Additional schools of magic

[Templar]

Hi everyone!

I recently started to try to improve/solve some of the less great aspects of this all around good game. My ambition is to change as little as possible and keep the feel of the game.

The first thing I thought about was that few people selects the wizard due to his, shall we say, more team orientated play style, and that he dies pretty easily. Since I didnt want to change the character as such, I just thought I could add more schools of magic. This means that when choosing spells the wizard can find specific (and hopefully exciting ), combinations of spells to use in the quests. And as a bonus, the Elf get greater freedom of spell-choosing too.

So, these are my new spell schools so far, with spells: (translated from swedish, so some things might get confusing)

Light Spells
Teleportation: You have to give up your movement this turn. Choose any square you can see, or a square you can't see no more than 8 squares away. Move your miniature there immideatly.
Portable Sun: You, and all other heroes in the same room or corridor rolls one extra dice when attacking, until the spell is broken. The spell is broken at the end of your next turn.
Spear of light: Choose a square no more than four (Edit: initially five) squares away. Monsters and heroes on a square crossed by an uninterrupted line between you and the target square is attacked with two combat dice each.

Death spells
Plague: Choose a player or living monster that gets attacked with one combat dice. Before the evil wizard's turn choose another living figure in the same room or corridor as the first victim, who is also attacked with a combat dice. Choose a new miniature each round in the same room or corridor until there is no new legal target.
Age: Choose a living monster or a player anywhere on the board. Roll four combat dice. For each skull rolled, the victim loses one body point. For each black shield rolled the player loses a body point. The figure targeted and the caster can roll a normal dice for each respective intelligence point. If a six is rolled by the hero or the monster, the whole attack against him/her/it is ignored. (Edit: I think I'm able to explain this better in swedish )
Hunger: Select a square you can see. All living creatures and players who are in that square, or any of the eight surrounding squares in the same room or corridor, roll a dice less in defense and attack. This effect last until your next turn.

Necromancy
Raise Skeleton: If you are in a room or corridor where a living monster was killed last round, you can raise a skeleton that you control. The skeleton appears in any square in the same room or corridor and move and attack as a normal skeleton after the players turn. After the evil wizard's turn, roll a dice. On a roll of 1-3 (Edit: initially only on 1) you lose control of the skeleton.
Soul Stealer: This spell can be cast on any player or living monster. Roll a dice. On a roll of 1-3 the target looses 1 Mind Point. On a roll of 4-5 the target looses 2 Mind Points. On a roll of 6 the target looses 3 mind points. (Edit: Previously "Raise Mummy")
Raise Zombies: If you are in a room or corridor where at least two living monster was killed last round, you can raise two zombies that you control. The zombies appears in any two squares in the same room or corridor and move and attack as normal zombies after the players turn. After the evil wizard's turn you loose control of the zombies.

Witchcraft
Forked Lightning: All monsters and heroes who are in the square directly in front of and diagonally in front of you is attacked with three combat dice.
Luck: This spell can target any player. This player can reroll one battle dice when attacking and defending himself, until the spell is broken. The spell is broken when the player hit two monster shields in attack or defense. That roll is not influenced by luck.
Familiar: This spell summons a familiar that can do one of the following: give one of the summoner's items to another player anywhere on the board OR take an item from another player anywhere on the court and give to the summoner OR disarm all the traps in the same room or corridor the summoner is in.

Please let me know what you think

(1st Edit: Better explanations and some modifications)
(2nd Edit: New necromancy spell: Soul Stealer)

[Goblin-King]

All in all these spells looks allright. I'll try to comment according to my initial impression
And remember opinions are opinions :

Light Spells
Teleportation: You have to give up your movement this turn. Choose any square you can see, or a square you can't see no more than 8 squares away. Move your miniature there immideatly.
Portable Sun: You, and all other heroes in the same room or corridor rolls one extra dice when attacking, until the spell is broken. The spell is broken at the end of your next turn.
Spear of light: Choose a square no maore than five squares away. Monsters and heroes on a square crossed by an uninterrupted line between you and the target square is attacked with two combat dice each.

