Wizard Dice Introduction Welcome to Wizard Dice… an ancient duel between wizards, who, by casting arcane runes, attempt to send their opponent(s) to the fiery abyss. Players Players take on the role of a wizard wizard who has 20 Hit Points Points (or 10 Hit Points Points for a shorter game!), game!), represented represented either by boxes drawn on paper, which can be 'crossed' in pencil when damage is taken, or by using a suitable sided dice (10-sided or 20-sided).
Gameplay Each round, players roll six 6-sided dice simultaneously, may then set aside any number of these and re-roll the rest... finally they may set aside any from ALL the dice and re-roll the rest again... all dice must be kept after this third roll. Next the Players choose spells to use, from the list, allocating appropriate dice for each spell. Dice that cannot be used for a spell are wasted. This can be done behind a screen, so that the other wizards are unaware of exactly what spells are being prepared. Finally the players resolve the outcome of all spells cast... in the following order: 1) Counter Spells… any spells that affect if/how other spells are cast happen first. These happen in order of complexity (i.e. how many dice are used) from the most complex to the least. 2) Summon Spells... spells that bring the caster an ally happen second. These are simultaneous. 3) Healing Spells... any spells that heal damage happen next. Note - A wizard may not go higher than 1 above his starting health due to healing. Healing is also simultaneous. 4) Ally Damage... any allies that are still alive now deal damage to their opponents. 5) Attack Spells... any spells that cause damage to a wizard or ally happen next and are simultaneous, so even if a wizard is killed by taking damage this round, he may still deal any damage he was doing. And if a dying wizard also kills his opponent, the duel is a tie.
Counter Spells The counter spells can be a little tricky to get used to, and can have some interesting interactions, so here are some detailed notes on those spells. SHIELD - The SHIELD spell is used to protect a wizard from the attacks of his opponent’s allies, and also has the benefit of reducing attack spell damage by 1. As such you will generally only cast SHIELD on yourself, though you could cast it on an ally solely to reduce damage to it from attack spells by 1. COUNTERSPELL COUNTERSPELL - When casting a COUNTERSPELL, COUNTERSPELL, you must choose your target to be the target of the spe ll you wish to counter. In most cases, this will be yourself in order to counter a n attack spell cast at you, but need not be. You can cast COUNTERSPELL at an ally to protect it from damage spells, or you can target your opponent in order to counter a summon or healing spell. If you cast COUNTERSPELL COUNTERSPELL on yourself, it also acts like a SHIELD and reduces ally damage by the amount on the extra dice. MAGIC SHELL - A MAGIC SHELL is exactly the same as a SHIELD spell, however it's effects last for the current round and for the following round. So it is a good way of protecting yourself from your opponent’s allies while you try to deal some serious damage. When casting MAGIC SHELL, treat the target as having cast SHIELD this round, and also having a free SHIELD next round. MAGIC MIRROR - When you cast MAGIC MIRROR you need to choose the target of the mirror... often this will be yourself, but need not be. During the round in which the mirror is active, any spells cast at the mirror target will be reflected... so any attack spells will be reflected against their o riginal caster. However it is also possible to reflect healing and summon spells. For example if your opponent is casting SUMMON OGRE, and you cast MAGIC MIRROR and target your opponent. The Summon will reflect off the Mirror and the Ogre will become yours instead. Likewise for a healing spell. PARALYSIS PARALYSIS – Generally, paralysis is considered an attack spell, however when it is cast a t an ally, it is treated as a Counter Spell and prevents the target ally from dealing damage this round.
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Wizard Dice Summoning and Allies When a spell summons an ally, you must use 1 of your dice to represent the ally while it is alive. Set it in front of you with the appropriate face showing for the amount of health the ally has. Ogres begin with 2, whilst Trolls begin with 3 health. While the ally is alive you will roll 1 fewer dice each round. This represents the magical upkeep cost of retaining the ally. At the start of any round you may choose to 'banish' the ally, and therefore take back the dice to use that round. Each round, the ally will deal an amount of damage equal to its remaining health, to your opponent. This happens during the Ally Damage phase. Since ally damage is dealt before spells are cast, an ally will still deal damage in a round in which it is killed. When an ally dies, the dice used to represent it stays out of play until the start of the next round, when it must be rolled again.
Healing Spells Some of the spells allow a wizard to heal damage he has already taken. These specify how much damage may be healed, but a wizard may never go more than 1 point above the health he started with. So in a game where wizards start with 20 health, the maximum health a wizard can go up to, as a result of a healing spell is 21. For a 10 health game it would be 11. Healing spells can also be cast on allies who have taken damage. In this case, you can never hea l an ally to more than the starting health for it's type... so for an Ogre that would be 2, and for a Troll it would be 3.
Attack Spells Attack spells are the meat of Wizard Dice. They are the main way of dealing damage to your opponent, and ultimately winning the game. Most of the spells are straightforward and don't need more detail than their description in the spell list be low, however there are a couple that need further clarification... POISON ARROW - You can cast POISON ARROW using up to three dice showing 1s, and for ea ch 1 used you deal 1 damage to your opponent. In addition, if you manage to deal 3 damage in one go (without any being prevented or reduced), the poison takes effect and your opponent will take 1 extra point of damage at the end of the following round. This extra damage cannot be reduced or prevented. PARALYSIS - When cast against another wizard, PARALYSIS is considered an attack spell and takes effect during the attack damage dealing stage. The result of a paralysis however is force the affected wizard to roll one fewer dice in the next round... so a wizard normally rolling 6 dice, would roll 5.. but if they a lso had an ogre in play, they would roll 4... and so on.
