Inspirational Force

[Sylex]

After an epic game with Imaginator and his Defense Force FM, I was inspired to make my own Forcemaster. We had spoken of a mage that uses Holy, and Mind magic before, and I had said that it would have to be a Monk. Strong in faith, and strong in mind. The idea really excited me to see this character, and after looking at the build Imaginator started, I decided to try and make my own interpretation. I have never played a FM before, so this is pretty much a beginners spellbook for the FM, but I am looking forward to playing this melee master of faith. The goal here was to create a very formidable melee mage with very little creature support while making the other mage pay dearly for their own. The only glaring weakness I can see without actually playing it would be Purge Magic, or other global enchantment removal as well as BIRDS. On with the list.

Attacks : None

Conjurations : Enchanters Wardstone x1
                       Suppression Orb x1
                       Temple of the Dawnbreaker x3
                       Mana Syphon x1
                       Mordoks Obelisk x1

Creatures : Guardian Angel x2

Enchantments : Charm x3
                          Forcefield x2
                          Decoy x2
                          Force Orb x2
                          Force Sword x1
                          Divine Protection x1
                          Nullify x5

Equipment : Eagleclaw Boots x1
                    Sunfire Amulet x1
                    Dancing Scimitar x2
                    Force Ring x2
                    Galvitar, Force Blade x1
                    Defense Ring x1

Incantations : Force Push x2
                       Knockdown x4
                       Teleport x2
                       Dispel x2
                       Dissolve x2
                       Sleep x4


Yup, 120 points already. There was more I wanted to add of course, but this is the start of my foray into the Forcemaster. Dropping the one Knight of Westlock was hard, but my creatures are really only there for defense, and with Suppression Orb, and Mordoks Obelisk in play, I don't want more than 2 in play at any time, especially if I have a few Charms, and a Scimitar in play as well, the upkeep can get expensive. I would also maybe trade out the Sunfire Amulet for the Psi-Orb to help with this. Also 9 spell points for a Knight hurts too much imo. The idea is to Sleep, Charm,Knockdown or just flat out destroy any creatures your opponent summons while starving him of mana trying to keep them in play. Use the Temples for defense re-rolls, and the Angels only if you need a guard, or some extra attack dice (she doesn't have many, which almost makes me like the Knight better, but the flying, and natural regen she gets from doing what she is meant to do is more important to me than 2 extra dice per attack). The nullify will hopefully keep you safe from dispel, and dissolve, but you have to keep them up. The Decoys were added to blank an opponents nullify (kinda works like a seeking dispel for nullifies your opponent plays). I would have also liked to have had one Battle Forge in here, but I just didn't have the points, and I'm torn on what to drop for it. That might come later, but this is it for now. Thanks to Imaginator for the inspiration on this, and for always being a good sport when we get to face each other.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Thanks Sylex. First of all I realized recently that knockdown is for the most part just for removing flying and guard markers. It only incapacitates a creature until the beginning of their action phase or the end of round WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. So it will never actually stop a creature from taking an action.

Also, I'm not getting an entirely clear sense of what your strategy is from this, although I have an idea. If your main strategy of this build is to discourage your opponent from creature aggression and to punish your opponent when they do engage in creature aggression, then I would say that you need to use guards, armor and damage barriers, not defenses. You should probably drop both angels and put in a knight of Westlock or two. Also, think you should drop both Temples of the Dawnbreaker and put in Altar of Peace and Hand of Bim Shalla. You will need to shut down your opponents ranged attackers and force them to go melee for your mage or your guard.You also need healing, like Regrowth Belt, and maybe a a wand of healing to get rid of conditions like weak. It's too bad that you don't have a taunt ability, but the forcemaster might be able to taunt through tactics rather than through the taunt ability. Through this reasoning, it's probably better to replace all your creatures with a single Grizzly, so that they will have to either attack you or it and suffer for doing so.

That bring said, I think this strategy that I've described here would be far better with the Makakai Priest using a Holy Avenger Knight of Westlock or Gray Angel.

[webcatcher]

I'll make the blanket statement I always make for first FM lists - there is no substitute for armor. Bring 2 chest pieces. Something always gets through, and with the FM it's often a whole bunch of things on the same turn. I think you could take out 1-2 charms and at least 2 of the sleeps (psychic immune will negate them completely. If you want to go sleep heavy bring a mage wand to help out), one of the force rings (I've never ever had mine dissolved), one of the force orbs, several of the nullifies because you won't have the time or the tempo to play them all (because the FM plays creature-light, you're basically forced into a quick, aggressive game. I've tried to play a long-game FM and it never works that well because every time the other guy summons a new creature he's building his action advantage and it will eventually overwhelm you. As a FM you're choosing between a hyper-fast aggressive game and an aggressive game, not between aggressive and slow), and a few knockdowns (all they're really doing for you is getting rid of guard, and you're probably not gonna do that 4 times). I would definitely add a battleforge and at least one more melee buff (either bear strength or gauntlets).

