Revised Wizards Of Morcar Spells

[Gold Bearer]

I think anyone who's looked at the Wizard Of Morcar hero spells will agree that they're not balanced with the element spells so I've reworked each one to improve them while trying to keep them close to the originals. This is something I'm actually not going to be using as standard because I designed my heroes using the weaker WoM spells as a balancing measure, but I do have a very nice use for them that I'll post when I'd done the card.

Darkness

Arrows Of The Night
You may fire these magical bolts
at any target in your line of sight,
attacking them with three combat
dice. The target defends with the
same number of combat dice as
their current Mind points.

Chains Of Darkness
This spell may be cast on any
one target on the board, rendering
them unable to perform any action
except casting on their next turn.

Cloak Of Shadows
You may summon a patch of
darkness and place up to six 1x1
Cloak Of Shadows tiles on the
board. At least one tile must be
within your line of sight and if you
use more than one tile, each tile
must be directly adjacent to at
least one other tile. Any figures
in the shadows may not attack,
be attacked or cast spells while
they are there. The tiles are not
removed and last until the end of
the Quest or until the caster dies
or chooses to end the spell.

Detection

Clairvoyance
You may ask the evil wizard player to
lay out the contents of one room
anywhere on the board at once. If that
room is empty you may try another
room until you choose a room that
isn't empty or run out of rooms.

Future Sight
You may cast this spell on any one target in
sight, allowing them to reroll any dice rolls
(any amount of each roll) once until the end
of the evil wizard player's next turn.

Treasure Hoard
When you are searching a room for treasure,
you may cast this spell without using an
action to draw three treasure cards at once.
You must take two of these cards whatever
they are.

Protection

Dispell
You may pick one spell using enemy
and force them to reveal all their spell
cards. You may then select one of their
spells which is then lost for the duration
of the Quest.

Invisibility
You may cast this spell on any one target in
sight, allowing them to move around unseen.
While invisible, the target may doing nothing
other than move at no more than half rate. The
target cannot be attacked or affected by spells.
The spell ends when the target next does anything
other than move or moves at more than half rate.

Wall Of Stone
You may create a magical Wall Of Stone
which covers two squares. This wall has
one Body and rolls six defence dice,
defending on either shield. The spell may
be ended by the caster at any time and
is automatically ended if the caster dies.

[Goblin-King]

I like them. Without sitting with the cards to make an exact comparison; at a glance it's an improvement in every way. Especially Detection needed an upgrade badly.

The original spells are better suited as extra spells rather than alternative choices to replace the classic decks.

[Gold Bearer]

Without sitting with the cards to make an exact comparison; at a glance it's an improvement in every way. Especially Detection needed an upgrade badly.

Arrows Of The Night: Attacks with three dice instead of two, matching the card.
Chains Of Darkness: Any target on the board instead of in sight.
Cloak Of Shadows: Choice of size and shape instead of a 2x3 tile.

Clairvoyance: Keep trying until a room isn't empty, so you can check you haven't missed a secret door.
Future Sight: Can be cast on someone else and reroll any dice instead of attack, defence or movement (traps and spells).
Treasure Hoard: Choice of two cards instead of taking all three.

Dispell: Choose which spell to discard instead of a random one and get to see an enemy caster's spells.
Invisibility: Can be cast on someone else and lasts until the caster performs any action or moves more than half rate.
Wall Of Stone: Defends on either shield instead of just white ones.

I also changed the two that remain in play (cloak of shadows and wall of stone) so that they can be ended by the caster and automatically end if the caster dies to make them less of a double edged sword and to avoid problems that can happen.

The original spells are better suited as extra spells rather than alternative choices to replace the classic decks.

Yea, I really like Wizards of Morcar but the hero spells were a major let down because they just weren't worth taking, other than maybe darkness instead of fire. The simplest way to add them is spell book quest treasures. The elf can have one and the wizard can have two.

[slev]

Interesting...

May have to steal some of these tweaks...

[Gold Bearer]

Help yourself.

Only some?

[slev]

Only some?

I'd already made the change to Arrows of the Night & Future Sight

[Gold Bearer]

Edited invisibility to tone it down now that I realise that the WoM spells are supposed to be able to be cast on other targets and are just very badly worded.

[wallydubbs]

I do agree that some of the spells need to be revised, but as they're chosen in sets, there's usually 1 spell that is highly valuable, 1 that is good to have and another that is only used in certain situations;
Air Spells:
Genie- Very valuable as it's the Wizard's best attack spell. The door thing may come in handy for locked doors or stone doors, but most of the time it's used as an attack.
Tempest- is good to have, it can be handy if the Barbarian has two powerful monsters around him and the Wizard can cast this, giving him a breather, maybe able to take out one before being bombarded with heavy attacks. It can also be used to smother fireburst traps and chaos clouds.
Swift Wind- very rarely has its uses and generally gets used for a character to play catch-up, or make a quick retreat when alone and encountering enemies. I've also seen it coupled with Pass through Rock to cover more ground.

Earth Spells:
Heal Body- Body Points are extremely important and recovering 4 is a spell nobody would refuse.
Rock Skin- although this one has the potential to fail on first attack, it also has the potential to last an entire quest. Rookie Heroes often misjudge this spell as something that should be saved for the final battle, when you'll be against heavy hitters. But it's actually more valuable to use early on, potentially saving your body points while against random underlings.
Pass Through Rock- although it's a cool spell, only the riskiest heroes will run off into the unknown without any back-up, or possibly get stuck in a stone wall... it can easily backfire. This is meant for those times when positioning is important, it's another way of getting around. It can also be used in the rare times when a falling block trap separates a hero from the rest of the group.

