[Magic] Battlemages and their favourite spells

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by Gudiomen

There's no point in taking spells such as deflect missiles, for instance... when a dodge accomplishes this. Instead use your points on counterspells and wards. School Familiarity perks can be very useful here.

Uhhh with most mage stats your dodge is going to be about an 8. Thats a 60 ish percent change of eating that crossbow bolt for big damage and probably having your spell disrupted. I wiould rather spend the 1 cp and than the 1 fp to get my 98+ pct chance (skill 16 for ave spell very likely) to aviod all that thank you...

YMMV of course but I find the math very compelling...

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Lightning certainly has its pluses (it also does Surge damage to electronics), but... It's harder to learn than Fireball,

Yes that's true, it has more prerequisites. Those prerequisites can be quite useful, though.

it does about 28% less damage per point of energy,

Yes, if damage was the same NO wizard would EVER learn Fireball :)

it behaves unpredictably around conductors. Fire spells are also usually more reliable in actually starting fires.

"Can start fires" will often be a worse nuisance than "can't be thrown through a metal grid".

All considered, I deem Lightning to be superior to Fireball. The automatic HT roll (at a penalty!) is very often a fight stopper.

Originally Posted by Gudiomen

Some form of counter-magic is a must. There's no point in taking spells such as deflect missiles, for instance... when a dodge accomplishes this. Instead use your points on counterspells and wards. School Familiarity perks can be very useful here.

Counter-magic is *terribly* uneffective in GURPS. To be of any use at all, you need either to be an archmage (knowing hundreds of spell), or to use the School Familiarity perks (which aren't in GURPS Magic, and to me look like a late correction, added when they realized that Counterspell and Ward were *never used* in actual play).

Deflect Missiles costs fatigue but it's almost always better than a Dodge, even if you use Feverish Defense. Often mages lack heavy armour / lots of HP so they really don't want to be hit by crossbows' darts to the vitals.
Moreover, such spells as Reverse Missile (both in the Regular and Blocking versions) are *far better* than dodges because they actually allow you to injure the enemy archer.

[Elgon]

We just started a campaign in a world with partially limited magic. To put it short: no missile spells or teleport/dimensional spells. Also, the most powerful 10 % of spells regardless of type are banned. I know banning missile spells sounds weird, but it makes sense in the world and history of the campaign, and is something different at least.

Nevertheless i wanted to create a battle-mage (225 cps), or more of a warrior-mage really. I ended up with these core spells:

- For instant defense: Deflect Missile, Iron Arm
- For prepared defense: Shield, Armor, (Missile Shield,) Reverse Missiles
- For extra damage: Electric Weapon, Electric Missiles (+2 dmg)
- Panic!: Shocking Touch
- For both offense and defense: Windstorm, Spark Storm, Air Vision. In certain situations, these spell are very useful. They not only act as efficient missile shields: in a situation where your foes can't retreat, or in mass combat, they become deadly. Moving around inside the Storm and letting it knock your foes down while you keep hitting them with your Electrified Broadsword is nice, safe and violent
- ...plus the obvious Movement and Healing spells

Some Advantages typical for a warrior, plus M3.

[Stripe]

How about a little thread...

...NECROMANCY!!!

Muwha ha ha! Bwa ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha!!! I kill myself!!!

"Necromancy!" Get it?

See, the thread is old and it's about spells...


Annnyways. There are a few really good posts in here. Any more good battle mage builds now that we've had three more years?

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Stripe

Annnyways. There are a few really good posts in here. Any more good battle mage builds now that we've had three more years?

I haven't reread this whole thread yet so it may have already come up, but I've recently become smitten with the Movement College. It possesses classics like Deflect Missile (Missile Shield and Reverse Missiles aren't Movement spells, though they have Apportation as prereqs), Distant Blow (which may be able to strike through the above shields), Great Haste (extra actions are always awesome, as is alliteration). Glue and Grease can nicely destroy an enemy's Dodge defense, while Poltergeist and Winged Knife provide modest (but cheap) ranged firepower. The combination of Levitate/Flight and Locksmith will play havoc on dungeon barriers, while Light Tread can avoid many traps and foil pursuit. Upper tier spells like Flying Carpet and Teleport provide incredible mobility, and Ethereal Body is a great Get Out of Jail Free card.

