Wizard's Duels

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I had a game (in the D&D 3.5 era) where the party arrived among tons of war refugees at a wizard academy. The party wanted to get in good with the academy leadership to persuade them to join the war effort, so the party's enchanter PC, Diogenes, tried to win prestige by engaging in spell duels. We had three famous spell duels that we still talk about twenty years later.

<snip>

He charged, and bull rushed, and the 8 Strength wizard knocked the 8 Strength sorcerer out of the ring. And thus did the Great Diogenes become the first wizard to win the championship bout of a spell dueling tournament without casting a single spell.

You used the bull rush and grappling rules? In 3.5? You're braver than I thought.

 

[GMMichael]

What are the best examples of Wizard's Duels in media?

Skyrim has some good wizard duels. Factors like absorbing health or absorbing magicka, and intrinsic magic versus staff/scroll magic, make it a pretty intense experience.

What games best replicate a wizard's duel?

I was just thinking about this for Modos 2. Three metamagic spells add an additional layer of strategy to wizard duels:

1) Dispel 1. A wizard who knows this spell can choose to cast it in place of a defense action. It requires the wizard to be close to the caster and to expend metaphysical energy, while a defense action does not.
2) Mute 2. The target has trouble speaking (-8 on casting contests). A wizard can maintain this spell into later rounds, but doing so reduces the actions available for casting other spells.
3) Psych 4. Not an easy spell to cast, but it reduces the target's metaphysical energy while increasing the caster's. Or: drain your opponent's mana. The caster pays in mental health instead of metaphysical health.

The magic tools available depend on the modules in use, but spell implements increase the variety of spells available while limiting the level of spell available. Magic scrolls and potions are also viable options, which might or might not supply their own casting cost (metaphysical energy).

 

[Maxperson]

My favorite wizard duel in visual media is Dumbledore vs. Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic.