Mage Wars

Mage Wars

File:Mage Wars Game Box 1st Edition Mage Wars Game Box
Designer(s)	Bryan Pope
Publisher(s)	Arcane Wonders & Elfin Werks
Years active	2007 - present
Players	2 - 6
Age range	8+
Random chance	Dice rolling
Website	http://www.magewars.com/

Mage Wars is a fantasy tabletop wargame. Mage Wars was first developed in 2007 by Bryan Pope and is scheduled for release in 2012 by game publisher Arcane Wonders.

Mage Wars is normally played as a battle between two Mages, although there are an additional set of rules that allow for more players. Mages are armed with a variety of powerful spells such as summoning creatures to attach, hurling lightning bolts and fireballs, and casting enchantments.

The game has four primary characters: the Wizard (Seeker of Voltari), the Priestess of Asyra, the Beastmaster of Straywood, and the Warlock of the Assaxian Crown. Each character has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, as well as sub character traits.

Gameplay / Playing Mage Wars

File:Playing Mage Wars.jpg

People gathered around a game of Mage Wars.

Mage Wars is played with a simultaneous play system. Many tasks are completed by players at the same time eliminating the need to wait on other players to take their turn. There are some parts of the game turn that are not simultaneous, but the constant action system keeps all players engaged throughout the entire game.

The object of the game is to slay the enemy Mage. Mages can participate in the battles by casting enchantments on creatures or conjuring up ancient artifacts to enhance their strategies and/or exploit their opponents' weaknesses. Mages can also cast equipment spells that give them extra weapons and armor. This strategy gives a Mage the ability to cross the arena and attach the opponent directly.

Mage Wars Game Components

File:Mage Wars game.jpg

Mage Wars base set retail box.

Game Board

The game board represents the arena where Mages battle for supremacy. The arena is divided into 12 square sections called zones. Zones are used to control the movement and position of everything in the game, and to determine the range of various spells and attacks.

Creatures can be summoned into the arena, and are always placed in a zone. Creatures can move between zones, usually only 1 zone at a time.

Zone can be adjacent only orthogonally (horizontally and vertically), never diagonally. Likewise, distances between zones are counted orthogonally, never diagonally.

Spellbook

Each Mage must have a spellbook, which holds all the spells he can cast during the game.

The Mage Wars base set comes with 4 spellbooks, one for each type of mage: the Beastmaster, Wizard, Warlock, and Priestess. Each player chooses which Mage he wants to play as, and starts with that spellbook.

Each turn, the players can flip through their spellbooks and pick out the spells they wish to prepare for the turn. In the front of each spellbook is a description of that Mage. This explains the Mage’s starting statistics, such as life, channeling, mana, armor, and any special abilities. It also describes what schools of magic the mage is proficient in, and how he can modify his spellbook with new spells.

Each spellbook also includes the mage’s character card, which represents the mage on the gameboard. Mages usually start in opposite corner zones of the arena so the mage character cards are placed in opposite corner zones. A mage is considered a creature for game purposes.

The spellbook also contains a few blank cards. These are useful for deceiving your opponent during the deployment and planning phases.

Mage Status Board

Each player uses a Mage Status Board to keep track of his mage’s current Channeling, Damage, Life, and Mana. Small wooden disks are included to use as trackers.

Life is how much total damage a mage can receive before being destroyed. Life can go up and down during a game, separate from the amount of damage taken. A white disk is used to keep track of damage, and a colored disk to keep track of life. If the damage and life counters are ever on the same space of the life track, the mage is defeated.

Action Markers

Each player gets a set of action markers. Action markers are colored on one side, and white on the other. The colored side is different for each player – one player will use the red action markers, and one player will use the blue action markers.

Each creature in the game receives an action marker. Action markers are used to record when a creature takes an action each turn. The different colors are used to show which player controls each creature.

At the start of each game turn, all action markers start face up (colored side up), showing that the creatures are ready to act. After a creature acts, the action marker is turned face down (white side up) to show they are finished for the turn.

Quick Spell Action Marker

As a powerful spell-caster, Mages can cast a quick spell each turn, in addition to his normal actions. The Quick Spell Action Marker is used to show whether a Mage has cast his Quick Spell or not each turn. It is used the same way as the regular Action Markers.

