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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeremy Ackerman-Yost" data-source="post: 1680697" data-attributes="member: 4720">I think people are undervaluing the "shock and awe" aspects of magic.  We're proceeding from the assumption that magic is brand new, correct?  OK, here's a scenario:One guy with Burning Hands is going to be a soldier's nightmare.  I'm used to the Christian priest who "cleanses my soul" once a week and the local witch woman who plays with entrails and claims to know the future.  I might even believe one or (more likely) both of them.  That's an entirely different matter than a guy who starts shooting fire.  FROM HIS HANDS!If a guy steps in front of an entire army and sets off a Dancing Lights spell, most of them are going to freeze in awe.  Maybe a few sergeants keep their cool, and a few archers are told to take the wizard out.  A few arrows bounce off because of a Shield or Protection from Arrows spell, and the average soldier is going to be a bit panicky already.  At that point, a Burning hands, a Color Spray, Pyrotechnics, or a Summon Swarm are going to send people packing.  Heck, a Gust of Wind might.  A single summoned animal might if it appears in a sufficiently impressive way.  If a flash of red light and a thundering boom accompanied some brimstone and a Fiendish Monstrous Centipede into the world, the uninitiated would not want to find out what else accompanies the centipede.Or what about an Obscuring Mist?  The wizard disappears into the mist, and then a couple Acid Arrows, Magic Missiles, or even Rays of Frost come out of the mist.  Or a Spectral Hand carrying a Shocking Grasp or Ghoul Touch.  What happens if one of those sergeants or officers who kept their head is suddenly inflicted with Hideous Laughter?The front line would almost certainly break, only to run into their archers, who have been Webbed into place.  All Heck breaks loose.  Even if the priesthood and the secular educated on both sides know that a single mage can only pull a very few of those tricks in a day, the average soldier doesn't know and probably doesn't care.  There's a HUGE psychological difference between being killed by another man and being killed by the spawn of Hell or blasts of magic.And this is assuming a somewhat organized army.  The Crusades weren't populated entirely with professionals.  The first several uses of magic on the battlefield are going to send the opposing army running for the hills.  And whoever figured out the offensive possibilities first (and someone has to be first) will win the first Crusade.  Probably with very few casualties.Let's assume it's the Muslims who put it together first.  That's more likely, IMO, because in that time and place, that culture was much more invested in education and scientific advancement than anyone in Europe.  They would be poised to take better immediate advantage of the new availability of magic.So, the Europeans flee.  They pack off home, and the Church and the Byzantine Empire would spend a LOT of time and effort on advancing their knowledge of magic.  Even if they made tremendous progress, it would probably take a couple generations for the horror stories to die down enough to launch another attack.Now, we can assume the Muslims haven't been sitting on their hands, but they weren't handed a sound defeat, so they've had less incentive to really improve their magical training program, as it were.  Let's say they haven't really progressed past 2nd level spells, but just have more of them.  They've branched out beyond immediate military applications and figured out things like Speak with Animals and Zone of Truth, Detect thoughts, and what not.So it would be an entirely different type of war, IMO.  Whoever has more mages wants a pitched battle where they can bring their "artillery" to bear.  The side with fewer mages would prefer guerilla tactics and subtle spells.  Counterspelling and anti-magic aren't really an option yet, I would think that low level spells and relatively simple applications of spells would be it, initially.  After all, the weapon usually comes before it's counter.  The first side to figure out counterspelling is going to win decisive victories again.  Battles would have become very reliant on mages to the exclusion of superior numbers.  An army with the ability to counterspell would be prepared for the battle to suddenly become about manpower and more traditional tactics again.  While the enemy mages are still trying to figure out why their spells aren't working, they'd be overrun by mundane soldiers.Just some thoughts.</blockquote>

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