Game with most devastating magic?

[Galdred]

What game (RPG presumably but it can be strategy with mages or something alike) has the most devastating, totally annihilating magic?

Dominions, and it's not up to discussions. Literally dozens of world-ending spells alone, from causing it to freeze in eternal winter or covering it in pitch darkness to tainting all magic with lovecraftian horrors and unleashing mad ghosts of past gods to hunt all that is living.

For RPGs, well, there is Exile 3 with Quickfire spell that eventually burns an entire level of the game killing everything in it, and Ultima used to have Armageddon spell that kills everybody in the game except the protagonist and Lord British.

If 4X are ok, it is hard to beat dominions indeed.
You can have horrors invade the realm and murder anyone trying to cast (non-blood) magic, meteorites randomly crashing down every turn, or even have the sunlight blocked or something like that. A lot of the end game spells are armageddon grade ones.
Master of Magic could work too, but it doesn't have the same scale of apocalyptic spells.
One funny aspect of dominions is that the world population is usually much smaller at the end of a game than it was at the beginning.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Populous 3 has a spell that raises an erupting volcano wherever it's targeted. This can be cast at the middle of a village, and destroys most structures and people caught in the lava. This could kill the entire population.

The Mechanus Cannon spell in Planescape is my all time favorite:

 

[Squidhead]

 

[Unkillable Cat]

DODGE!

-

Anyway, just to toss it out there (not that it's gonna win any prizes), but the Quest for Glory-series had the Thermonuclear Blast-spell, which was first introduced in the third game but the player couldn't cast it unless they played Wizard in the fifth (and final) game - and even then the game literally screams at the player not to use it... but it does guarantee one dead dragon.

 

[Humbaba]

Dominions has already been mentioned, in terms of scale that one is probably the strongest contender.

In terms of gameplay and usefulness, Wiz6 and/or 7 have some extremely hard disables. The bard's default lute casts sleep without limit and stays useful for literally the entire game, to name an example.

 

[Cohesion]

Populous 3 has a spell that raises an erupting volcano wherever it's targeted. This can be cast at the middle of a village, and destroys most structures and people caught in the lava. This could kill the entire population.

Are there any somewhat modern games like populous and black & white?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Sadly nobody ever made a CRPG for it, but the pen and paper system FATAL has a spell that kills you by giving you a never-ending orgasm

I play games for escapism, not to simulate my every day life.

 

[Alex]

The magic in the Dark Sun setting is pretty devastating.

 

[adddeed]

Populous 3 has a spell that raises an erupting volcano wherever it's targeted. This can be cast at the middle of a village, and destroys most structures and people caught in the lava. This could kill the entire population.

Are there any somewhat modern games like populous and black & white?

Black and White 2 still looks amazing today, must have been a looker back in 2005.
Not as quirky or out there like B&W1, but its one of my favotires, its just fun and unique.

 

[mondblut]

The magic in the Dark Sun setting is pretty devastating.

...no matter what you cast

 

[Alex]

The magic in the Dark Sun setting is pretty devastating.

...no matter what you cast

Yeah, although higher level spells are supposed to be worse.

Also, I've always found it ridiculous that defilers basically get no extra powers for their way of using magic. One of the many things I would change about the setting if I DMed it.

 

[Cryomancer]

The magic in the Dark Sun setting is pretty devastating.

...no matter what you cast

Yeah, although higher level spells are supposed to be worse.

Also, I've always found it ridiculous that defilers basically get no extra powers for their way of using magic. One of the many things I would change about the setting if I DMed it.

They already progress as fast as an thief and level up quickly. What I would do is to make preserving magic more dangerous too.

 

[Alex]

The magic in the Dark Sun setting is pretty devastating.

...no matter what you cast

Yeah, although higher level spells are supposed to be worse.

Also, I've always found it ridiculous that defilers basically get no extra powers for their way of using magic. One of the many things I would change about the setting if I DMed it.

They already progress as fast as an thief and level up quickly. What I would do is to make preserving magic more dangerous too.

I think the balanced approach would be to make preserver magic relate to defiler magic in a similar way that a solar power plant relates to nuclear. It is less powerful, less reliable and ultimately the apparent benefit is an illusion created by shifting the problem elsewhere.

 

[mondblut]

Ugh, are they not the same power? Preservers just use it more cautiously to cause less harm. Driving a Corvette vs driving a Beetle.

 

[Cryomancer]

not the same power?

. It is less powerful, less reliable and ultimately the apparent benefit is an illusion created by shifting the problem elsewhere.

There are wizards which uses otherworldly sources of arcane power too.

From the book - Defilers and Preservers:The Wizards of Athas - page 61

 

[Alex]

(...)

. It is less powerful, less reliable and ultimately the apparent benefit is an illusion created by shifting the problem elsewhere.