Teleportation: It's a movement/escape spell. It's okay, nothing special.
Portable Sun: This is a great spell because it forces the players to work together: Everybody! Get in here! It's not overpowered either.
Spear of light: Slightly overpowered. When you have the potential to hit 5 enemies I think it should only attack with 1 Attack die. Especially when you compare it to the original spells. The mechanic of this spell is good though.

Death spells
Plague: Choose a player or living monster that gets attacked with one combat dice. Before the evil wizard's turn choose another living figure in the same room or corridor as the first victim, who is also attacked with a combat dice. Choose a new miniature each round in the same room or corridor until there is no new legal target. A figure can only be targeted by plague once per quest.
Age: Choose a living monster or a player anywhere on the board. Roll four combat dice. For each skull rolled, the victim loses one body point. For each white shield rolled the player loses a body point. The figure targeted and the caster can roll a battle die in defense of each respective intelligence points.
Hunger: Select a square you can see. All living creatures and players who are in that square, or any of the eight surrounding squares in the same room or corridor, roll a dice less in defense and attack. This effect last until your next turn.

Plague: In a video game this would be great, But I'm not a fan of having to remember which monster have been hit and not in a board game...
Age: This is a little confusing. I would never choose a spell that have the potential to kill me though!
Hunger: This is a good spell. It's both offensive and defensive. And the damage is indirect. And again it is recommended the players work together to gain the most from the spell.

Necromancy
Raise Skeleton: If you are in a room or corridor where a living monster was killed last round, you can raise a skeleton that you control. The skeleton shows up in a square next to yours and move and attack as a normal skeleton in the players turn. After the evil wizard's turn, roll a dice. On a one you lose control of the skeleton.
Raise Zombie: If you are in a room or corridor where a living monster was killed last round, you can raise a zombie that you control. The zombie shows up in a square next to yours and move and attack as a normal zombie in the players turn. After the evil wizard's turn, roll a dice. On a one or a two, you lose control of the zombie.
Raise Mummy: If you are in a room or corridor where a living monster was killed last round, you can raise a mummy that you control. The mummy shows up in a square next to yours and move and attack as a normal mummy in the players turn. After the evil wizard's turn, roll a dice. On a one, two or a three, you lose control of the mummy

It's debatable whether these spells are too similar...
All in all they seem somewhat overpowered compared to the standard spells. A raised monster can attack with 2 or more attack dice several turns in a row AND serves to direct at least 1 attack away from the heroes.
I think you should keep the skeleton, but change the death roll to 1, 2 or 3. And then create 2 new different spells.
Here is a couple of suggestions out of my a**:
Hands of the Dead: Target is immobilized for 1 turn
Evil Spirit: Target is attacked by an amount of attack dice equal to his own mind points.
Death Master: You may control 1 undead creature until the start of your next turn.

Witchcraft
Forked Lightning: All monsters and heroes who are in the three squares directly in front of and diagonally in front of you is attacked with three combat dice.
Luck: This spell can target any player. This player can reroll one battle dice when attacking and defending himself, until the spell is broken. The spell is broken when the player hit two monster shields in attack or defense. That roll is not influenced by luck.
Familiar: This spell summons a familiar that can do one of the following: give one of the summoner's items to another player anywhere on the board OR take an item from another player anywhere on the court and give to the summoner OR disarm all the traps in the same room or corridor the summoner is in.

Witchcraft seems way overpowered. It has the potential to hit 9 enemies. That's 27 combat dice in ONE spell!
Luck is a great spell! I like it. Neither OP nor boring.
Familiar is one of those very circumstantial spells. You might end up not using it in some quests, but when you do it's a blessing.

[Templar]

Thanx for the feedback goblin-king! I will make some changes according to you advice, esp. the necromancer spells, I agree they may be too similar.

