Game rules: Pick the 'Train your magical skills' option above to choose your powers. (Don't forget to move and/or recruit on the first turn as well.) You begin the game with 10 picks, and you can gain 2 each time you or your forces kill an enemy Wizard, and 4 each time you level up (including AMLA.) Pick the 'View spell descriptions' option below to see details of the non-summoning spells. To cast a spell, right-click in the hex you want to TARGET with the spell, and select the spell from the list. (Your leader is the only unit that can cast spells, so you don't have to choose the caster.) When you summon a creature, the target MUST always be an empty hex ADJACENT TO the caster; other spells have different targets. Read the spell info for specifics. Casting a spell, including summoning, uses up your leader's attack. You can't attack and cast a spell in the same turn, but you CAN cast a spell and then move afterwards. All wizard leaders are capable of rudimentary flight, and will end enemy attacks immediately when they have taken more than 12 damage. Wizards are also skilled enough in magic to block any direct damage from enemy spells. You have to be a LITTLE more creative than just lobbing damage at each other's heads. Note that summoning and recruiting are completely separate, and you usually can't summon the units you can recruit, or vice versa. Descriptions of all skill picks are listed below. Evocation skill (1 point per level) The power to call forth the most powerful and straightforward of magics. Most Evocation spells are improved by additional Evocation skill. Level 1: Allows you to cast Energy Bolt. Level 2: Allows you to cast Wizard Sword. Allows you to purchase the Dwarvish Alliance option. Level 3: Allows you to cast Mage Shield. Level 4: Allows you to cast Fireball. Allows you to purchase the Archmage option. Level 5: Allows you to cast Dispelling Touch. Allows you to summon Drake Fighters. Level 6: Allows you to cast Corridor of Frost. Level 7: Allows you to cast Gate. Level 8: Allows you to cast Aberrant Growth. Level 9: Allows you to cast Circle of Protection. Level 10: Allows you to summon Fire Dragons. Level 13: Allows you to cast Meteor Storm. Nature Magic skill (1 point per level) The power to shape the earth and sky to do your bidding. Level 1: Lets you move easily in forest. Allows you to summon Wolves. Level 2: Allows you to cast Mud Touch. Allows you to purchase the Elvish Alliance option. Level 3: Allows you to cast Grow Trees. Level 4: Allows you to summon Woses. Allows you to purchase the Archmage option. Level 5: Allows you to cast Regeneration. Level 6: Allows you to summon Gryphons. Level 7: Allows you to cast Lightning Bolt. Level 8: Allows you to cast Rampage. Level 9: Allows you to cast Fissure. Level 10: Allows you to cast Blizzard. Necromancy skill (1 point per level) The power to summon and bind the spirits of the dead. If you have any skill in necromancy, you may not select Dwarvish Alliance, Elvish Alliance, or Leader of Men. Level 1: Allows you to recruit Walking Corpses and Vampire Bats. Level 2: Allows you to recruit Skeletons and Skeleton Archers. Level 3: Allows you to recruit Ghouls and Ghosts. Level 4: Instead of recruiting Walking Corpses, allows you to freely summon them. Lets you choose Lich if you level up. Allows you to purchase the Archmage option. Level 5: Allows you to cast Poison Ground. Allows you to freely summon and absorb Vampire Bats. Level 6: Allows you to cast Dark Pact. Level 7: Allows you to summon Chocobones. Level 8: Allows you to cast Wraithform. Lets you choose Ancient Lich if you level up as a Lich. Level 9: Allows you to cast Devour Soul. Level 10: Allows you to summon Skeletal Dragons. Archmage (2 points) You are a master in your magical craft. Your non-summoning spells cost 4/5 the normal amount, you have +40% resistance to magical damage, and you can recruit Mages and/or Dark Adepts. You must learn 4 skill in any realm to be an Archmage. The realm(s) that you have 4 skill in determine(s) what you can recruit. Superb Summoner (2 points) You are very proficient in calling monsters from the ether. Your summoning spells cost 4/5 the normal amount, and you may cast two summoning spells per turn, though you still may not summon and attack or summon and cast a non-summoning spell in the same turn. There