Spell Continuation At the end of any round in which a player used no more than 4 dice for spells (including those used to represent allies or affected by paralysis), he may choose to set-aside up to two of his dice from this round for the next... these cannot be rolled at all during the round and retain their value from the previous round. This is classed as the wizard preparing better spells, land can also mitigate a poor roll.
Acknowledgements Drew Chamberlain for his game "Delve The Dice Game" which was a source of inspiration. Richard Bartle the creator of "Waving Hands" which was also a source as inspiration. Silvano Sorrentino for his game “Dancing Dice”, another source of inspiration. Alan Brewood and Jeff Cramer for playtesting the game. Malechi for spell suggestions and Deluxe Version graphics
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Wizard Dice List of Basic Spells MAGIC MISSILES (A) Up to two 6s can be used to deal 1 damage each, split between up to 2 targets. POISON ARROW (A) Use up to three 1s to deal 1 damage each, to a single target. If you deal the full 3 damage, then the target takes 1 additional damage at the end of the following round. CAUSE WOUNDS (A) Use 5 dice making up a Full House (3 of a Kind + Pair) to deal 3 points of damage to a single target. PARALYSIS (A/C) Use 3 of a kind to reduce your opponents dice by 1 next round. If cast at an ally, it does not attack this round. LIGHTNING BOLT (A) Use 4 of a kind to deal 4 damage split between up to 2 targets. FIREBALL (A) Use 5 of a kind to deal 6 damage to a single target. FINGER OF DEATH (A) Use 6 of a kind to instantly kill your opponent. CURE LIGHT WOUNDS (H) Use a straight of 4 dice to heal up to 2 points of damage from a single target (maximum health applies). CURE HEAVY WOUNDS (H) Use a straight of 5 dice to heal up to 4 points of damage from a single target (maximum health applies). SHIELD (C) Use a pair plus any 1 dice to reduce damage from all opponent’s allies by the amount on the 3rd dice AND reduce damage from your opponent’s spells by 1 COUNTERSPELL (C) Use a straight of 3 plus any 1 dice to counter a single spell cast at the target this round (including FOD). If the caster targets himself with Counterspell, ally damage dealt to him is reduced by the amount on the 4th dice, in a similar way to that of the SHIELD spell. MAGIC SHELL (C) Use a straight of 3 plus any pa ir to cast a protective magic shell. This acts exactly like SHIELD and lasts for this round and the next. MAGIC MIRROR (C) Use a pair and a straight of 4 to reflect all spells targeting you this turn. They instead affect the original caster. This will also instantly kill your opponent IF he cast FOD this round. SUMMON OGRE (S) Use 2 pair to summon an ogre as an ally to attack your opponent. (see special rules for allies) SUMMON TROLL (S) Use 3 pair to summon a troll as an ally to attack your opponent. (see special rules for allies)
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Wizard Dice Example of Play Round 1
Drew - Health 10 Roll - 1 3 3 4 4 6
Rick - Health 10 Roll - 1 1 1 2 3 4
Spells: Summon Ogre - 3344 Magic Missile - 6 Poison Arrow - 1
Spells: Cure Light Wounds - 1234 Poison Arrow - 11
1) Counter Spells - no counter spells cast. 2) Summon Spells - Drew casts an Ogre, which appears with 2 health. 3) Healing - Rick casts Cure Light Wounds and gains up to 2 health. (putting him on his maximum of 11) 4) Ally damage - Drew’s Ogre deals 2 points of damage to Rick. 5) Attack Spells – Drew deals 2 damage with his Missile and Arrow. Rick deals 2 damage with his Arrow. Round 2
Drew - Health 8 Ogre - Health 2 Roll - 1 1 5 6 6 (1 dice used for ogre)
Rick - Health 7 Roll - 1 1 2 3 4 4
Spells: Magic Missile - 66 Poison Arrow - 11
Spells: Counterspell - 123+4 Poison Arrow - 1
1) Counter Spells - Rick c asts Counterspell at himself. 2) Summon Spells - No new Allies are summoned. 3) Healing Spells - No healing spells cast this round. 4) Ally damage - Drew’s Ogre attacks for 2 but this is prevented by Rick’s Counterspell. 5) Attack Spells - Drew deals 2 with missiles. Rick’s Counterspell stops the Arrow. Rick deals 1 with his Arrow. Round 3
Drew - Health 7 Ogre - Health 2 Roll - 2 2 2 6 6 (1 dice for ogre) Spells: Cause Wounds – 2 2 2 6 6
Rick - Health 5 Roll - 3 3 3 4 4 5 Spells: Shield - 44+5 Paralysis - 333
1) Counter Spells - Rick casts Shield. 2) Summon Spells - No new Allies are summoned. 3) Healing Spells - no healing s pells cast this round. 4) Ally damage - Drew’s Ogre attacks for 2 but is prevented by Rick’s Shield. 5) Attack Spells - Drew deals 3 points of damage with his Cause Wounds, but Rick’s Shield reduces this to 2. Round 4
Drew - Health 7 Ogre - Health 2 Roll – 1166 (1 dice for ogre. 1 for paralysis) Spells: Summon Ogre – 1166
Rick - Health 3 Roll – 444411 Spells: Lightning - 4444 Poison Arrow - 11
1) Counter Spells – No Counter Spells c ast this round. 2) Summon Spells – Drew summons a second ogre with 2 health. 3) Healing Spells - no healing s pells cast this round. 4) Ally damage - Drew’s Ogres attack for 2 points each dealing. This kills Rick. 5) Attack Spells – Rick does not get to cast his lightning or Poison Arrow as he is already dead.
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