New Spells for the High elves

[asurwardrum]

New spells for the high Elves, after reading Asurion whitestar’s superb effort of a update to the high elves army book, I was inspired to come up with something new, I liked a lot of what he put in to the elves but felt that the spells could do with more of a tweak and change so here’s what I world like to see in the new book.
I don’t get to play that many game due to work commitments, so I was wondering if any one fancied testing these new spells out at there locally gaming groups and given me some fed back.
All comments welcome thou

Lore attribute -
For each successful spell cast or dispelled an extra dispel dice is generated which can be added to high elf dispel pool for the enemy’s next magic phase, up to maximum limit allowed.


Signature spell:
Drain Magic (hex spell)- adds +3 to all casting values to all spells. Last until casters next magic phase, cast on 6+, spell can be increase to +5 to all casting values at casting value 11+ and can be further increased to +9 at casting level 16+

1. Shield of Saphery (augment spell)- gives a single unit within 18inchs a 5+ ward save cast on 5+, save can be increased to 4+ ward save at casting value 8+ or the 5+ ward save can be extended to all units in 12 inches on a casting value of 12+ spell last until casters next magic phase

2. Curse of Arrow Attraction (Hex Spell)- choose one enemy unit within 24 inches and any shooting attacks against the unit may re-roll any miss, any attack that uses a scatter dice my re-roll the scatter distance re-roll result must be used. Cast on 7+, spell can be cast at 14+ and gives a further +1 to hit to all shooting attacks against the unit an increase range of spell to 36 inches

3. Fury of Khaine (Magic Missile)- range 24 inches causes 2d6 strength 4 hits casting value at 8+, range can be increased to 36 inches and 3d6 strength 4 hits at casting value 14+ strength raised to 5 at casting value 21+

4. Fortune is Fickle (Hex Spell)- choose one enemy wizard within 36 inches of the caster any roll of a 6 when casting or dispelling the dice is stolen and added to the high elf players dispel or power dice pool only one dice can be stolen per spell cast/dispel attempt and the dice is lost if there is already the maximum number of dice in the pool. The dice result is not counted towards the dispel or casting attempt so can prevent a irritable force result casting value 12+ Range increased to 48inchs at casting value 15+

5.Flames of the Phoenix (Direct DamageSpell)- , all modals in a single unit within 24 inches take a strength 3 hit, every turn the spell remains in play each modal in the unit takes a further hit at +1 strength more than it did the turn before. Casting value 11+ the number of hits per modal is raised to two at casting level 16+, Starting strength is raised to 4 at casting value 21+All hits are flaming attacks

6. Vauls unmaking (Hex Spell)- cast on any enemy unit within 24 inches, all magic items in the unit must be revealed and the casting player may destroy a single magic item, casting value 12+. Range can be extended to 36 inches at casting value 16+, all magic items in the unit are nullified when cast on a value of 21+ also when cast at this level at any unit which has any magic abilities such as, casket of skulls, anvil of doom or the engine of the gods there abilities are disrupted and can only be used on a d6 roll of a 5or6 rolled by the owning player.

[Wicksi]

One thing I find very odd with all proposals of new high magic I've seen is why nobody have thought about building Drain magic as a (I don recall the word right now but the thing that makes fire feed fire, heals one wound per life spell casts etc.)

Like "all none high magic spells cast after the spell is resolved is counted as +2 on their casting characteristic until the casters next magic phase" so that for every spell you manage to throw it will be +2 harder for the enemy so say you get 2spells thro your oponent would get +4 on every spell on his turn when he has to cast.

[Botjer]

How about this...
For each high magic spell successfully cast the enemy gets -1 to casting any spells in their magic phase...

[Asurion Whitestar]

Thanks Asurwardrum, .

One thing I find very odd with all proposals of new high magic I've seen is why nobody have thought about building Drain magic as a (I don recall the word right now but the thing that makes fire feed fire, heals one wound per life spell casts etc.)

Like "all none high magic spells cast after the spell is resolved is counted as +2 on their casting characteristic until the casters next magic phase" so that for every spell you manage to throw it will be +2 harder for the enemy so say you get 2spells thro your oponent would get +4 on every spell on his turn when he has to cast.