is no prerequiste for Superb Summoner, but it is not useful unless you can cast a summoning spell. Enchanter (1 point) You are practiced in the art of placing enchantments. You may cast one additional enchantment spell each turn regardless of what else you do in the turn. There is no prerequiste for Enchanter, but it is not useful unless you can cast an enchantment spell. Farseer (1 point) You have a keen eye and a steady mind. The range of your spells is increased by 50%. There is no prerequiste for Farseer, but it is not useful unless you can cast a spell with range greater than 1. Leader of Men (2 points) You are able to raise up and lead a human military. You can recruit loyalist units, except for mages, and lead adjacent units in combat. No one who has skill in Necromancy or hires Orcish Mercenaries may be a Leader of Men. Prince of Thieves (2 points) You control a secret organization of outlaws. You can recruit outlaw units, and you gain the Skirmisher ability. Elvish Alliance (1 point) You forge an alliance with the Elves. You can recruit elvish units and Merman Hunters. You must have 2 skill in Nature Magic, no skill in Necromancy, and no Orcish Mercenaries or Dwarvish allies if the Elves are to accept you. Dwarvish Alliance (1 point) You forge an alliance with the Dwarves. You can recruit dwarvish units. You must have 2 skill in Evocation, no skill in Necromancy, and no Orcish Mercenaries or Elvish allies if the Dwarves are to accept you. Orcish Mercenaries (1 point) You hire orcs to do your dirty work for you. You can recruit orcish units, trolls, and nagas. If you take this option, you may not select Dwarvish Alliance, Elvish Alliance, or Leader of Men.', disabling for this playlist Descriptions of all spells, with their base costs, are listed below. Energy Bolt (5 gold) Inflicts 5 to 9 damage plus your Evocation level upon one target within 3 hexes. Wizard Sword (4 gold) Grants a 7-3 magical sword to you or an adjacent unit. The sword vanishes at the beginning of your third turn hence. Mage Shield (4 gold) Surrounds yourself or an adjacent unit with a shield that will block the first blow that hits it, then disappear. Fire Ball (16 gold) Inflicts 8 to 14 damage plus 1.5 times your Evocation level upon every unit in a radius-1 area around one target within 3 hexes. Dispelling Touch (6 gold) Places an enchantment on you that will dispel the first enemy magic that it comes into contact with. This uses up the enchantment. The following types of enemy magic are affected when you hit a unit in melee (if you hit a unit with more than one of these, all are affected): Mud Touch, Regeneration, Dispelling Touch, Wraithform: dispelled Mage Shield, Dark Pact: dispelled and ignored (i.e. the shield does not block anything) Summoned creatures and undead: inflicts (skill*4) to (skill*6) damage Also, if you end a turn on a poisoned hex, the poison is dispelled and ignored, without using up the dispelling touch. Corridor of Frost (8 gold) Continues in the given direction for (your Evocation level - 2) hexes, slowing and inflicting 6 to 10 damage upon each unit in its path. Gate (22 gold) Teleports you and all adjacent units, friendly or enemy, to a target location within 6 hexes. Teleported units you control can move immediately, but can't attack. You can't Gate to any location that would leave any of the units overlapping another unit, nor inside a wall or void hex, nor - for non-flying units - over a chasm or lava. Gate also cannot take you to locations that are completely inaccessible by non-magical means. Aberrant Growth (21 gold) Transforms one adjacent non-leader elf, dwarf, human, goblin, or orc into a huge Ogre. The ogre retains its experience and will have the same fraction of its hitpoints remaining as did the original unit, but is otherwise a completely new unit. If a level 0 unit is hit with this spell, it will merely become a Young Ogre. Note that in you can replace an enemy unit with an ogre just as well as your own units, but it will remain your enemy. Circle of Protection (18 gold) Places a circle of protection at your location or at an adjacent target hex. Units in circles of protection cannot be targetted - or affected in any way - by enemy spells, and the circles protect against the potentially harmful affects of friendly spells as well. If a unit is