Magestorm Preview 4: The role of magic

Ultra-powerful beings forge the destiny of the Magestorm universe with their abilities and their spells and are at the core of the battles

(27-07-2010)

Magic in Magestorm has innumerable aspects, and a mage may draw his power from elemental forces, the fate, the nature and many other sources. Normally each source of magic is related to one or more astral planes, dimensions of existence separate from the material world. The supernatural energies of a plane are related to one or more aspects, each aspect giving access to a different group of spells.

These magical energies permeate the material world, as powerful mages are capable of channeling enough energy to open a rift, or portal, from the material world to an astral plane, to conjure the most powerful spells and to summon creatures which are not of this world.

The first box of Magestorm includes four different mages - the Airmage, the Firemage, the Druid and the Fate Guardian - and each of them has very different powers. By choosing a different mage to play a certain battle in Magestorm, the player will find that the game experience changes completely.

Using magic in Magestorm
Every mage uses magical forces in a different way and this is represented in the game by the mage board, which shows how the mage channels his or her magic power and cast his or her spells. The magic power channeled by the mage is represented by power point tokens, that are generated every round according to the scenario instructions and placed on the mage board. These tokens are placed in the source box - the circular one containing a circle representing the mage.

Each round, the power point tokens will be moved around the board during the Magic Phase, through the power links, represented by connecting two boxes and bearing dots. The quantity of a power link's dots show the maximum number of power points a player can move through that line in a round. Most mages have one or more channeling boxes connected to the source. Power points in a channeling box are not yet ready to cast a spell - it happens when the power points reach a spell box. A spell box has a different shape depending on the type of spell. To cast the spell indicated, the player can remove one power point token from the box.

Spells
The spells available to each mage are either represented by spell cards (found in the spell deck) or described by the spell reference sheet of the mage. Some spells require specific spell effect markers. There are four types of spell, each one represented by a different box on the mage board and that can be used in different phases in each turn:

- Tactical spells are used during combat and are represented by a rectangular shape.
- Strategic spells are used during the strategic phase and are represented by a hexagonal shape.
- Summoning spells are used during combat to summon creatures and are represented by a rectangular shape.
- All-purpose spells may be used both in the strategic phase and in the combat phase and are represented by an octagonal shape.

The description of each spell indicates which target is affected by the spell. There are five possible target types:

- hex: the spell influences a hex on the board (for example, modifying the terrain type) or all the units in that hex.
- friendly unit: the spell may influence a friendly unit.
- enemy unit: the spell may influence an enemy unit.
- any unit: the spell may influence either on a friendly or enemy unit.
- die: the spell may influence a die roll.

Casting spells in combat
The number of tactical and summoning spells that a player can cast during combat is limited by the spell cards he has in his spell deck. When a spell is cast during combat, the appropriate spell card must be used in a specific way:

- when a player casts a tactical spell, he places the spell card immediately after the last troop card of the first line of the target unit.
- when a player casts a summoning spell, he places the spell card (representing the summoned creature) anywhere in the first line of the target unit, except in front of the first troop card.
- several spells have an effect based on the number of troops in the first line of a unit. Summoned creatures do not count as troops, so their presence does not influence the effect of these spells.

Next preview: The Mages - Description, aspects and astral planes

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Example of how the power point tokens are moved around the mage board during the Magic Phases

Examples of how the tactical and summoning spells cards are used during the combat

Airmage's spell cards

Druid's spell cards

Firemage's spell cards