Master of Magic - Gameplay

Gameplay

A world is randomly generated each game, with player input on land size, the strength of magic, game difficulty, and other features. The player can customize the skills, spell choices, and appearance of their wizard, choosing one of fourteen races for the starting city.

The gameplay starts as units explore surroundings, pushing back the strategic map's fog of war. Among the exploration goals are defeating monsters guarding treasure, finding the best locations for new cities, discovering the Towers of Wizardry that link the planes Arcanus and Myrror, and locating the cities of enemy wizards.

Cities are established by settlers, then upgraded by adding buildings improving the economy. Cities produce food, gold and mana. Military units require food and gold upkeep; spellcasters consume mana in combat.

At the same time as colonizing territory, new magical spells are researched. Spells are either used in or out of combat.

Battles for squares in the strategic map are resolved in an isometric turn-based view that shows unit positions and the effect of magical spells.

Master of Magic splits spells into six schools of magic: Life Magic, which heals and protects; its antithesis Death Magic, which drains life and creates undead; Chaos Magic, which warps targets and spews destructive energies; Nature Magic, which controls the weather and turns it against the enemy; Sorcery, which manipulates the air and subverts the effects of the other schools; and Arcane Magic, which is a general school and free for all.

Players select spellbooks from desired schools, allowing them to research and cast spells from those schools. There are global spells that can affect targets all across the world. Unit or city enhancement spells can boost the potential of its target, such as increasing the movement and attack speed of units, enabling them to regenerate wounds, and increasing the power of their attacks. Wizards can summon fantastic creatures related to their schools. The player can research combat spells, which include direct attacks, debuffs and traps. The final spell learned is the Arcane Spell of Mastery, which takes enormous resources to research and cast but instantly wins the game for the casting player.

A tactical battle begins when two armies occupy the same square on the global map. The battle takes place in an isometric map that expands the contested square in detail (including fortifications and terrain aspects that affect movement and combat). The two forces are arrayed at opposite edges of the map, and the battle is conducted in a series of turns. The battle ends in victory for one side by eliminating the other or forcing it to flee the combat, or a draw if both sides remain after 50 turns.

The player can recruit 86 unit types from the cities to build their armies. A few (such as swordsmen and archers) are generic, while others (such as troll shamans) feature racial bonuses (such as regeneration or flight) that make them more valuable or more powerful than generic units. Most city-recruited units are unique to the city's region or terrain,and have special abilities like magic use, ranged attacks, or an ability to always strike first in combat. Mercenaries can seek employment with famous wizards, allowing them to recruit units which their cities are unable to produce. The player can even summon fantastic creatures, such as demon lords, enormous monsters like dragons, and griffins, among many others. The variety of units with unique special abilities offer many options when building an army.

Thirty-five distinct heroes are available for players to hire or summon. Heroes' special abilities boost the efficiency of other military units (like bestowing offensive or defensive bonuses), or allow the hero special attacks, immense strength or toughness, among other abilities.