Who goes first?

[Anderas]

Afterwards, it's your (the evil wizard player's) choice.

To be honest, in the beginning, Fire of Wrath and Fireball are the weakest spells. But: They. Ignore. Armour. Full Point.

Meaning: If you use Fireball against a Goblin or Kobold, it's your fault. If you use Fireball against the biggest Badass +3 Gargoyle Witch Lord Lych Dragon Emperor of the Bones self assembling Barbarian Cyborg, then you're doing it right. That applies to both spells, Fireball and Fire of Wrath.

Courage is different. Apply it on top of a good attack, it is like having 2 Dice of damage more. Just like that. Interpreted literally, until you don't see an enemy, which is about 2 or 3 times.
Applied on a weakling, it is... well... not so good.

[Gold Bearer]

To be honest, in the beginning, Fire of Wrath and Fireball are the weakest spells. But: They. Ignore. Armour. Full Point.

Meaning: If you use Fireball against a Goblin or Kobold, it's your fault. If you use Fireball against the biggest Badass +3 Gargoyle Witch Lord Lych Dragon Emperor of the Bones self assembling Barbarian Cyborg, then you're doing it right. That applies to both spells, Fireball and Fire of Wrath.

They do give defence dice, just a set amount. Fire of wraith gives one and ball of flame gives two. They're just as useful against lower level monsters because they can take them out in one hit, fire of wraith especially because it can only cause 1BP damage.

Courage is different. Apply it on top of a good attack, it is like having 2 Dice of damage more. Just like that. Interpreted literally, until you don't see an enemy, which is about 2 or 3 times.

No it isn't. It says you attack with two extra dice on your next attack. The spell is broken if there are are no monsters in sight so if you haven't attacked yet then you lose the bonus. It's so you can't cast it before you know you're about to get into a fight.

[slev]

The original FoW/BoF do x static damage, but allow set X dice of defence.

This is the mechanical equivilent of allowing X dice of damage and no defence.

The latter is easier to parse, makes more logical sense (goblins getting extra dfence vs BoF etc), and easier to explain.