[Sylex]

Thanks gentlemen. After making this list last night, I also thought it would work better on a Priest/Priestess because of access to more creatures and Holy spells in general, but I just didn't want to part with Suppression Orb. I was banking on the natural defense of the FM to carry him through hell and back, and I think the abuse he would take would probably be better distributed through more bodies.

Knockdown was brought to one for that off chance I need to get around a guard. I was thinking it was going to either do this or blank a big attack for me, but you're right, its not really a profitable trade-off. There's better things I could be doing.

I really want to find that sweet spot for FM in between his character, and the Priest though. Just sounds like fun. Gonna keep playing with this one.

 

[sshroom]

Note that nullify will not counter dispel. It only counters spells that target your mage whereas dispel targets enchantments on your mage.

[Sylex]

Note that nullify will not counter dispel. It only counters spells that target your mage whereas dispel targets enchantments on your mage.

Yes, I am aware of this. I originally had 5 in order to play one or two on the opponent, but have since lowered it to 3 for personal safety of equipment. I decided to add the forge, and go more aggressive as well so I can't afford to cut any more I would say.

Trying to mix in holy creatures with a FM is like trying to trying to squeeze two opposing magnets together. It is probably not an optimal way to run a FM, but it seems fun none the less. I will post my new list soon.

[Sailor Vulcan]

The reason I ran holy creatures in Defensive Force was because I needed some guards with Defenses. I also had Temple of the Dawnbreakers which were highly necessary for my strategy, and Hand of Bim-Shalla, which was kind of a given. Thematically, I don't think of her as a "melee master of faith" since she's not actually trained in Holy. She is only trained in Mind. She uses Holy spells because they are useful to her. It is harder for her to learn how to cast them than an actual Holy Mage. It is even harder for a dark mage to cast holy spells since the spell directly opposes their training. Casting Holy spells does not make a mage even remotely holy. I can see why people would think that, since most fantasy stories and games would have a a dark mage completely incapable of casting Holy spells, even being damaged by the attempt.

That is not the case in Mage Wars. I think the ability to go out of school means that mage characterization is meant to be much more complex. A mage is a human being, and humans are more than the schools they are trained in. I think the ability to learn spells even from opposing schools, the ability to even learn from your enemies is a great ability, and makes the mage characters much more believable. It's also majorly part of why I had difficulty paying attention when reading organized play story material. To me it felt like the mage characters were just avatars of their schools, rather than unique individuals. As a result, they would probably be creamed by any competent mage in the arena, since most if not ALL good tournament level spellbooks go out of school.

Thematically, I imagine that my Forcemaster befriended a Priestess and learned some spells from her. The idea is that you don't have to be faithful to cast a holy spell, but it does help.

[Sylex]

This is the updated list. I changed the strategy a bit, and now rely on the Battle Forge to give me the extra action I need to equip myself while using my Quick Cast for conjurations/enchants, and Incantations, and my full Action to Galvitar everything to death (dice willing). This also allowed me to load up on more equipment, at the cost of less enchants. With Forcefield always being the target of Dispel more often than not anyway, you've only got your defenses and creatures to lean on. This build is pretty do or die in my eyes. There's no room for the elusive trait here. Stand and deliver!.....................or just Teleport

Attacks: None
Conjurations : Hand of Bim-Shalla x1
                       Temple of the Dawnbreaker x1
                       Mana Syphon x1
                       Suppression Orb x1
                       Mordok's Obelisk x1
                       Battle Forge x1
                       Enchanter's Wardstone x1

Creatures : Guardian Angel x1
                   Knights of Westlock x1

Enchantments : Forcefield x2
                          Divine Protection x1
                          Nullify x3
                          Harmonize x1
                          Bear Strength x1
                          Rhino Hide x1
                          Cheetah Speed x1

Equipment : Galvitar, Force Blade x1
                    Dancing Scimitar x2
                    Dragonscale Hauberk x2
                    Gauntlets of Strength x1
                    Regrowth Belt x1
                    Moonglow Amulet x1
                    Eagleclaw Boots x1
                    Mage Wand x2
                    Force Ring x1
                    Defense Ring x1

Incantations : Force Push x2
                       Teleport x2
                       Dispel x2
                       Dissolve x2
                       Repulse x2
                       Sleep x1
                       Knockdown x1
                       Power Strike x1

[webcatcher]

I approve. Might put in a second bear strength, though. The first will usually get dispelled.

[sIKE]

With Forcefield always being the target of Dispel more often than not anyway,

Interesting, I am much more of a fan of multiple attacks to get it down to no tokens and leave it alone and force the FM to pay Upkeep or drop it. Live by the Force die by the...well you know...

[webcatcher]

It depends on the build. Opponents running a lot of creatures will usually just break down my forfcefield. Opponents with only 1 or 2 creatures often can't get through it.