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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xetheral" data-source="post: 8242627" data-attributes="member: 6802765">I like adding dedicated battlefield magic to my game world. The PCs can learn it too, if they want to and can find someone willing to share a copy (or invent their own, similar spells). The most flashy is the 4th level Ballistic Fireball, which has longer range and allows blind fire by arcing the bead of fire over obstacles. It pairs well with the 1st level, short range Designate Target that feeds targeting information to allied mages hidden behind full cover. There's also the 2nd level, particularly nasty (and highly restricted) Designate False Target, but at least that allows an Intelligence check (not a save) to recognize something is fishy. The 4th level Blast Wave is another Fireball variant that fills a constant volume, which can be devastating (or accidentally suicidal) in tunnel fighting. There's also defensive, communication, scouting, and utility battlefield magic.It can be a lot to fun for PCs: intelligence operations (i.e. hiring adventurers) to steal copies of the opponent's newest spells are standard tactics, even in peacetime. And a hit-and-run to disrupt the caster who is concentrating on Project Map can swing the tide of battle (recasting it risks losing much of the accumulated data added from field reports over the original casting's duration).On the other hand, in the handful of countries with professional militaries who have access to such magic, armies spread out a lot and stick to cover. You're not going to catch 25 people in a fireball on a battlefield outside of an ambush, so this specialized magic isn't quite as devastating as it might otherwise seem.Also, in practice, while the players tend to geek out on the possibilities, it's been years and years since I've had a group of PCs decide to actually focus on a plot hook related to a war between such heavily militarized nations (except to try to prevent the conflict), so these homebrew spells tend to remain only as background elements of the setting (and, so-far, limited to one geographic region) rather than come up in actual play.</blockquote>

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