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[Neonivek]

Please don't have these stupid generic magic things in DF it would kill the dark fantasy atmosphere and be way too gamey!

Didn't Conan the Barbarian have a sorcerer battle that ended with one sorcerer using telekenesis to fry the other's head?

I don't know I've never read/watched/played/whatever Conan the Barbarian.

The point is that "Dark Fantasy" often includes this "stupid generic magic things".

[Naryar]

I would like dwarves to have access to fire and earth elementalism (fireballs, firebreaths, controlled cave ins, summon rock, summon metal, ironskin, etc), with maybe runes (item enchantment) and divine magic (Urist McCleric, Priest of Armok, casts Retribution on Asmo Stoxmub, Goblin Maceman. Something like that.). Wizard type stuff would be more human. And elves have druids, obviously.

And magic should definitely tire down the wizard, if not it's going to be OP.

[harborpirate]

I'd prefer never to see generic fantasy tropes like casting fireball enter DF. If I wanted to play a generic fantasy game with manna and fireballs, my choices would be nearly endless. If I wanted to play a game with a truly interesting implementation of magic, the list would be very short indeed. Bring on the wierd and wonderful, the arcane and mysterious, the obscure and dangerous. Magic should be useful at first; but eventually lead down another path to fortress destruction, wherein discovering deeper and darker secrets eventually results in terrifying side effects and haunted halls of death.

[Neonivek]

I'd prefer never to see generic fantasy tropes

The thing with Dwarf Fortress was never that it avoided cliches.

It is that it whole heartedly included them and made them awsome at the same time mostly by not avoiding the reality of the situation. For example steriotypical necromancers are in the game, Mindless silly bandits, Zealous Wolves, Giant metal golems, nature loving elves, alcohol guzzling dwarves, characterless party members, and so on.

The biggest loss in my mind in not having fireballs in dwarf fortress... is that fireballs would be awsome in dwarf fortress (and realistically underpowered).

The BEST balance for magical attacks is to just use them as intended.

Also I am highly against the "make magic secretly useless" movement.

[Sir Leonard III]

Spells for the game seem really bad. Sure, magic which raises the dead and summons monsters might be good, but magical attacks seem dumb.
It would most likely be too overpowered, because a fireball would be a gigantic flaming ball of fire hurling at the target. The armor wouldn't do anything, it would just be an automatic knock out or something.
Also, lightning is dumb too.
Summoning imps/other things? Good idea, you have to take out the mage before you can finally beat the siege of undead/magic forces.

[RabidAnubis]

I don't think it should be a standard weapon.  Maybe in a fortress of a hundred dwarves you should have one.

[Sir Leonard III]

I don't think it should be a standard weapon.  Maybe in a fortress of a hundred dwarves you should have one.

Dwarves definitely should not have magic, I was talking about the enemies. Could you imagine a dwarf sparring who had magic? Your entire military would die.

[harborpirate]

Not useless, just dangerous and perhaps somewhat unpredictable (at least during the discovery phase).

Typical RPG magic is incredibly boring, but it certainly has its supporters.

I appreciate that DF has its own take on things instead of copying tropes exactly like everyone else uses them.

[Neonivek]

It would most likely be too overpowered, because a fireball would be a gigantic flaming ball of fire hurling at the target. The armor wouldn't do anything

It would block the dirrect heat from the fire. A Fireball in real life isn't that dangerous unless extremely hot or against highly flamable targets.

For example if you were to swipe your hand through a camp fire as fast as you could (without hitting the logs) your hand has a good chance of being perfectly fine afterwords.

Besides you act as if the game already lacks heat based attacks.

[Xenogami]

I don't know about dwarfs using magic. This is Dwarf Fortress, not Mage Tower. When a dwarf wants to move a mountain, they use tools, hard work, and copious amounts of booze, NOT finger wiggling and guano pinching.

If you want something like magic, work it into the alchemist's laboratory and have vials of alchemist's fire or thunder stones. Healing potions to put into the hospital to regrow lost limbs and fix nerve damage.
For the combat potions you can train "Hurlers" that throw the combat vials that they carry in a backpack. If they get hit in the backpack there can be a chance that the vials explode doing damage to every one bring a new level of (Fun)

Different potions can be crafted with items that already exist in the game. Things like plants, powders, teeth, hair, and nails. The every day stuff, like alchemist's fire can be simple easy to find items, but the really powerful stuff like potions of demon slaying will require items like dragon bone, or forgotten beast tallow.

[cameron1124]

Maybe magic shoudnt be "just another weapon" but instead a higher power that is difficult to harness and is unstable. Toady mentioned having artifacts have magical powers somewhere that I can refind.

I think using magic should have possible consequences, leading to lots of !fun!. For instance there could be a really hard to get spell that allows you to turn regular stone into cotton candy. but each time you do that there is a small chance that a interdimensional gate will open and several clowns will pop out.

Or your fortress could take up a god. If you please that god it will give you magical gifts. if you displease it, it will use magic against you.

Maybe there could be an entirely diffrent plane of existence that you can only get to using magic, but would release and contain alot of powerful and magic wielding enemies.

[Sscral]

I find the idea of dwarves casting magical spells of doom a bit ridiculous.

However, having something like an artifact dolomite mug that transforms everything the wielder pours into it into his favorite brand of booze...