More exotic spells in RPGs.

[Cryomancer]

Fireballs, raise skeletons, this things are too "vanilla". when I say exotic spell, I say things like the ability to transform the caster into a freaking toad demon like in Jade empire

Jade empire Toad demon art

source https://jadeempire.fandom.com/wiki/Toad_Demon

Or for example, the 6th tier spell, claws of the umber hulk from Ravenloft : Strahd possession/Stone prophet which transform caster's hands into a umber hulk claw. In P&P, this spell allow all types of crazy stuff in underdark, to make deadly traps, dig tunnels and so on. In the games, it only gives a very powerful melee attack which can be used against enemies immune to magic.

In VtMB, Tremere blood magic is a bit exotic, but is vastly different from P&P Thaumaturgy - Path of Blood(which is mostly useful for information gathering and except by the 4 and 5th dots, worthless in combat), but the computer game really lacks the most exotic Thaumaturgy paths like Biothaumaturgy and Technomancy.

In Gothic 2 NoTR expansion, the game got lots of new interesting exotic spells, allowing the PC to literally throw Geysers at the enemy, conjure a insect swarm and so on. Sadly this spells got removed in later PB games and now PB games has only very "normal' spells.

Sacred 1/2(3 is awful) has some interesting spells, daemon has tentacle based spells, dragon mage has shapeshifting and gust of the wind spells. Might & Magic V~VIII has sharpmetal spell. It animates tine pieces of metal at extreme speed and throw at the enemy at very high speed.

 

[Reinhardt]

renamed pew-pew and summons! many exotic!

 

[Cryomancer]

renamed pew-pew and summons! many exotic!

Yep. Transforming your hands into the claws of a umber hulk and slashing enemies at CQB = "pew pew"...

 

[Reinhardt]

Transforming your hands into the claws of a umber hulk and slashing enemies at CQB = "pew pew"...

but why? you have nothing better to do? you said yourself - it have more uses in tabletop but in vidya it's just "me hit!"

 

[smaug]

Animate Dead in Pool of Radiance which brings back your party member as a zombie and you lose control of them during combat (they gain all the same immunities that undead get). Only after using a resurrection (or was it an animate life?) scroll can they become normal again.

One of the most interesting implementations of the spell. It’s garbage in every other game.

 

[Humbaba]

Animate dead should animate the APPROPRIATE dead i.e. when I'm standing in a Lizardman graveyard I wanna be resurrecting lizard skeletons, not human ones.

Shapeshifting sorely needs to be made cooler, I never play druid because you fart about for 7-15 levels as some gay dog or a cat, which is better but I wanna turn into a gorilla and other much cooler animals and not have to wait an eternity to do that.

Gas type spells like Cloudkill should be castable through doors, i.e. through keyholes and such.

 

[Cryomancer]

Dark Magic in M&M VII also can be used in party members but give the "zombie" condition to them.

 

[luj1]

Tbh, some of the coolest and most creative spells/abilities I saw in MOBAs such as DotA and HoN

 

[Ebonsword]

I'm trying to remember--was there ever a game that did a good job implementing wall type spells (wall of fire, wall of ice, etc.)?

Those open up some interesting tactical possibilities (e.g. blocking off part of a room so enemies can't attack you from behind).

 

[Pink Eye]

I'm trying to remember--was there ever a game that did a good job implementing wall type spells (wall of fire, wall of ice, etc.)?

Why. Chalice 2 employs such spells. Psionicists and Warlocks get access to energy wall. Enemy AI sometimes avoids it unless they can dispel it. Original Chalice you can use Stone Wall spell to block entire doorways.

 

[Cryomancer]

I'm trying to remember--was there ever a game that did a good job implementing wall type spells (wall of fire, wall of ice, etc.)?

Energy based wall spells? YES!!! A lot, even Diablo 1 had firewall spell.

Now "solid" wall spells, I can only remember Dark Sun : Wake of the Ravager, KoTC/2 and in non D&D games, Diablo 2's Necromancer bone wall/bone prison and Sacred 2 magic barrier for the dragon mage.

 

[luj1]

I'm trying to remember--was there ever a game that did a good job implementing wall type spells (wall of fire, wall of ice, etc.)?

Those open up some interesting tactical possibilities (e.g. blocking off part of a room so enemies can't attack you from behind).

Neverwinter Nights 1, Diablo II

 

[Sykar]

Tbh, some of the coolest and most creative spells/abilities I saw in MOBAs such as DotA and HoN

Evoker was my go to guy.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Baldur's Gate 2.

• Wild magic
• Limited wish & Wish
• Time Stop
• Simulacrum
• Project Image
• Wizard's Eye & Clairvoyance
• Shadow Door, Maze & Imprisonment
• Spell Immunity
• Spell Trap
• Nishruu & Hakeshars
• Prismatic Spray
• Various one-hit kill spells
• Dimension Door (BG1)
• Insect Plague
• Word of Faith
• Enchanted Weapon
• Polymorph, Polymorph Other, Shapeshift

The list goes on for considerable length. So many iconic spells that go beyond simple direct damage, basic summon, or ordinary stat improvement. Mages in BG2 have intriguing capabilities that have scarcely been been found in any other RPG to date.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I'm trying to remember--was there ever a game that did a good job implementing wall type spells (wall of fire, wall of ice, etc.)?