I should clear up some things though:
In witchcraft I explained it wrong I think...I meant just the 3 squares total in fron of the character. The one to the front, the one to the front right and the one to the front left. So a potenital maximum of 9 dice. Even this I think is a little strong, but it balances out with (as you pointed out) the situational Familiar.
Also, I wanted to have a unreliable and dangerous spell in the death magic school. The player is dabbling with very unholy things, after all . Also, I think I can describe it better in swedish. But you are right that it is too dangerous for the player as it is now.

I will try to make changes to my first post so that people can see the progress of these schools.

[Templar]

I just finished working on two druid-focused (but not druid-limited) spell schools. My druid character can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=975...
Also I use some of my new rules in these spells. You can read all my new rules here: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=980...
I have no idea how balanced these spells are though, so extensive modifications might be needed. I could also completely change one or two spells if they seem too strange...

Here they are:

Wilderness spells
Shadow hunter: This spell can target any player. Figures attacking the player rolls two dice less for attack, until the spell is broken. The spell is broken when the player moves.
Hightened senses: This spell can target any player. The player rolls an extra battle dice in defense, until the player looses a body point. Then, roll two extra combat dice instead, until the player looses a second body point. After that, roll three extra combat dice instead, until the player looses a third body point. Then the spell is broken.
Haste: This spell can target any player. The player rolls three dice and use the highest two for movement, until the spell is broken. The spell is broken when a rolled one or two are used for movement.

Art of transformation
Lycanthropy: This spell can target any player. Untill the spell is broken, the players has to move along the shortest path to the nearest figure. If the player reaches it, the player will attack this figure with three combat dice, once or twice as chosen by the player. The spell is broken when the player has caused the loss of five body points.
Regeneration: This spell can target any player. This player regains up to two body points. Other players who are in a square next to the target player regain up to one body point each.
Etherform: This spell can target any player. This player gets immaterial defence (can only be attacked by spells or in close combat by rolling as many combat dice as the attacker has mindpoints. Can in addition also move past other figures and are not affected by non-magic traps) with three battle dice, but moves only with one dice. The player also gets psycic attacks (No defence roll. Instead roll one dice for each mind point. If the player roll one or more 6s, the whole attack is igored. Also, affects mind points instead of body points) with one battle dice. These effects last until the spell is broken. The spell is broken when the player is injured OR sthe pell caster chooses to break it.

I'm starting to see some pretty neat combinations now with all these lores

[ludooo77]

sorry i'm so stupid but i have no understand the history of magic school !! Characters can belong on just one school? just the wizard?

thanks

[Templar]

Well, here when we say "school" of magic, we mean "type" or "kind" of magic. I understand the confusion, and I'm not sure that "school" is such a good word when I come to think of it...it's just that it was a very similar word to that I use for my Swedish cards. I could just as easily say group of spells

So since the game really only have 4 groups of spells (the wizard chooses the first, then the elf chooses his, and then the wizard gets the two that is left) I thought that one way of making the wizard more fun to play, without changing him directly, is to allow him to pick from a larger amount of spell groups. From my playtesting I really like the combination of Earth and Wilderness spells! But my favorites are Light and Art of Transformation.

[ludooo77]

all right i have understand ! oufff thank you !it is news spell category like fire , water.....

[Templar]

Exactly! If you're interested about the card design for these spell schools, you can visit this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=980

where I amongst other things show my "beta-version" spell categories

[GimmeYerGold]

I like the work that's been done here on a Hunger spell, so I wanted to share a version I worked up. It is meant to exhaust a Hero's potions or food supply (in my game there is meat, cheese, and magic mushrooms that count as non-potion consumables), because more often than not, Heroes end up having an excess of potions on hand!

While a Hero with a potion on hand can break the spell at once, a player who does not have that benefit will have to bum one off a friend!

This is also a concept I want to work into the Evil Wizard deck, where on a certain roll, a Hero becomes hungry and must follow the ruling here to break their hunger spell.

[Anderas]

This is an excellent EWP Deck card; or Chaos Spell!