Wicksi, you mean Lore Attribute I'm sure, .
With the Drain Magic lore attribute idea, I did think/play on it a little in my first concepts of my 8th Ed updated army book, but thought it too powerful with a High Elf magic phase spitting out up to 10+ spells, raising the enemy spells difficulty by 10+ (with no penalty to ours), seemed a little uber powered. With this kind of lore attribute I could see it's abuse by casting several smaller callibur spells, even if not effective, just to get the nigh unstoppable Drain Magic attribute to kill off the enemys Magic phase.

I'm also curently working on a new version, but am waiting on my 5th Ed spell cards to arrive. I've been waiting over 2 months now (they were sent very late, with an apolgy and postage refunded so it's all good ... ).

[Azezel]

High Magic seems to be fairly unfluffy to me. It doesn't scream 'I've mastered every Wind of Magic' to me. It's just a list of unrelated, fairly bland tricks - with two exceptions. Drain Magic and Vaul's Unmaking.

Based on those - I'd love to see high Magic become, well, the Magic of Magic itself. The lore of someone who has mastered all forms of magic, and whose control is so fine and so deep that he or she can influence the Winds of Magic themselves.

Off the top of my head it might look something like this:

Lore Attribute: Fine Control. The High Mage's manipulation of Magic is more akin to a scalpel than a hammer. Each time he casts a spell he may reroll any one power die. The result of this reroll may cause or prevent Misscast/Irresistable Force as normal.

Signature Spell: Anyspell. The High Mage may swap a High Magic spell for the Signature Spell from any of the Eight Lores of Magic, however, that spell does not benefit from its normal Lore Attribute.

1: Drain Magic. Same as present. Boosted version is +6 to cast, instead of +3.

2: Dispell Magic: Any one spell is dispelled. The advantage of this spell is that the Mage need only meet it's casting value, not the value of the spell being dispelled. Boosted version cannot be dispelled.

3: Magic Weapons. Augmennt, RiP. Makes target unit's attacks count as magical. boosted version affects all units within 24"

4: Vaul's Unmaking. Same as present. Boosted version affects all magic items carried by model.

5: Battle of Wills: The Mage tests his own magical might against a worthy opponant, dueling with pure magic in the realm of thought alone. Select an enemy Wizard within 24 inches. The Wizard and the caster roll d6 and add their Leadership. the looser looses a number of wizard levels equal to the difference, to a minimum of 0.

6: Unleash latent Magic: The Mage temporarily awakens the dormant potential inside even the most mundane individual. Obviously, being untrained and unprepared, the results can be messy. Every enemy Character within 24" that is not a Wizard must roll on the Misscast table. Any who survive have Stupidity for the remainder of the game as they struggle to understand what just happened.


That's the sort of thing that seems right.

[Nicene]

Lore Attribute: Fine Control. The High Mage's manipulation of Magic is more akin to a scalpel than a hammer. Each time he casts a spell he may reroll any one power die. The result of this reroll may cause or prevent Misscast/Irresistable Force as normal.

Signature Spell: Anyspell. The High Mage may swap a High Magic spell for the Signature Spell from any of the Eight Lores of Magic, however, that spell does not benefit from its normal Lore Attribute.

1: Drain Magic. Same as present. Boosted version is +6 to cast, instead of +3.

2: Dispell Magic: Any one spell is dispelled. The advantage of this spell is that the Mage need only meet it's casting value, not the value of the spell being dispelled. Boosted version cannot be dispelled.

3: Magic Weapons. Augmennt, RiP. Makes target unit's attacks count as magical. boosted version affects all units within 24"

4: Vaul's Unmaking. Same as present. Boosted version affects all magic items carried by model.

5: Battle of Wills: The Mage tests his own magical might against a worthy opponant, dueling with pure magic in the realm of thought alone. Select an enemy Wizard within 24 inches. The Wizard and the caster roll d6 and add their Leadership. the looser looses a number of wizard levels equal to the difference, to a minimum of 0.

6: Unleash latent Magic: The Mage temporarily awakens the dormant potential inside even the most mundane individual. Obviously, being untrained and unprepared, the results can be messy. Every enemy Character within 24" that is not a Wizard must roll on the Misscast table. Any who survive have Stupidity for the remainder of the game as they struggle to understand what just happened.

