More exotic spells in RPGs.

[anvi]

Magic The Gathering is the champion of spells though. That game has the most amazing insane spells. Trying to find a crazy one to show.

A few off the top of my head:

Not that these aren't interesting, but in the context of RPGs, it is a bit hard to actually make spells like this. Magic is a game that ultimately is very abstract. What "life" means, what the grimoire is, what does it mean to summon a creature and what is actually summoned (is a white soldier card supposed to represent a single person, a unit or something else) is all abstracted away.

As such, it can have spells that, like the ones you posted, affect the game only through the rules, without some kind of explanation of what is going on; all the while remaining "thematically" connected to something more concrete. The nefarious lich enchantment, for instance, allows the caster to use cards in his "cemetery" as "life", which is kinda like something that a lich would do... without being clear on what either term means concretely.

While this is perfectly fine in an abstract card game like magic, it doesn't really fly on an RPG (and trying to play like this only leads to a game themed like an RPG, rather than a real one). The stuff you do in game should be resolvable to concrete actions, you can't have something exist only on the "rules" level.

I think those things can be made to work in an RPG, I know Brad McQuaid used to try to bring MTG into what he was doing and it paid off in Vanguard. But it really needs more people to work at it. In EQ there are lots of different types of pets, the main pet that some classes get and can control, but they also have spam pets that are temporary and attack the target until it dies. So all of that works similar to the pets in MTG. I think the problem is to balance it all. Like you could balance a game around being able to make multiple pets. Even let the player summon 100 pets. But if there's an ability that gives +1 to pets that would now be multiplied by 100. And in MTG there are lots of exponential boosts so you can summon 100 pets at each one gets +100 (one for each other pet). Stuff like that would be a nightmare to balance in an RPG. I think it's doable but it would just need a very restricted set of stuff that's been well tested.

 

[King Crispy]

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.)?

Solasta's implementation of Wall of Fire is done quite well. You can "draw" the line of fire in any orientation, even partially vertically. You can also choose a circle of fire.

This screenshot doesn't do it much justice, but it's a great-looking and very effective spell:

Wall of Thorns as well as other Walls is/are also implemented, but I never tried any others.

 

[Darth Canoli]

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

I don't care much about exotic if it's going to make me throw my mage in close combat.
New or old spells done right allowing for new mechanics or tactical options, on the other hand is what keeps me interested.

M&M 6 allows you to solve some quests by using mass invisibility on your party and enter a dungeon, avoiding foes unaware of your presence and steal it from under your nose.
There is multiple instances where you can use this tactic.

One of the few things I like from PK is the flame arc spell, probably added by a mod, call of the wild or Arcana something.
These mods also add a lot of spells and some of them are quite useful.

Solving quests by talking to the dead in Arcanum was pretty cool too, using necromantic spells.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

obligatory nearly everyone in baldur's gate has unique dialogue when you charm them

 

[Sigourn]

More exotic spells aren't needed.
What's needed is that existing spells are used for more things.

Ball of fire? Yes, it's a "hit things" spell. It could also be used to clear pathways, melt ice, set wooden houses on fire, etc. Fuck, cook food even.