On Tue, 20 Sep 1994, John Morrow wrote:
> >The other factor is a concern that battle magic would require
> >changes to the combat system, and extensive playtesting to
> >properly balance.
>
> The division of fighting units into nobles and "hirelings" makes this
> somewhat troublesome. Can you target a spell directly at a noble or
> does it simply fry some hirelings? Targetting nobles directly seems a
> bit severe so I would avoid it.
>
> Next, since dying is pretty boolean for all but nobles, you get into
> the issue of comparing dragons and peasants. "Instant kill" magic
> should also be out.
>
> That leaves you with the combat rules you already have...
>
> A possibility is a series of "blast" type spells that do "<n> strenght
> <x> attacks" when cast. For example:
>
> Fireball: 2 mana Does 4 strength 20 attacks
> Lightning Bolt: 1 mana Does 1 strength 80 attack
>
> You could also add some special effects making certain spells do more
> effective attacks against certain types of units or defeat the special
> ability of Holy Warriors. There is a lot of room to play around here.
>
> The question is then how to use these. Does a mage cast these up
> front, preparing for battle, or are they cast on-the-fly via some
> sort of flag? I would suggest a preparatory casting.
>
> >But perhaps this is not the case. I can envision some simple
> >attack spells which could fit into the existing system and not
> >be too unbalancing....
>
> If you do add "Combat Magic", it should be a new area. That would
> also allow you to append it onto the existing game. It should also
> only be taught in a few places, IMHO. Think fast before all the
> cities are visited... :-)
>
> John Morrow
>
>
>