General Spellbook Rules

[Shortbeard]

Hello Artisans of the Arcane,

I just made the foolish decision to load up on Mage Wars supplies to bring this game to my play group.  My group is full of reformed Magic players and several Pathfinder/Second addition D&D players.  I got some great advice about introducing the game first in the apprentice format.  So that is the plan but everyone is excited and looked over the online walk through so I am certain we will be onto full games by the end of our first game day.

Long winded background to ask what are the general rules to building a spellbook.  My group is very good about net net "booking" prebuilds.  I have seen posts about auto include spells and that is not what I mean.  I what to know what is a general breakdown of spell types to make a good book.  As an example you need 4 armours, 3 - 5 creatures, 6 attack spells, etc. 

I'd like a general rule set so we can pit our own wits against each other if that makes any sense.  But some general rules so everyone ends up with a functional book until we learn enough to really specialize.  The fun of this is going to be growing with the group in skills and figuring out what wild combos work or don't.

If the rules differ per Mage is fine, but again I want to emphasize I am not looking for spell lists but general formatting rules. 

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[Aylin]

The main auto-includes are Dissolve, Dispel, and Teleport. I prefer at least three of Dissolve/Dispel and two of Teleport.

After that there aren't any hard rules you need to follow for building a book. I tend to decide on a strategy, add those cards, and then figure out what my opponent could do that would give me Problems. Most of my books tend to be answers to various Problems.

Ex. If I'm vulnerable to a Sleep spell (say I'm the Priest and my creature is Samandriel) I'll want to include Mind Shield. If I'm running a Forcemaster book with 0-2 creatures, I'll need some defense against books that have a moderate to large number of creatures like Mordok's Obelisk or Suppression Orb.

After playing a game where the book had problems I couldn't solve, I swap out a few spells to more easily defeat that problem in the future. One egregious example; in one Forcemaster book I neglected to include Armor Ward, which gave me a lot of (avoidable) problems against my friend's Fire Wizard to the point where I had < 6 HP left at the end. I then threw in Armor Ward immediately.

[Wise fool]

Howdy.  Fellow Newb here. 

I've found a ton of spellbook builds and advice on this forum.  Just pick a mage that you like, search for that mage and look through the topics of people submitting their spell books for critiques.  You'll also find information about what each mage is relatively weak at and how to adjust for that.  You can get a feel for what the typical spell loadouts are for creatures, enchantments, etc....

Of course, you don't have to do any of that, but I found doing research very rewarding.  If you only have one of the basic set, you won't be able to have all the 'auto includes' Aylin recommended in each spell book, particularly if you play the alternate rules for more than two players at a time.  They're not required for you to have fun, but if you ever play against established players, even at a local gaming store, you'll want to bring a book that has those things.  You can play the four suggested spell books (apprentice or advanced) that are listed in the core rulebook and you'll have a fine time. 

[ringkichard]

You generally need at least two pieces of armor equipment, and at least one of those should be a chest piece.

I'd never build a book without some way to prevent movement. Tanglevine, Force Hold, Enfeeble, etc.

A book needs at least one creature (or a conjuration that can take actions, like Wizard's Tower).

I think that at least two Attack spells of 2nd level is a good minimum. Force Hammer, Hurl Boulder, and Fireball are popular.

Like Aylin said, you're giving up a lot if you don't bring Teleport, Disolve, and Dispel. Depending on your mage's training, you might consider replacing a Teleport with two Force Push, but don't cut your last Teleport. Corrosive Orchid and Explode aren't great substitutes for Dissolve, so generally avoid them unless you're running a mage with an in school bonus. Seeking Dispel isn't required, but don't take 4 Dispels without taking at least one Seeking.

[Aylin]

Of course, you don't have to do any of that, but I found doing research very rewarding.  If you only have one of the basic set, you won't be able to have all the 'auto includes' Aylin recommended in each spell book, particularly if you play the alternate rules for more than two players at a time.

It is annoying that there are only 3 Teleports in the base set or strange numbers of other spells. I don't have the spell tomes, so I normally just proxy extra cards if I don't have enough. Saves a bit of money if you're just getting into it or not looking to go into the tournament scene.

[Zuberi]

Rather than thinking about it in terms of auto-include spells I like to think of it in terms of functionality. What functions does my book need in order to do it's job? This generally includes ways to increase attack dice, ways to prevent damage, position control, healing, condition removal, anti-enchantment, and anti-equipment spells. The ratio of spells to fulfill these functions will vary depending on your build, and other functions may be necessary depending on what you're intending to do.

Now, in practice, this means that I always include Dispel, Dissolve, and Teleport like what Aylin suggests. I just try not to fall into the pattern of thinking about having to have them. It's simply a reality that they perform their function better than any other spells do currently.