Wow, all of those are really cool ideas. Some would obviously need tweaking (like the last one, which is incredibly powerful no matter what the casting cost) but the idea behind each of them (and the list as a whole) is really nice.

[Azezel]

Wow, all of those are really cool ideas.

Thank you kindly.

Some would obviously need tweaking (like the last one, which is incredibly powerful no matter what the casting cost) but the idea behind each of them (and the list as a whole) is really nice.

The last one is powerful - but not so bad as it appears. Any non-Wizard character is going to have the wounds and armour to to take a few such hits, and a roll of 10-12 on the Misscast table does nothing at all to a non-Wizard. The loss of power dice is also irrelevant since the this takes place in your magic phase, not theirs. Essentially, all the spell does is deal a few wounds and perhaps a template or two.

For my money, number 5 is the real powerhouse. Most armies' Wizards cap out at Leadership eight or so, whereas we can have a Mage Knight with Ld 10.

[Arayadan]

Hey Azazel, I like both of those last two lore attributes, mostly the first one the allows the mage to reroll one dice. HE mages should definately have some benefit of not miscasting, and this would do it! But it would have to have a limit such as once per phase, that exact benefit is a gift for deamons, i think its 70 points(!) though?
Its fluff, and would be workable if it was once per magic phase...but the cost of the demonic gift would hinder its acceptance.

I do like the idea of drain magic being a lore attribute as well, which would free up the option of another hex or augment into the high lore(which it definitely should have to compete) which would be workable and fair at +1CC per successful casting, compared to goblins sneaky stealin' maybe 2 would be fair.
Thinking back to my last few games it is very rare that I get off more than two spells. I have never had more than three go off unless the enemy did not have a caster. How many games have you played where you were getting three spells off every turn?

Check my post First Among Equals, I think HE having a their own miscast very appropriate, and would be agreeable with fans of almost any army as HE lore attribute(as it doesnt affect them). which is most of the time that caster is finished for the phase. period. Not a Loremaster from the Tower of Hoeth with perhaps a thousand years under his belt exploding and killing many of his comrades.

[Oberon]

@Azazel

I can appreciate trying to really capture the centuries of magical mastery in the Elf race with High Magic. High Magic I think is supposed to encompass all the lores through representing their attributes into one. This is probably what causes the current lore to seem like that eclectic 'bag of tricks'. Your attribute is a very tempting proposition. There are a few things in your brainstorm list that don't strike me as making High Magic any more representative of magic mastery than the current list:

1.) Dispel Magic: this seems like a waste of space, because this already has an in game mechanic. A direct damage spell would be better, since there is none in your potential list, and Elves surely would utilize the destructive power of magic in their tailored lore.
2.) Magic Weapons: interesting, but not very awe-inspiring and also extremely situational. This strikes me as a mere parlor trick. Maybe add rerolls to wound and magical; with the big version adding an extra attack.
3.) Battle of Wills: this is another waste of space, since your signature spell can just repeat this effect by taking Death's signature. Perhaps this should be a RiP hex that neutralizes ward saves. This would be powerful and fluffy when you consider our history fighting the most terrifying armies of the warp: Daemons. The elves would probably have learned long ago how to weaken the Daemonic bonds to this world.

Also, with regards to Unleash Latent Magic (perhaps named: Magical Implosion), who the miscast occurs to is irrelevant, because the loss of power dice simply happens to the power pool. It doesn't specifically state who's pool that is. So, Cupped Hands, while damaging an elven mage, would also cause a loss of PD from the Slann's pool. The same mechanic is here, unless you state it otherwise. Perhaps say: the character suffers the effects of the miscast, but there is no loss of power dice. I like this spell, but I would allow for the loss of power dice in general, since it is so powerful. Also a big version could effect unit champions as well or force an opponent to roll 1 D6 -1 on the miscast table instead of 2.

