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Magic The Gathering: Battlemage

DOCUMENTATION

Time Wasted By: Shadow Master

Why Time Was Wasted: It's been years since people have done documentation for

games on a regular basis.  Though it remains to see if we

can keep it up, the rest of Class and I thought it would

be nice to bring docs back into the scene, as they often

prove quite useful.

THE BASICS*

MANA

Mana is derived from the land, with different landforms giving off different

kinds of mana.  This magical energy is the power source that the planeswalkers

tap into to cast spells.  Different types of mana are used to power different

types of spells.

Color       Icon          Land       Types of Magic

Black       Skull         Swamp      Death, ruin, decay

Blue        Water Drop    Island     Illusion/Mental, Air, Water

Green       Tree          Forest     Life/Natue

Red         Flame         Mountain   Chaos, Destruction

White       Sun           Plains     Healing/Protection

Colorless mana is always represented by brass coloring.

Each land in your spell library provides one mana of the appropriate color

when tapped.  When lands are tapped during a Duel, the energy they provide

goes into your mana pool.  When spells are cast, the energy is taken from this

pool.  The energy used will be temporarily drained from your mana pool, and

will shortly regenerate.

The amount and type of mana needed to cast a spell is defined by its casting

cost.  The amount of colored mana needed to cast a spell is indicated by the

number of mana symbols.  When the casting cost is displayed as a number in a

tan circle, (the spell requires that amount of mana) it means that any color

or colorless mana can be used to pay for the casting of the spell.

Note: Colorless mana does not come from lands, it is provided by certain

creatures and artifacts.

When the casting cost is X it means that you may pump as much mana as you

like into the spell before you cast it.  The more mana you use, the more

powerful your spell becomes (ex. Fireball).

CREATURES

Creatures may be summoned to attack your opponent.

Creatures are rated by both power (the amount of damage a creature does when

attacking), and toughness (the amount of damage a creature can take before

it dies).  These ratings are expressed in the format: power/toughness.  Thus

a 4/5 creature would slaughter a 2/3 creature, all else being equal.  The 4/5

creature would do 4 points of damage, overwhelming the 2/3 creature's 3

toughness.  The 2/3 creature would only take away 2 of the 4/5 creature's 5

toughness, allowing the 4/5 creature to survive.  After an attack, creatures

who survive would gradually heal.

Creatures often have special powers that are available during a Duel.  Some

creatures can give you mana, others may make other creatures on the

battlefield stronger just by being present!  Some powers are constantly "on"

while others may require you to utilize some mana in order to activate them.

Some powers are actually negative!

NOTE: In an added twist, Creatures summoned may randomly receive a +1/+1

increase or a -1/-1 decrease in their rating when summoned.  Sometimes you

get the runt of the litter, sometimes you get the leader of the pack.

Some Of The More Common Powers:

Flying - These creatures can fly over terrain others must go around.

Regeneration - If you tap enough mana these creatures can be brought back

from the dead.

Trample - The Creature does damage to another creature as normal, but any

damage left over when the defender has been reduced to zero is taken

by the planeswalker!

First Strike - The creature does all its damage to its opponent first, as

opposed to simultaneous attacks.  If the defender loses all its

life points the creature takes no damage!

ENCHANTMENTS

Enchantments permanently change the effects and abilities of other spells or

creatures.  Ex. Bloodlust increases a creature's power and decreases its

toughness.  Enchantments last until the object of the enchantment is destroyed

or the enchantment is dispelled.

SORCERIES

Sorceries are similar to enchantments, but they are not permanent.  They go

into effect and then fade away.

INSTANTS AND INTERRUPTS

Instants and interrupts are fast spells often used to counter something the

other wizard is doing.  Ex. Blue Elemental Blast can be used to stop a red

spell from taking effect, IF you can cast it and target the spell fast enough.

ARTIFCATS

Artifacts are devices with magical powers that can be utilized once the

artifact has been summoned to the battlefield.  Although artifacts appear on

the battlefield, they cannot be attacked by creatures unless the artifact is

also a creature.  Artifact creatues are used in battle just like living

creatures.

