Ye Olde Inn

Because (up to) 2x5 C.D. in one turn is a big deal.

Schmidt wrote:Because (up to) 2x5 C.D. in one turn is a big deal.

Yeah but this trick will only work on the weak monsters. It will fail the second you try it on a room filled with Chaos Warriors, Gargoyles and Fimir. Yes this one makes it so the Wizard is melting greenskins with ease. But the second the spell fails to net a kill the power is lost. So that brings us to one of the biggest flaws of the mage....Do I risk using my spell now or will I need it for later? The first time the Wizard player sends his Genie downrange and it rolls all shields the spell is lost. That can happen with any monster the spell is used against. Which is so likely to happen. The player will get cocky and start sending his death magic downrange every time he see's a target then the spell will eventually fail. Now the dude is in a bind. Also, wielding power like that can lead the Wizard to making rash choices. My favorite and most likely "I am uber powerful, I don't need these dudes" and he goes off alone to pwn. Works for awhile then the power fails....

Personally I have no problem with a carnage game filled with one hit kills and spectacular displays of power. Easy enough to counter...Monsters with high quality gear and magic items. Supplied by the friendly neighborhood Dark Wizard of course. Think a Goblin wearing a goblin sized Borins Armour equivalent, with a helm, a crossbow, a long sword and a couple scroll spells and a pocket full of potions. Hell a little dude like that could push the Chaos Knights around and tell them what their job is. Now imagine an Ork of Fimir with such gear.....An armored mummy with spells.....Chaos Knights with Cross Bows and heal potions...The ideas keep coming.

1. My main twist: LoS for spellcasting is not the same as for ranged attacks.
Rather, any figure in the same room or corridor section as the spellcaster can be the target, LoS interrupted or not.
That helps a lot and is one of the easiest (part)solutions to the (semi)problem.

2. Double up spells (not the really powerful ones) and let him choose individual spells instead of sets.

3. Give him, after several or many quests, a staff that inertly lets him cast balls of flame (to be defended against "normally") as ranged attacks. Number them or set them in relation to his current mind points.

Also may I point out that eventually the Barbarian is running around with a Battle Axe and just dropping bad guys like bad habits. Not like we are not used to a player running around with a big grip of dice all the time. And the only risk the Barbarian has of loosing his battle Axe is when they meet that once in awhile Chaos sorcerer with a Rust Spell. And how often is that?

Never!(in Europe)

knightkrawler wrote:1. My main twist: LoS for spellcasting is not the same as for ranged attacks.
Rather, any figure in the same room or corridor section as the spellcaster can be the target, LoS interrupted or not.
That helps a lot and is one of the easiest (part)solutions to the (semi)problem.

2. Double up spells (not the really powerful ones) and let him choose individual spells instead of sets.

3. Give him, after several or many quests, a staff that inertly lets him cast balls of flame (to be defended against "normally") as ranged attacks. Number them or set them in relation to his current mind points.

Make him take that staff from an Evil Mage in a quest.
I like the idea of linking Mind to its power.

I am thinking a simple 3 dice small fireball {or ice blast for those ice mages} in basic mode and if you desire to go larger it can fire a 5 dice fireball as many times as the Hero has Mind Points. Once you have used up as many larger fireballs as Mind it is a normal staff until it recharges. The Staff recharges between quests, except in the case of larger dungeons like KK. Actually this would be a great artifact to enter KK with.... hmmmm

Or another idea...the staff may be called on 3 times per game and the Player rolls a combat dice for every Mind Point the Hero has at the moment. Give the Player 3 tokens or home made cards for the uses.

But yes such a staff should be a progression item perhaps. There have been a number of cool staff ideas posted here at the Inn, I hope some of the EWP chime in and add them to the thread.

The artifacts seems to be the way to go. I was thinking that the staff would be 3 combat dice (when everyone else has 4) just adding a "zap" to all basic attacks. And it can double the damage or number of monsters included in the fire spells. The artifacts can double the effect / duration of the basic spells.

Just take a look at:
What is it that makes the wizard weak?

- it is 4 Body Points
- it is too less spells
- and too weak spells.

Why not giving him 6 Body Points,
Giving the weak spells a buff, and while we're at it, give the strong spells a drawback (Healing could cost the action of the one who is healed, too)
And finally, make a collection of spells reuseable after the Wizard has gained some experience (payed some teachers / found some artifacts / learn additional spell sets / any slow method fitting to the other hero advancement speed)

Giving the Wizard a sack full of artifacts is the same; also giving the Wizard a staff that allows unlimited Fire Balls is the same. Whereas; i would make a collection which is a little bit bigger than one single spell. There is certainly more than one thing missing, too rare and/or useful for the wizard without being too powerful.

I must confess, in the meanwhile i like the idea of giving some reuseables a cool down time or a reload (small amounts of) Mana function or such. I hate complicate rules, but the more I think about THAT concept, the more i like it.

Spell sets existing are Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and fanmade Ice.
Additional themes could be Light, Wood, Poison, Summoning, Energy, Crystals, Antimagic, White, Grey, Black or any other color, the 4 schools of deamons out of the warhammer world (exxageration, war, pestilence and treachery), and emptyness. Especially the 4 schools of deamons and the summoning school could be broken down further - summoning includes necromancy but also the call for hordes of insects....

With a lot of magic schools, a lot of spells get available without reusing the same spell again and again.

The wizard does not have 4 body points. With his healing he has at least 8 to start every quest. These should be viewed as his to give away, or not. He is definitely not weak for this reason.

whitebeard wrote:The wizard does not have 4 body points. With his healing he has at least 8 to start every quest. These should be viewed as his to give away, or not. He is definitely not weak for this reason.

I completely agree . (Assuming the elf nabs fire or air)

Anderas wrote:Just take a look at:
What is it that makes the wizard weak?

- it is 4 Body Points
- it is too less spells
- and too weak spells.

I think it is his complete ineptitude in combat that makes him so weak. If you're an NA player he is limited to 1 combat die (or did I miss something). A goblin, the weakest monster in the whole game, has more chance of surviving an attack from a wizard than dying from it (about 58%).

knightkrawler wrote:3. Give him, after several or many quests, a staff that inertly lets him cast balls of flame (to be defended against "normally") as ranged attacks. Number them or set them in relation to his current mind points.

This would be my preferred solution. Even if it was only two combat dice it would still allow him to confidently attack the core dungeon fodder, goblins, orcs and skeletons and expect to win. All of the other Heroes can do this, why not the Wizard?