I like it! I've been playing around with the idea of a shapeshifter mage for a while (themed as the Howl, since they are already canon), though as Nature/Dark rather than Nature/Mind. The problem I've always had is why you would want to shapeshift rather than simply summoning the creature directly. You address this, though:

All enchantments that target a mestaclocan instead target their active form. All damage that would be dealt to a mestaclocan is instead dealt to their active form. When one of their forms takes damage equal to or greater than its life, that form is destroyed, and the Mestaclocan reverts to their original form, which is incorporeal. A mestaclocan can only really die in their original form, which has 10 life.

I think this is a nice incentive - the creatures you become are your armor. So while you have fewer actions, you are extremely hard to kill and can be very unpredictable (once you have a lot of creatures, your opponent could be facing anything next round).

In fact, you might want some disadvantage to make up for the incredible ability to survive and prevent the mage from just loading up on 'meatshield forms'. Since this is a Mind mage, upkeep costs could make sense.

On the other hand, 10 life/incorporeal is a pretty big disadvantage once the creature is stripped away, since there is no way for you to heal, and you can't shift again until the next round. Maybe it is fine.

I'm not sure if Blink is the best secondary ability for this mage. Also, as has been discussed elsewhere, Blink X > Y is not necessarily always better than Blink Y, since you might return to the zone that you left and have less control over your destination. Thematically, I can sort of see the Mestaclocan appearing randomly in different places, but maybe there is something better you could do.

Edit: Just saw your post on why blink works well with nature/mind mages. Sounds good, though you may want to be more explicit about the thematic justification.

A few questions:

1. You said that equipment only applies to the original form. If you are shapeshifted, can you still use your equipment? If not, then I assume your equipment is also not targetable, right?

2. Can you still choose to summon creatures normally?

If I have the "elusive" trait due to Mongoose Agility, my scimitar does not also gain the elusive trait because it isn't affected by my traits, correct?

Correct. In fact, the scimitar's attack cannot even be used to remove a guard marker, much less ignore one.

If my opponent is Marked for Death, I typically only get the bonus once per turn. However, if I make a normal attack followed by a dancing scimitar attack, does the scimitar also get the bonus (since the attack originates from the scimitar rather than from my mage)?

No. Marked For Death's bonus only buffs creatures; the scimitar is equipment.

I don't really want to get involved in this argument. However, here are some more appropriately dressed female mage cards for anybody that absolutely has to have an alternative:



Others for stylistic consistency:

Nice idea for a large scale game. There are a few issues that need to be addressed:

Players are not allowed to move their mage or any objects they control more than five zones away from their starting zones, nor are they allowed to cast spells onto targets more than five zones away from their starting zones. When a player is eliminated, their minitable is removed, and everyone scoots their chairs and tables in until all of the zones are touching.

What happens if another player has objects on a minitable belonging to a player who is then eliminated? Where do they go?

Every other player starts with an initiative marker. At the beginning of each round, the initiative markers move one seat to the right. There is no die rolling for initiative. Rather, initiative markers are randomly assigned based on where you are sitting. When a Mage dies while holding an initiative marker, that initiative marker is removed from the game at the end of the round. When a player's mage dies without holding an initiative marker, the initiative marker held by the player next to them who did not kill their mage is removed at the end of the round.

I don't think I understand how timing works in this variant. Does every player in the circle have a separate turn, or are there simultaneous turns of a sort? The former option leads to a tremendous amount of downtime, whereas the latter lead to some timing conflicts. Possible solutions:

1. Eclipse-Style simultaneous turns, where players opposite each other at the table (and hence too far apart to affect each other) go at the same time. Can run into problems if one turn marker catches up to the other one, though.

2. Alternating turns, where every other player goes during the same phase, and then wait until all such players have gone. If mages can't do anything 5 zones away, this should work, although it still has a considerable downtime problem, since the game for everybody only progresses at the speed of the slowest mage. This could be solved partially by instituting timed turns, I suppose.

Nice. Keep in mind, though, that as a Mind3/Dark2 spell, the Sympath will pay a total of 7 points, not 5. Since she is the only one that can use this, you might consider changing the spellbook cost to Mind4/Dark1 if you want to maintain the pattern of Mage-Only spells being fully within the training of their mages.

As it stands, a very powerful spell with few downsides other than the high mana cost. Maybe consider some sort of nerf or penalty; obliterating your own spellbook (as previously mentioned) is probably too much, but there must be some thematic middle ground that can be found.

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13077.0
The Sympath's training should be in Mind, Arcane Level 2, and Dark curses. Her training reflects her adaptability. Her channeling should probably be 9 and her life should probably be 30.

The reason for this change is that all the copy spells that are in the game so far are either in mind or arcane. Not giving the Sympath Arcane training would likely really hurt her. The arcane school has Steal Enchantment and Reverse Magic, as well as Enchanter's ring. Also, since the Sympath fights by connecting with her enemies and imitating them, she should be able to use those connections to read the minds of her opponents at least to an extent.