There are wizards which uses otherworldly sources of arcane power too.

From the book - Defilers and Preservers:The Wizards of Athas - page 61

I think all of this stuff came later. It is not necessarily bad but I think they detract from the setting more than add. I've never got the chance to play it, so I could easily be wrong about that, though.

Ugh, are they not the same power? Preservers just use it more cautiously to cause less harm. Driving a Corvette vs driving a Beetle.

My problem with the way the setting deals with it is that defilers devastated so much of the planet that, adding a simple option that is ultimately as powerful but just takes more effort to get to the same result feels stupid. I am not a big fan of the idea of the good side in the setting usually amounting to eco freedom fighters. But it is even more annoying if all this could be avoided by just a bit more of care using magic. I would rather have the world be a nasty, brutal place; magic be inherently bad causing some form of destruction whatever form it may take and have all races be at odds with one another because they don't work well together; with the brutal societies built by the wizard-kings keeping in check barbarians that would do worse if they had the power instead.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Noita fits perfectly into that description.


Just a small taster:

/thread

 

[mikaelis]

There was this game about enslaving the nations with Necromancy...

Dagon's Urge: Originals?

or something like that

EDIT::

on the serious note. Hasn't Morrowind had the most ridiculous/broken magic (maybe not devastating) when building spells with stacking effects (like jump that made you fly and die from impact)?

 

[lukaszek]

on the serious note. Hasn't Morrowind had the most ridiculous/broken magic (maybe not devastating) when building spells with stacking effects (like jump that made you fly and die from impact)?

pump yourself with alchemy and sky is the limit. Or island borders actually. Want to cast a spell that will unlock every door/container in morrowind outdoors? done!

 

[Cryomancer]

But it is even more annoying if all this could be avoided by just a bit more of care using magic. I would rather have the world be a nasty, brutal place; magic be inherently bad

But that is not Dark Sun. The cosmology of athas do allow for either, risk or evil magic.

And preservers always have the risk of drawing too much energy and the temptation to go evil. As for assessing the grey and the black, it makes perfectly sense. https://darksun.fandom.com/wiki/The_Black

Every year, 1000 guys are sacrified to maintain the seal upon the sorcerer kings previous master. So there is a connection between athas and this two realms. People who can access this realms are incredible rare and their magic is risky. See my previous quotes from the sourcebook. An low level wiz can die while preparing spells.

you compared preservers w8th solar energy. An better analogy would be nuclear energy without safety mechanisms.

 

[KainenMorden]

(...)

. It is less powerful, less reliable and ultimately the apparent benefit is an illusion created by shifting the problem elsewhere.

There are wizards which uses otherworldly sources of arcane power too.

From the book - Defilers and Preservers:The Wizards of Athas - page 61

I think all of this stuff came later. It is not necessarily bad but I think they detract from the setting more than add. I've never got the chance to play it, so I could easily be wrong about that, though.

Ugh, are they not the same power? Preservers just use it more cautiously to cause less harm. Driving a Corvette vs driving a Beetle.

My problem with the way the setting deals with it is that defilers devastated so much of the planet that, adding a simple option that is ultimately as powerful but just takes more effort to get to the same result feels stupid. I am not a big fan of the idea of the good side in the setting usually amounting to eco freedom fighters. But it is even more annoying if all this could be avoided by just a bit more of care using magic. I would rather have the world be a nasty, brutal place; magic be inherently bad causing some form of destruction whatever form it may take and have all races be at odds with one another because they don't work well together; with the brutal societies built by the wizard-kings keeping in check barbarians that would do worse if they had the power instead.

The Black was part of the setting from the beginning, shadow wizards weren't. Its power is easily accessible but shadow wizards become like shadows themselves when drawing power from it.

I don't see anyone adventuring to stop the destruction of their plane as eco freedom fighters but I can see how others wouldn't like it.

I still think it's one of the most interesting settings.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Noita fits perfectly into that description.


Just a small taster:

This and Dragon's Dogma and Sacrfice.
Also Black and White has its moments.

 

[Artyoan]

I'll put another plug in for Dragon's Dogma. The actual gameplay is basically charge and release for a sorcerer. Yet it never got old to me, largely due to being able to simultaneously watch the pawns also going about the battle. Very high spectacle magic and can be tactically enjoyable. I was struggling with an ogre until I tried high fulmination and the result stayed with me over four years later.

 

[Cryomancer]

Dragon's Dogma greatest problem is that casters are too gear dependent there.

Anyway, I talked about Gothic, here is Gothic 2 + Returning mod. The graphics aren't great as I'm running in a low end pc + archlinux + wine but :



And here is in G3

 

[Raapys]

Baldur's Gate 2 is and was always the best game for high end spells. It's why it should always be played with a solo sorcerer.