attacked while in a circle of protection, both sides will do 1/3 the normal damage. There is no limit to how long a circle of protection lasts, but it disappears if an enemy enters it. Meteor Storm (68 gold) Drops 10 to 13 flaming boulders near one target within 12 hexes. Units and terrain in the area will be severly damaged, including destruction of villages and keeps. Mud Touch (6 gold) Enchants you so that the next time you hit a living unit in melee, that unit is immediately turned into a ghastly mudcrawler, ending the fight immediately. The mudcrawler retains the hitpoints, max hitpoints, and experience of the original unit, but otherwise is a completely new unit. Level 0 units are changed into level 0 Mudcrawlers; everything else becomes a level 1 Giant Mudcrawler. (Has no effect on enemy leaders or units that are already mudcrawlers.) Grow Trees (11 gold) Grows trees on all hexes within a (your Nature Magic skill / 4)-radius area of any target within 6 hexes. Some terrains are unaffected. The radius isn't rounded down - rather, hexes on the edge of the radius have a random chance of being affected. Regeneration (10 gold) Immediately heals an adjacent unit for 2 to 4 hitpoints plus your Nature Magic skill, and permanently grants it the ability to regenerate by (Nature Magic skill * 2) hitpoints per turn. Lightning Bolt (19 gold) Inflicts 12 to 18 damage plus your Nature Magic level upon one target within 8 hexes, and, if it's still alive, paralyzes it so that it can't move on its next turn, and can't attack unless it's a leader. Rampage (28 gold) Until the end of your turn, empowers all adjacent units on your team with primal energy, granting +3 damage and +1 swings on on their melee attacks and making them take 50% less damage in combat. Fissure (21 gold) Irrevocably opens up a chasm hex up to 2 hexes away. Any unit in the hex that is unable to fly will be instantly killed. Unlike other spells, you do not gain experience for a unit killed this way. Blizzard (19 gold) Snows on a large area, centered up to 10 hexes away. Snow created this way melts after 4 to 8 turns; ice melts after 1 to 3 turns. Absorb bat (No cost, Instant) Absorbs one of your bats that is adjacent to you. You regain gold equal to the bat's cost, or (cost - 4) if you are also a Superb Summoner; if the bat has gained levels, you gain a greater amount of money. You may not absorb a bat that was just summoned, or one that has already attacked this turn. This does not use up your spell or attack for the turn. Poison Ground (15 gold) Permanently corrupts most of a radius-2 area around one target up to 3 hexes away. Any living unit on the corrupted area when the spell is cast is poisoned. Any living unit standing on the corrupted area and the end of a turn is poisoned. Greater necromancy skill increases the likelihood of poisoning each hex. Dark Pact (12 gold) You or an adjacent target unit on your side forms a permanent dark pact. Whenever that unit is damaged, half the damage will be restored at the expense of leeching an equal number of hitpoints from any other units on your side that are within 5 hexes. If there are no such units, the protection is void. Additional Necromancy skill improves the amount of damage deflected. Wraithform (9 gold) You transform into a Wraith (or Spectre, depending on your level.) The effect lasts as long as you wish, and you can end it at any time via a drop-down menu option. However, you can't cast spells or train in magic when you are a Wraith, and if you die as a Wraith, you're dead. The wraith form begins with full HP. It replaces your current form - when you end the effect, you return to the same state you were in when you cast the spell, including damage, but with no attacks left. Transforming - in either direction - approximately preserves the fraction of your moves that you have left. The Wraith itself cannot level up, but you keep all experience gained while in wraithform. Devour Soul (7 gold) You instantly kill an adjacent unit - either one of your units, or an enemy unit with hitpoints lower than your Necromancy skill. You are healed for half its current hitpoints, and you permanently gain half its max hitpoints, all its unit abilities, and any attack that is innate (i.e. not just a weapon the unit holds - admittedly, which attacks are counted is subjective..)