Attack Dice

Attack dice are rolled during an attack to see how much damage is scored. They are also used to roll for various effects and healing.

Each die has two sides with a white starburst behind the numbers. Those are critical hits. Critical hits are special because they deal critical damage and can ignore armor.

Damage Markers

Damage Markers (dice) are used to record damage on creatures and objects. When an object or creature receives damage equal to or greater than its life it is destroyed (removed from the game board and placed in the discard pile).

Mana Markers

Some objects in the game, , such as a conjuration spawnpoint can actually channel and store their own mana. Mana markers (different colored dice) are used to record how much mana these objects have stored.

Guard Markers

Guard markers are placed on creatures that are ―guarding.‖ Guarding allows a creature to protect its zone from intruders.

Ready Markers

A Ready Marker is placed on a creature if it has a defense. A defense is an ability to avoid an attack, such as using a shield to block or dodging. Most defenses can only be used once per game turn—the Ready Marker is flipped over when the defense has been used for the turn.

In addition to defenses, some objects in the game may call for a ready marker to keep track of whether it has been used during a turn.

All ready markers are flipped over to the ready side during the reset markers phase.

Condition Markers

These markers represent various conditions creatures and objects can receive. For example, if a creature is stunned by a lightning bolt, a stun marker is placed on the creature. If a creature becomes corroded by acid, place one or more corrode condition markers on the creature.

12-Sided Die

The 12-sided die (1d12) is used to check for special game effects, such as:

• Certain attacks require a 1d12 role to determine if a special effect or condition occurs (such as stun, daze, etc.);
• When a creature tries to avoid an attack with a defense, it rolls the d12 to see if it is successful;
• Some conditions require a 1d12 roll to see if it can be removed or escaped;
• Any random movement or direction is determined by the roll of 1d12 and the compass rose printed on the game board.

Initiative Marker

The initiative marker is used to keep track of which player has the initiative that turn. The player with the initiative gets to acts first during the action stage of the game turn (see game turn below). Each turn the initiative marker is passed to the next player clockwise.

Reference Sheets

The Reference Sheet shows a detailed turn order guide and valuable information to refer to during the game.

Glossary

An in-depth alphabetical glossary is included which describes all the traits, conditions, and other game terms.

Sideboard

The Mage Wars base set comes with a variety of additional spells you can use to customize each of the included Mages. A complete list of spells is enclosed in each sideboard so that you can reassemble the spellbooks to their original state at any time.

Mages

There are four playable Mages for Mage Wars, which are representative of one or other of the factions or races that are present in the Mage Wars world setting.

In the 1st edition of the game, the following Mages are available:

• Beastmaster
• Priestess
• Warlock
• Wizard

Additional Mages planned for release:

• Druid
• Illusionist
• Sorcerer
• Necromancer
• Paladin
• Warlord
• Forcemaster

Schools of Magic in the Realm of Mage Wars

Spells belong to various schools of magic. There are 10 Schools of Magic in total: 6 major and 4 minor elemental schools. Each school is based on a different variety or type of magic, with a unique flavor and feel.

The 6 major schools are: Holy, Nature, Dark, Mind, Arcane, and War. The 4 minor schools of elemental magic ar: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.

The Realm of Mage Wars

Artwork

Cover artwork was created by Craig J. Spearing. Craig graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1992, illustrated children's material from 1995 to 2008, and is currently doing science fiction/fantasy illustration. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

External links

• Arcane Wonders Publishers of the game Mage Wars
• Mage Wars Official Site of the game Mage Wars
• Mage Wars at BoardGameGeek
• Craig Spearing Mage Wars Artwork Custom Mage Wars artwork by Craig J. Spearing
• BoardGameGeek Blogs: Review Review by Lazlo Stadler
• Play Unplugged Interview with Mage Wars An interview by Play Unplugged

References

• "Mage Wars Online Presentation" (PDF). http://www.magewars.com/PDF/MageWarsPresentation.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
• "Mage Wars Revised Rules 2011" (PDF). http://www.magewars.com/PDF/2011_Revised_Rules.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-23.