to sense the presence of magic and counter it?

[wallydubbs]

As much as it makes sense to have LoS required, I'd like to give Spells of Protection more value, I'd allow it without Line of Sight. It's up to you though.

I'd also give Invisibility the the search option. Despite the presence of a monster in the room, a hero under Invisibility can't attack or be attacked, but this could also overrule the "no search with monsters present" rule so I'd allow him to search for traps, secret doors or Treasure.

This did bring up an unusual scenario when I playtested Dark Company: the Wizard played Clairvoyance to see inside one of the middle rooms. Giving Clairvoyance more bang for its buck, I allow the top treasure card to be revealed and assigned to that room. In this scenario the revealed card was a Fire Burst Trap. When it came time for the heroes to enter this room, the Wizard cast Invisibility on the Barbarian, and performed a Treasure Search action, activating the Fireburst Trap. So with the Elf blocking the door, the Barbarian and all monsters in that room with the Fireburst trap...

[The Admiral]

Yeah, I'm going to play with no LOS required. I agree with the searching.

I would play that the Barbarian is hit with the fireburst. He is still physically in the room, he is just invisible. He can't be the target of an attack because he can't be seen, but he is still there to take collateral damage, but I understand that is technically how the rule is written,

[wallydubbs]

Yeah, he was attacked too. But so were all the other momsters. It's a loophole regarding the terms of these spells, but I think it works.

I feel Dispell should have other possible purposes, such as disarming magical traps. I play WoM that only the Wizard can detect magical traps on a Search for Traps, and Dispell is the only way to disarm them (except Tempest and Fireburst, that still makes sense).

[The Admiral]

Yeah, he was attacked too. But so were all the other momsters. It's a loophole regarding the terms of these spells, but I think it works.

I feel Dispell should have other possible purposes, such as disarming magical traps. I play WoM that only the Wizard can detect magical traps on a Search for Traps, and Dispell is the only way to disarm them (except Tempest and Fireburst, that still makes sense).

Yes that definitely makes sense, and I will be implementing that immediately. You could also have it take on the qualities of the Chaos Dispell spell in that it could possibly war off an opponents spell.

[Daedalus]

I'd play it by the Rules of Play and require visibility to the target. Other targeted spells that provide an exception to this rule, Fire of Wrath and Genie, specify the location anywhere/anyone on the board. Compare this to a LoS spell like Tempest, which only instructs monster or player of your choice. Since tbe target description of Dispell also lacks location (one spell-using figure), it should be subject to the same global LoS rule as Tempest.

Fortunately, most enemy spellcasters are confronted in rooms, where visibility rather than LoS applies. And if that isn't enough, fortunately-fortunately Morcar can interpret the spell card otherwise.

[wallydubbs]

You could also have it take on the qualities of the Chaos Dispell spell in that it could possibly war off an opponents spell.

I really do feel Dispell should be multi-faceted just because of the implication of the name itself. I'd give Dispell one of the following powers:
Cast it on an enemy spell caster and force him to discard 1 apell at random.
OR
Use it to disarm a magic trap or magically sealed door.
OR
May be cast on a hero currently afflicted by a Chaos Spell. This will cancel the effects of the Chaos Spell.

Note: in my game play only the Wizard can identify magical traps. He can't disarm at without Dispell, but if ghe wizard searches for traps he'll be able to "sense"i a magical trap.
I've also added the concept of Magically Sealed Doors to my play group. (Doors that require a mind point roll to open).

[Jalapenotrellis]

We will be playing that Dispel doesn't break the usual spell casting rules (I don't see why it should break them ?). I've also seen on this forum a few times this other comment about detecting magical traps. That's one thing they specifically state in the rulebook for this expansion--you can't detect magical traps. You can house rule of course, but that' is clear in the rules, unlike a lot of other things.

[Bareheaded Warrior]

Do you play that this is required? I normally would, but it doesn't specify on the card, and I can accept that a fellow spellcaster would be able to sense the presence of magic and counter it?

The default position on all spells in the Second Edition is that they need line of sight (it is stated in the rulebook), the only exceptions are those that state otherwise on the card, such as "anywhere on the board", which this one doesn't so LOS.

This spell has never made sense to me. It is a spell that you can cast, and subsequently lose (like all other spells), that causes a spellcasting opponent to lose a spell. The net result is that both you and your opponent lose a spell (and you waste an action). Why would any spellcaster ever select this spell?

An alternative idea to rework this spell might be, making it more of a Nullify type of spell.

Casting this spell ends any and all spell effects that are currently in play, such as Sleep, Wall of Fire, where the affecting squares or characters within squares are visible to the caster.

EDIT: And having read this thread through properly after posting this message I realise that Daedalus and wallydubbs have already covered my points...great minds and all that!

[lestodante]

in the European rulebook (page 10 in 1st edition or page 11 in 2nd edition), an enemy in the same room is ALWAYS visible to the spell-caster.
Unfortunately they removed this simlple but great rule in the US edition.
Wizards of Morcar spells are intended to be used with the European system.

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