Fire Spells:
Courage- This is the spell that has most value especially when facing the boss or a massive group of monsters. If it's played in the last room you can pretty much wipe out all the bad guys in a matter if turns.
Ball of Flame- although it has the same probability of effectiveness as Fire of Wrath, this one maximizes with 2 BPs of damage. You're almost guaranteed at least 1 hit. Though I have seen the spell completely fail at times, I've also seen it finish off a Chaos Warrior, who had already lost 1BP.
Fire of Wrath- it's a spell you can easily lose faith in. Theoretically you have a 1 in 3 of failing, but statistically 85% of the time the monster rolls a 5 and the wizard loses the spell with nothing to show for it.

Water Spells:
Water of Healing- another healing spell, which is always useful.
Sleep- thus spell needs to be capitalized as soon as it takes effect. Depending on the monster's mind points it could last several turns or fail immediately. Though I've seen a Fimir stay asleep for 5 turns, and even a Necromancer succumb to its effects for a turn, there are other times when an orc will beat the spell. It can be very effective especially when it comes to bigger and later monsters, such as the Giant Wolf, it's perfect for such occasions.
Veil of Mist- this spell generally gets the wooden spoon. Though I've seen the Wizard use it effectively for offensive and defensive purposes, it is much more limited compared to other spells.

All these spell sets are well balanced in comparison to one another but the Expansion spells from Wizards of Morcar don't always holdup:

Spells of Darkness:
Cloak of Shadows- in essence this creates a safe spot for all characters, hero and monster alike, but it also prevents spell use. In Wizards of Morcar/Zargon mercenaries are available, so in having more heroes to work with it's possible to trap an enemy spell caster in the Cloak of Shadows while other heroes take out the underlings.
Arrows of the Night- I find this spell more powerful then Ball of Flame, except when facing very powerful sorcerers. Although the latter isn't prejudice when it comes to mind points, Arrows of the Night seems to give a much better chance at landing a hit on anything but a sorcerer. Unlike the Sleep spell, this one doesn't dismiss undead as targets, so I think this is the perfect spell to use on Mummies.
Chains of Darkness- this one just falls short of Tempest; though preventing a monster from physically attacking, it still allows them to cast spells and doesn't have the alternative use of smothering Fireburst traps or the Cloud of Chaos.

Spells of Detection:
Future Sight- this could be an effective spell if a hero finds himself surrounded, it would help in managing a strong defense for 1 turn, and gives the hero at least 1 good attack. The problem is that the spell doesn't last long enough. If this had an indefinite limit such as Courafe, Rock Skin and Double Image, it could bring the entire spell set up in value.
Treasure Horde- I can see a greedy hero going for this. However the spell has the possibility of backfiring. Determine the ratio of good-to-bad cards in the Treasure Deck between the game system and Wizards of Morcar, the odds are likely that the hero will end up with 2 good cards and 1 bad one... unless editions are made on the Treasure deck. If the spell is used after most of the good cards are taken it's really not worth it. However, if you have an aspiring hero that really wants to buy things from the armory, this spell has potential.
Clairvoyance- is another spell that heroes won't care to use. Though if the heroes aren't entirely gun-ho, it could be helpful in planning a strategy.

Spells of Protection:
Dispell- when up against an enemy spell caster this spell can come in handy. However, when in a quest without an enemy sorcerer it has no use.
Wall of Stone- I've seen monsters break the wall in 1 turn... but I've also seen it stand for 15 turns. If you wish to slow down an advancing enemy horde or cover your left flank, this spell can be of use. It can also buy you time when you run into a room while being chased down. However sometimes the wall can be too strong and you'll end up having to help your enemy break it down just so you can kill them.
Invisibility- this is just a 1 turn protection spell...you can't even attack with it, but you'll be safe from attacks and spells for 1 turn. This spell really needs help in regards to duration. 1 turn isn't long enough to be useful. Yet I wouldn't want it to be the same spell as Disappear. It's only redeeming grace is the fact that it doesn't prevent the hero from searching for traps, Treasure or disarming.


In my opinion, Spells of Darkness can be kept as is. Although it doesn't have a top tier spell like Water of Healing, it doesn't have a low tier spell either (Like Veil of Mist). They all seem to be of medium balance.

Spells of Detection do need work, though:
Future Sight needs duration, maybe not the line of sight rule, like Courage, but suppose Future Sight will only last on one hero as long as his mind could sustain the spell; for each mind point the hero has the spell should last that many turns.
I do like the risk incorporated in the Treasure Hoard spell, but that might be because I expanded my Treasure deck...
Clairvoyance should be expanded on what it reveals though. The Wizard can see into any room, yes, if it's empty he can't try again. However if he picks a room that's nothing but stone it doesn't count as a room and he can try again. He should also be able to see what traps are in the room and maybe peek at the first card in the Treasure deck; that card, whatever it is, is assigned to that room whenever searched.

Spells of Protection can use a little work too:
Dispell is fine, but should also be able to dispell Fireburst traps.
Wall of Stone can be kept as is.
Invisibility needs duration too... or at least allow the hero to attack during that turn, the monster can't defend since he can't see him. Maybe even incorporate the Veil of Mist ability and let the hero move "unseen" through monster spaces.

[Pancho]

I recreated the WOM spells here, in line with the excellent suggestions in this thread.

Feel free to use (there's also a bonus spell group there, the Spells of Control)

[lestodante]

Future Sight:
"You may cast this spell on any one target in sight, allowing them
to reroll all dice rolls (any
amount of each roll) once until
the end of the evil wizard player's
next turn."

Does ANY ONE mean 1 single subject? BEcause later I can read ALLOWING THEM...
Anyway, if I receive 5 attacks I can reroll my dice 5 times (once for each attack I suffer) until the Evil Wizard player ends his turn?