GAME MODES*

BASIC NAVIGATION

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MAIN MENU

ARCHIVE - Lets you view all spells available in the game.

OPTIONS - Set the game options.

CREDITS - View the credits.

MTG: BATTLEMAGE - DUEL MODE*

DUEL SETUP SCREEN

The portrait on the gem on the left is the wizard you will play.  Left click

on it to change your character.  Left click on the text circle to view

your wizard's biography.

The portrait on the right is the wizard you will be opposing.

Above the right portrait are the play options.  Left click on it to select

between CPU, MODEM, or NETWORK.

Left clicking on the arrows next to the center gem will allow you to select

from amongst the 30 battlefields you may duel upon.

Left clicking on the brass button with the book on it below your wizard's

portrait will bring you to the Tome Builder.

Left click on the lightning bolt to begin the duel.

DUEL CONTROLS

ESC - Quit Duel

P - Pause Game

C - Target Creature

E - Fan Out Library

A - Rotate library left to select active spell

D - Rotate library right to select active spell

T - (Tap) Cast Spell

S - Invoke Shadows (each planeswalker's creatures and spells have shadows that

are highlighted in a different color.  This helps sort out your creatures

from ones owned by the enemy.  A spell that changes the ownership of a

creature will change its shadow.)

W - Center screen on planeswalker

SPACEBAR - Immediately scraps a spell when it is blinking

LEFT CLICK ON A UNIT - Tells unit to prepare to receive commands

LEFT CLICK AND DRAG - Can be used to select multiple creatures

RIGHT CLICK ON A UNIT - Utilize creature/artifact's special power

RIGHT CLICK ON SPELL'S ARTWORK - Cancel casting the spell

CLICK and release on both LEFT and RIGHT buttons to de-select all unitsf

THE DUEL SCREEN

A Duel is a battle between wizards.  The goal is to destroy your opponent by

summoning and moving your creatures and using spells to drain your opponent's

life points.  The control panel at the top of the screen is where you will

control your resources.  From left to right, the panel displays the following

information.

Life Points - These gems represent how many life points you have at the

present time.  You start the game with 20, when you reach 0 you die.  Each red

gem represents 5 life points, each purple gem represents 1.

Currently Selected Unit - The artwork for your currently selected unit is here

Mana Pool - These 6 bars tell you currently how much mana you have at your

disposal.

Library - Each player/wizard can have between 40 - 60 spells with him in

combat, and this is referred to as the TOME.  During a duel, however,

the wizard has access to only 7 spells at a time, referred to as

the wizard's LIBRARY.

When a spell is cast the artwork disappears from this stack.  The

wizard gets a new spell from the tome every 10 - 15 seconds.  If

there are less than spells in the library the spell is automatically

added to the library.  Otherwise after a few seconds the spell in the

lower right hand corner begins blinking.  After a few seconds, the

spell will be scrapped and replaced by a new spell.  To hasten the

elimination of a spell, just hit the spacebar.

In order to defeat your opponent, you have to cast the spells in your

library.  To see your library, press E.  This will fan out your

library and let you see what spells you have at your immediate

disposal.  To collapse your library, just hit E again.

Pressing A or D will rotate your spells left or right.  The active

spell is the artwork in the topmost left position.  It will be

accompanied by a scroll showing the spell's name, casting cost, and

if it's a creature, a red meter representing power and a blue one

showing toughness.  Left click on the scroll to bring up a

description of the spell's powers and effect.  Left click again to

hide the description.

Casting Spells - Once you have the spell you wish to cast in the active

spell position, press T to cast it!  If the spell is one of

the 5 basic lands, one unit of mana will be added to your

mana pool.

If the spell requires colored mana, the correct amount will

be deducted from your mana pool.

Left click the cursor over the color of mana you wish to

cast until you have enough selected to cast the spell.  If

you should change your mind as to which mana to use, simply

right click on it to untap it.  When finished press T.