For a mage duel, the most useful spells will likely be Deflect Missile (or its kin) and the various mobility / speed spells. You'll likely want to supplement with other colleges for defense against enemy spells, and more potent offensive powers.

[Bruno]

Rooted Feet or Glue. Roundabout. Nice kneecaps you had there, eh? (if not resisted, I treat it as a successful Wrench Limb with ST = Roundabout skill level. If it matters - if it's a mook, there's a sickening crunch and he stops fighting.)

[hal]

Start a new thread, and title it "We're Looking for a few good Mages"
Put something in it like "The Few, the Proud, the Mages. We're looking for a few good Mages. If you have what it takes, maybe you too can join the elite college staff dedicated towards training the next generation of Battle mages."

Then elsewhere, put in some stipulations such as point build, and anything else that makes this an interesting exercise. People are required to post their builds on the thread, and later on, if anyone wants to run such a project, do a play by post or what have you, where the various battle mages square off against each other.

Just a thought.

[Stripe]

^I hear you, Hal. These threads just don't do well. I'm considering starting a Dungeon Fantasy 1-2 and Magic-only Wizard build thread with a maximum of 30 points total, but, these threads often tank and there's already some great info here.

This was the best thread I found on the subject, and I remembered it when it was alive, before I resurrected it.


On topic, I'm surprised Panic doesn't get nearly as much love as Stench. Stench does negligible damage in most combat encounters; it's all about clearing the room. Granted, indoors, it's a solution that will last longer than the average battle. Panic is great at doing the same thing and is resisted by Will.

I nearly total-party killed with a single Panic spell. All four PC's, including a cleric/wizard-type, failed their roll and fled.

Stench is great for a number of reasons including its irresistible effects and only one prerequisite, don't get me wrong. It is better than Panic. It's just that Panic is resisted by Will, which is often lower than HT for melee characters. Of course, Stench's true effects are irresistible for any normal, breathing character.

Just saying. Panic is nice, in my opinion.

The stunning effects of Death Vision are resisted by IQ, making it a highly-lethal weapon against individual melee characters. It has no prerequisites and only costs 1 FP at skill 15. Unfortunately, it takes three seconds to cast unless taken at level 20. However, being stunned until an IQ roll is made is a great way to take out a single character, in my opinion.

[Flameman]

Fear + Frightening side effects perk
Its a great fight ender assuming you have some skill in intimidation, but being based on will what wizards tend to have :) and a +3 from fear. That shouldn't be your biggest problem.

[wellspring]

Originally Posted by Lupo

Missile spells: never take Fireball. Lighting is far better; reduced damage but improved Acc and 1/2, metal RD counts as 1 and, more importantly, the target must roll vs. HT - 1 for each 2 points of damage, or be Stunned.

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Lightning certainly has its pluses (it also does Surge damage to electronics), but... It's harder to learn than Fireball, it does about 28% less damage per point of energy, and it behaves unpredictably around conductors. Fire spells are also usually more reliable in actually starting fires.

Missile spells shouldn't be your go-to spells in combat, but they definitely have their uses. For that, I've noticed no one has mentioned Stone Missile except in passing. It's got better range, Acc, and damage than Fireball despite having a prereq count that's only barely higher (and those are spells you'll use anyway).

It also does crushing damage. In an Infinite Worlds setting, where you get those kevlar/nanoweave type armors, having the ability to do lots of blunt trauma can come in very handy.

Let me add that the Mind Control spells, used creatively, can be devastating. Especially if you're the aggressor and have the drop on your enemies. Illusion shell can be useful, too. Cast it around a foe to make him look like the dangerous and vulnerable PC spellcaster. Of course, he doesn't have Missile Shield, does he?

Proper form for that last spell is to give the victim a goatee.