Learning
How magic works (for beginners)
By the end of this page you'll know what your Wizards and Priests can do in the hero phase, and what to do when your opponent's do it to you.
Rules checked against the
Some of your heroes are Wizards, who cast spells, or Priests, who chant prayers. Both happen in your hero phase. Your battletome or Spearhead cards tell you what each spell and prayer does; this page explains the rolls around them.
Power level: how much magic a caster can do
In full-size games, the number after the keyword, like Wizard (2) or Priest (1), is the caster's power level. It's how many spells, prayers or banishes that unit can use each phase, in any mix. Each spell or prayer can only be used once a turn, and only by one of your casters.
Which spells does a Wizard know? In full-size games, the ones on its own warscroll, plus your army's lores. You can take one spell lore (every Wizard knows it), one prayer lore (every Priest knows it) and one manifestation lore (Wizards know its spells, Priests its prayers).
Casting a spell
- Roll 2D6: this is the casting roll.
- If it's below the spell's casting value, nothing happens.
- If it reaches the value, your opponent gets one chance to unbind it (below). If they don't, the spell works.
Miscasts. In full-size games, if the casting roll shows two 1s, that's a miscast: the spell fails, your Wizard takes D3 mortal damage, and it can't cast another spell that phase. It can still do other things, like trying to banish a manifestation.
Unbinding: stopping their spells
In full-size games, when your opponent's spell reaches its casting value, one of your Wizards within 30" of the caster can try to unbind it. Roll 2D6: you need to beat their casting roll, and a tie isn't enough. Only one try per spell, and each Wizard can unbind as many times a phase as its power level.
Priests can't unbind, and prayers can't be unbound.
Prayers and ritual points
A prayer uses a single D6, the chanting roll. In full-size games, that's where ritual points come in: a single dice can't roll an 8, so Priests save up.
- Roll a 1 (before modifiers): the prayer fails and the Priest loses D3 ritual points.
- Roll 2 or more: choose one.
- Bank it: the Priest gains ritual points equal to the roll. They stay from turn to turn.
- Use them: add all the Priest's ritual points to the roll. If the total reaches the prayer's chanting value, it's answered: do what it says, and the points go back to 0.
If you add the points and the total still falls short, the prayer isn't answered. The rules only reset the points when a prayer is answered, so you keep them, but that roll isn't banked either.
Better results. Some spells and prayers do more on a higher roll, such as a bigger effect on a 10+. That's written on the spell or prayer itself. With a prayer, the banked points are added to the chanting roll, so the total is what counts.
Manifestations: summoning and banishing
A manifestation is a magical construct with its own model and warscroll, summoned by a spell or prayer from your manifestation lore. On the table it acts much like a unit: it can be attacked, and damage can destroy it. If the Wizard or Priest who summoned it is slain, it's removed.
Banishing. In full-size games, in your hero phase, one of your Wizards or Priests within 30" of an enemy manifestation can try to banish it. Roll 2D6 and add 1 for each enemy manifestation on the battlefield after the first. If the total reaches the banishment value on its warscroll, it's removed. It uses 1 of the caster's power level, and you can only try once per manifestation each turn.
A manifestation that's removed can't be summoned again in the same turn.
Magical Intervention: magic in their turn
In full-size games, in your opponent's hero phase, you can spend 1 command point on Magical Intervention. One of your Wizards or Priests casts a spell or chants a prayer as if it were your hero phase, with −1 to the roll. Like every command, each army can use it once a phase. It can't be used to banish.
Spearhead vs full-size games
| Spearhead | Full-size games | |
|---|---|---|
| Casting and chanting | As each card says | 2D6 for spells, a D6 for prayers |
| Power level | Not used | Spells, prayers and banishes a phase |
| Unbinding and miscasts | None | Yes |
| Ritual points | None | Banked from turn to turn |
| Banishing and Magical Intervention | None | Yes |
At the table
The Game Assistant has a Magic card in the hero phase. Enter your casters' spells and prayers once (and your army's lores in Army reminders), and it shows each caster's power used, the rolls and your choices, keeps each Priest's ritual points on their card, and lists what the other player can do in response. Your battletome still tells you what each spell does.