Besides that, Aylin's design process is pretty much the same as mine, which I'm writing about on Lord0fWinter's blog >>>here<<<. After thinking about what they can do to cause me problems, I add in a step where I think how I can adapt my strategy to cause them more problems than normal. Try to figure out the weaknesses in their strategies and what I can do to exploit those. Then of course, you have to trim your book down to where it is legal in regards to Spellpoints.

[silverclawgrizzly]

You want to be able to negate what the other mage is gonna do so yeah Dissolve, Dispel, and I'd say Block, Nullify are good ideas. You want to be able to dictate movement so Teleport and some way to slow the enemy down are good ideas.

Armor I only wear one, but I do have Rhino Hide a lot. Play a bit and find if wands suit your style, they're generally a good idea though.

[Shortbeard]

Thanks everyone,

So, I went a tad overboard and picked up one of everything and an extra base set.  The reason is games are held at my place and I know we will get into Mage customization with 4 people but most likely 6 quickly and wanted enough that we could have fun with it.

I am hoping we will develop our own meta that is not everyone playing a few spell variant of what is best of the online builds.  What I gather so far is to include the basic anti opponent spells ie dissolve, dispel, etc. 

Then really se what appeals and create a book.  After a few plays tweak to address weaknesses.

I have high hopes that this game will provide a deep back and forth struggle with a bunch of surprises and dirty tricks.

I am already looking through the card list an coming up with thematic deck choices.  Can you effectively build a Dark Priest.  I was thinking of using Vampires with the priestess support abilities and light spells.  I think it sounds fun.

Now to start tinkering...

[Aylin]

You want to be able to negate what the other mage is gonna do so yeah Dissolve, Dispel, and I'd say Block, Nullify are good ideas. You want to be able to dictate movement so Teleport and some way to slow the enemy down are good ideas.

Armor I only wear one, but I do have Rhino Hide a lot. Play a bit and find if wands suit your style, they're generally a good idea though.

I'm guessing you take Dragonscale Hauberk?

[sdougla2]

Dragonscale Hauberk is the default chest piece, but Demonhide Armor is a perfectly reasonable alternative for dark mages. I think I'll prefer Harshforge Plate to Dragonscale Hauberk for war mages.

[Aylin]

Dragonscale Hauberk is the default chest piece, but Demonhide Armor is a perfectly reasonable alternative for dark mages. I think I'll prefer Harshforge Plate to Dragonscale Hauberk for war mages.

For Dark mages I take Demonhide and Dragonscale. For War I'd probably go with Harshforge and Dragonscale.

For all other mages I normally take Dragonscale and Storm Drake.

[ringkichard]

I tend to take double Dragonscale in preference to Dragonscale + Storm Drake. I assume that against Warlock my first is going to be destroyed somehow and that I'll need to cast my backup. And if the 2nd isn't Dragonscale, what was the point of the first one being a Hauberk?

I'd rather replace the right armor with the right armor 50% of the time, than 100% replace the right armor with the wrong armor.

Also, since Drake hide is really only useful against Air Wizards, I'm never really thrilled to include it, when Dragonscale works against both Fire Wizards and Warlocks. The Wizards cancel each other in my expectations.

[sIKE]

I tend to take double Dragonscale in preference to Dragonscale + Storm Drake. I assume that against Warlock my first is going to be destroyed somehow and that I'll need to cast my backup. And if the 2nd isn't Dragonscale, what was the point of the first one being a Hauberk?

I'd rather replace the right armor with the right armor 50% of the time, than 100% replace the right armor with the wrong armor.

Also, since Drake hide is really only useful against Air Wizards, I'm never really thrilled to include it, when Dragonscale works against both Fire Wizards and Warlocks. The Wizards cancel each other in my expectations.

I get your logic completely and I think along the same lines, just I go the other direction. I typically also carry an Elemental Cloak along with one Hauberk and one Hide. So I have both damage types covered twice with three pieces of equipment.

[Aylin]

I tend to take double Dragonscale in preference to Dragonscale + Storm Drake. I assume that against Warlock my first is going to be destroyed somehow and that I'll need to cast my backup. And if the 2nd isn't Dragonscale, what was the point of the first one being a Hauberk?

I'd rather replace the right armor with the right armor 50% of the time, than 100% replace the right armor with the wrong armor.

Also, since Drake hide is really only useful against Air Wizards, I'm never really thrilled to include it, when Dragonscale works against both Fire Wizards and Warlocks. The Wizards cancel each other in my expectations.

That's a good point. I probably should switch to 2x Dragonscale.