Energy based wall spells? YES!!! A lot, even Diablo 1 had firewall spell.

Now "solid" wall spells, I can only remember Dark Sun : Wake of the Ravager, KoTC/2 and in non D&D games, Diablo 2's Necromancer bone wall/bone prison and Sacred 2 magic barrier for the dragon mage.

On the topic of wall spells, some of the very few spells I actually liked in Pillars of Eternity were wall spells. Wall of Many Colors and Wall of Force are both useful. My favorite wall spell in the game is Wall of Draining. Leeching your opponents buff duration to extend your own is very useful. Basically a parasitic dispel.

I also really liked the tweaks to Wall of Fire in NWN2. Having it do double damage to undead was tremendously useful, since you spend so much time fighting them in that game. That you get access to it by Level 7 really helps a wizard's options against undead, which can be limited in that level range.

 

[Tyranicon]

Need more sex spells. You know if magic was real, the bigger half of it would be devoted to weird, sexy shit.

Using it for warfare and the betterment of civilization? Pft, make my dick giant and sentient please.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Pft, make my dick giant and sentient please.

You need a spell for that? Pfft.

 

[Absinthe]

Battlefield manipulation spells are often in short supply. Walls are a basic option, but also things like raise/lower terrain and creating hazardous terrains. Out of combat spells are often pretty rare too, outside of fantasy adventure games.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Volcano and Bore from Sacrifice are great. The giant column of fire and brimstone bursting out of the earth and the expanding spiral that removes the ground are amazing effects.

 

[V_K]

Shapeshifting sorely needs to be made cooler, I never play druid because you fart about for 7-15 levels as some gay dog or a cat, which is better but I wanna turn into a gorilla and other much cooler animals and not have to wait an eternity to do that.

The overwhelming problem with shapeshifting spells in CRPGs that they're redundant: melee-focused shapes are pointless because if I wanted to play a melee character, I'd have rolled a fighter. And magic-focused shaped are mostly pointless because their abilities are typically redoubled by spells. Serpent in the Staglands, the mess of a game that it was, had some nice ideas for shapeshifting like non-combat shapes (cat, bat) that allowed you access to difficult to reach places or facilitating fleeing/scouting, or a shape that made your magic even more powerful at the expense of defence (though it works better on paper since defence is the single most important thing in the game). But other than that and Blood Omen (not an RPG) I can't really think of good shapeshifting examples.
Same goes for transforming enemies into something. Cool graphic, but what's the mechanical point? Either it's a simple debuff (turninig enemies into chicken in DOS2) or an instakill (turning enemies into toadstools in Realms of Arkania).

 

[Skdursh]

I'd like to see magic in games operate more like as if it were the product of some sort of hyper-advanced technology than just SHAAZAMY FIREBALL FROM NOWHERE. By that I mean, magic that has to take from the environment, by altering it or reducing something else in some way to achieve the desired affect. Where if you're in a place that doesn't have the raw material present to cast then the magic simply would not work and where depending on the quality and quantity of raw material available the "spell" would be weaker, stronger, bigger or smaller, ect.

 

[Alpan]

Volcano and Bore from Sacrifice are great. The giant column of fire and brimstone bursting out of the earth and the expanding spiral that removes the ground are amazing effects.

Quoted for emphasis. Bore irreversibly deleted the level geometry from the game session. I'm not sure if it ever allowed for "bricking" a game map entirely by having it be impossible to traverse (probably not) but it's just a very cool effect I haven't seen replicated elsewhere.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I'm trying to remember--was there ever a game that did a good job implementing wall type spells (wall of fire, wall of ice, etc.)?

Energy based wall spells? YES!!! A lot, even Diablo 1 had firewall spell.

Now "solid" wall spells, I can only remember Dark Sun : Wake of the Ravager, KoTC/2 and in non D&D games, Diablo 2's Necromancer bone wall/bone prison and Sacred 2 magic barrier for the dragon mage.

Ultima has had impassable walls since 1981.

https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Energy_Field

 

[Absinthe]

Shapeshifting sorely needs to be made cooler, I never play druid because you fart about for 7-15 levels as some gay dog or a cat, which is better but I wanna turn into a gorilla and other much cooler animals and not have to wait an eternity to do that.

The overwhelming problem with shapeshifting spells in CRPGs that they're redundant: melee-focused shapes are pointless because if I wanted to play a melee character, I'd have rolled a fighter.

That's more of a problem if all fighter-types are functionally identical. It's possible to build up variance between melee weapons and builds, as well as give animals slightly unusual abilities. If you give a basic panther form night vision, stealth bonuses, a special ambush attack from stealth, higher movement speed, and a leaping attack to pounce on enemies from a small distance then even if they are disadvantaged against spears and shields and not as good at damage as a dedicated warrior type, it still has its uses in many situations.

And magic-focused shaped are mostly pointless because their abilities are typically redoubled by spells.

They don't need to be.

 

[Nano]

Need more sex spells. You know if magic was real, the bigger half of it would be devoted to weird, sexy shit.

Using it for warfare and the betterment of civilization? Pft, make my dick giant and sentient please.

The Pathfinder CRPGs have a spell for making enemies orgasm.