I thought Mind/Dark1 was a pretty good training, actually. I don't think I would classify the existing "steal foo" spells as "copy" spells, since copying generally implies that the owner keeps the original spell. Mind/Arcane2 seems extremely powerful even without the dark curses, just looking at existing mages (forcemaster is pure mind, most of the useful arcane spells are level 1-2). Also, what is the Sympath's anti-trained school (I assume she has one)?

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13077.0
Name: Tragic Bond
Type: Enchantment
Subtype: Psychic, Curse
Full action
Reveal cost: 14
Level 3 Mind and Level 2 Dark
Range: 0-2
Target: Enemy Mage

Extendable 2/Indestructible/Magecast/Sympath Only

Remove all cards in your spellbook from the game. The number of spells that you can prepare during the planning phase is reduced by one. For the rest of the game, you can see and plan spells from target Mage's spellbook.

A nice idea, though I have a few quibbles:

1. Why is this extendable? I can't imagine any circumstance in which I would have the enormous amount of mana necessary to play a second copy of this spell. Also, extendability is a little awkward in this case because it is an enchantment (does the new copy come into play face up or face down?) Also awkward in terms of timing though I would assume that if you are allowed to play a second copy it is understood that you obliterate your spellbook after deciding how many spells to play.
2. Indestructible is a meaningless trait here, since enchantments can't take damage anyway and indestructible does not prevent destruction from other sources. You'll have to specify that it can't be dispelled on the card. I ran into a similar problem with "The Black Contract"; ultimately, I just decided to make it an incantation instead, which is a much neater solution (if you are obliterating your spellbook, I don't think there is much risk of other players forgetting that you cast this).
3. Being able to see and plan spells from the other player's spellbook gets fiddly because you cannot simultaneously plan (obviously, one player will want to know which cards the other is preparing first, so you will have to plan in initiative order. Also, one player's choices will limit the other's). This will probably greatly increase downtime, especially since the sympath must look through the spellbook first. Proposed alternative: Have the enemy mage prepare 1 extra card each planning phase and leave the Sympath's preparation unchanged (also don't obliterate her spellbook). Then let the sympath draw one of her opponent's prepared cards at random. If she doesn't cast it during the round, she gives it back. This makes the spell a little less game-changing (game-changing in the sense that the original spell completely changes the nature of the game) while preserving the flavor of the Sympath leeching off the other mage's spellbook. You might need to re-adjust the costs of the spell if you do this.

Also, you might notice that I listed "extendable 2" as one of the traits for this enchantment. The idea is that while the extendable trait grants one extra copy of an object to be placed, extendable 2 allows you to place two extra copies. For extendable 2, you pay the mana cost again, then pay mana equal to the level multiplied by the number of extra copies. I think the extendable trait can and should be reworded so that it can be used for more than just walls.

I fully agree that traits ought to be worded to allow the widest number of applications possible; there is no need to restrict them to, for instance, walls if it is possible to word them so that they may be used in other contexts. Because of the vast number of effects in Mage Wars, it is important that traits be worded so that fewer traits can cover a wider variety of effects.

For me, the trait that I am currently most frustrated with is the Indestructible trait. The clause that "This object cannot be damaged" is completely unnecessary, considering that it also specifies "This object cannot be destroyed by damage". Moreover, it limits creative options when designing effects that grant temporary indestructibility to objects, since you can't introduce mechanics that convert damage into something else or simply let the object deal with the damage when the invulnerability ends. Very unnecessary limitation on a broadly useful trait.

An idea for a sympath mage ability: "Once per round, Sympath may cast a non-Epic incantation or attack spell cast by another mage during this round."

This is the same reason if I can Mind Control a creature with a Mordok's out and then during the upkeep choose not to pay Mordok upkeep I can get rid of the creature and not worry about the MC.

Well...not anymore:

During the Upkeep Phase, the upkeep cost for Mind Control must always be paid first, before any and all of the enchanted creature's upkeep costs. If you cannot pay, or choose not to pay, the upkeep cost for Mind Control, then Mind Control is immediately destroyed and the enchanted creature's control reverts to its owner, and any upkeep costs for that creature (if any) can be paid by the new controller.

Has anyone tried using post it notes with lines written on them in pen for the zone borders? I personally think cards would of course be better, since they're reusable. Cards don't get bent out of shape if you leave them in a bag full of other Mage Wars stuff, but Post-it-notes are still quite portable, and you can just bring some pens with you for drawing the lines on the six post it notes as well as making the outer walls.

An excellent suggestion. Now that I think of it, post-its would replace most of the components:
- Arena
- All Condition/Other Markers

It would probably take less time to write a word on a post-it than it does to find the appropriate marker (one aspect of the Mage Wars condition markers that bothers me is how they are not uniform, making organizing them impossible). I will probably make use of this post-it suggestion.