I'm not sold on the signature either. Shield of Saphery seems like it would be the most innate spell of a High Elf mage. My changes might look like this:

Attribute: Fine Control. The High Mage's manipulation of Magic is more akin to a scalpel than a hammer. Each time he casts a spell he may reroll any one power die. The result of this reroll may cause or prevent Misscast/Irresistable Force as normal.
Signature: Shield of Saphery. Augment. Same spell with a bubble version possible. 4++ seems to powerful. 5+/13+
1.) Drain Magic. Hex. Asurion's version. 5+ initial
2.) Fury of Khaine. Magic Missile. Asurion's version, but with flaming attacks. 9+ initial
3.) Enchantment of Hoeth. Augment. A unit has magical attacks and may reroll wounds, big version adds +1 attack. 10+/14+
4.) Siphon of Caledor. Hex, RiP. A unit loses its ward saves of any kind, big version effects all units within 12''. 10+/16+
5.) Vauls Unmaking. Hex. Same as you have.
6.) There can be only One. Hex. Cause miscasts each enemy character within 18''. Big version also effects unit champs and forces a miscast roll on 1 D6 -1. 18+/24+

These are some of my thoughts based on your edits. I also like what Asurion's done. I am a fan of Flames as well.

Edit: Curse of Arrow Attraction and Flames are great spells as you've written Asurion!

[Arayadan]

THe demons gift i mentioned can reroll one dispell or casting dice, so HE getting to reroll one casting dice a phase should be fair game as a good lore attribute!

[Arch Mage]

High Magic seems to be fairly unfluffy to me. It doesn't scream 'I've mastered every Wind of Magic' to me. It's just a list of unrelated, fairly bland tricks - with two exceptions. Drain Magic and Vaul's Unmaking.

Based on those - I'd love to see high Magic become, well, the Magic of Magic itself. The lore of someone who has mastered all forms of magic, and whose control is so fine and so deep that he or she can influence the Winds of Magic themselves.

Off the top of my head it might look something like this:

Lore Attribute: Fine Control. The High Mage's manipulation of Magic is more akin to a scalpel than a hammer. Each time he casts a spell he may reroll any one power die. The result of this reroll may cause or prevent Misscast/Irresistable Force as normal.

Signature Spell: Anyspell. The High Mage may swap a High Magic spell for the Signature Spell from any of the Eight Lores of Magic, however, that spell does not benefit from its normal Lore Attribute.

1: Drain Magic. Same as present. Boosted version is +6 to cast, instead of +3.

2: Dispell Magic: Any one spell is dispelled. The advantage of this spell is that the Mage need only meet it's casting value, not the value of the spell being dispelled. Boosted version cannot be dispelled.

3: Magic Weapons. Augmennt, RiP. Makes target unit's attacks count as magical. boosted version affects all units within 24"

4: Vaul's Unmaking. Same as present. Boosted version affects all magic items carried by model.

5: Battle of Wills: The Mage tests his own magical might against a worthy opponant, dueling with pure magic in the realm of thought alone. Select an enemy Wizard within 24 inches. The Wizard and the caster roll d6 and add their Leadership. the looser looses a number of wizard levels equal to the difference, to a minimum of 0.

6: Unleash latent Magic: The Mage temporarily awakens the dormant potential inside even the most mundane individual. Obviously, being untrained and unprepared, the results can be messy. Every enemy Character within 24" that is not a Wizard must roll on the Misscast table. Any who survive have Stupidity for the remainder of the game as they struggle to understand what just happened.


That's the sort of thing that seems right.

I think get rid of unleash magic for a similar idea but with a different table


Then as for the battle of wills maybe make it roll 3d6 the enemy removes his highest and we remove our lowest, aka make it usable to the lvl ones and 2s that high magic is so good on. Secondly I think a shield of saphery type spell in

Say:

Vortex
Augment:
The target unit is surrounded by a mystical tempest,
When ever the target unit is targeted by any shooting attack roll a d6 on a 4+ the missile iss diverted, when a magical missile is shot roll a d6 on a 1-3 there is no effect on a 4-5 the spells strength or number of hits is halved on a roll the dice again on a 1-3 it is dispelled on 4+ it is resolved against the casters unit
In close combat roll a d6 for every attack directed at the unit on a 5 it is discounted on a 6 it is resolved against the attacker...


To put on our sm it would be another hig cost spell.
As for magic weapons maybe make it so that it either allows you to re-roll wounds or causes multiple wounds d2 or it makes the unit ethereal as well.


Has anyone considered maybe making 2 Lores or simply breaking it into the scrolls of high magic, of which each has 6 spells the same sig and lore attribute? How about that? Maybe it could be that you roll a dice before the battle on a 1-2 you get one on a 3-4 the other and on 5 you choose and on a 6 you can take spells from both...

Any thoughts on that?