The other figure on the battlefield is the enemy planeswalker.

This is your opponent, and just like you, cannot move or

directly attack creatures on the battlefield.

Once you have cast a spell, you will see your planeswalker

gather up mana and in  moment the spell will appear on

screen.  Should you need to select a target use the cursor

and left click on the target to select it.

If your spell has summoned a creature, the creature will

suffer from a few seconds of summoning sickness and must

wait a few moments before movement is allowed.

When one creature attacks another, they will battle until

one of the other dies.  When a creature attacks the rival

planeswalker, the other players will lose lifepoint gems

equal to the creature's power.  The attacking creatures

teleport back and appear next to the controlling caster.

After a few moments, the creature can be given new orders.

At any time you can place the cursor on a creature and right

click to bring up the information about the creature.

If your spell summons an artifact, the artifact will appear

next to the wizard.  Artifacts cannot be targeted, attacked,

or destroyed by creatures, and left clicking on an artifact

has no effect.  In order to invoke an artifact's abilities,

right click on the artifact.

The Tome Builder*

Since your library can only be as effective as the resources upon which it

draws, take special care when building your Tome to place in it spells that

support one another and work together well.  You may only use 40-60 spells

against the computer, but against human opponents may take as many as you

like.

Write To Tome - Left click on this control (the button with the pen symbol)

to begin writing in your Tome.  When your Tome has been

opened the blue eyeball (spell viewer control) will open and

you'll be ready to begin selecting spells.  Click on this

control again yo seal your Tome.

Empty Tome - Click on this button, which is the small button to the right

of the "Write to Tome" one, to remove all selected spells from

your Tome.

Spell Type Selector - The large button to the right.  Click on this symbol

to change the types of spells listed to the left of the

Mana Wheel.  The first symbol (humanoid stick figure)

represents creature summoning spells.  In order, the

symbols that follow are (book) -- enchantment,

(circular arrow) -- sorcery, (exclamation point) --

instants, (arrow striking line) -- interrupt, (gear)

-- artifacts.

Spell Viewer - Click on this control to view only those spells that have been

written into the Tome.  Click again to view all spells.

Mana Wheel - Click on any of the five colors in the outer ring of the Mana

Wheel to change the spell list to show only the spells whose

casting cost is primarily that color of mana.  The inner brass

wheel represents colorless/artifacts.

CAMPAIGN MODE*

The first planeswalker to posses all 30 territories will defeat his enemies

and bring an end to the Planeswalker War.

When you first enter the campaign, you will have an encounter with Ravidel

the BattleMage.  Read the encounter text highlighted in green.  Left click on

the up and down arrows on the side to scroll the text.  Select a blue

highlighted response.  Different responses will have different results.  Each

time you gain possession of a territory you may have an encounter with a

rival planeswalker or a denizen of that region.  Be careful, though, there are

many powerful beings walking the land of Corondor, saying the wrong thing

could cost you dearly!

Corondor Map - This map shows the amount of territory owned by each

planeswalker.

Wizard Information - Left click on the scroll then a territory owned by a

planeswalker to gain information about the amount of

land, spells, silver, and power held by that wizard.

Territory Information - Left click on the question mark to get information on

any territory of Corondor.

Inventory - Click on this control to go to the Trove and Tome screen.  Your

Trove is your entire collection of spells.  When you collect, win,

buy, or lost spells during encounters they will be added to or

taken away from your Trove.  Your tome is the spellbook you take

into combat.  You can only take 60 spells into combat during the

campaign.

Attack - Click on the lightning bolt to attack another territory.  Select where

you will attack from and what territory you wish to possess.

Depending on your previous actions you may or may not have an

encounter.  Handle an encounter right in a neutral territory and the

territory will join your cause!  If the territory is owned by a rival

planeswalker, though, you will have to Duel for its control.  The

winner of the Duel will take possession of the territory.  You can

only attack once per turn.