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[Bricks]

Only way I would support this is if Toady thought it was productive for the first version.  He's noted before that magic (strictly post version one) should be a part of artifacts (strictly version one).  There is also the question of special attacks for various monsters; though with the updates in the next version, its going to be hard to find a type of special attack that you can't approximate.

[Karnewarrior]

I would only go for wizards and priests. Druids always seemed to  elven  for me.

[Dante]

ex: a few powdered rubies + a gallon of troll blood + the offering of two dozen goblin skulls = a flaming weapon.

I think this is the root beef most people have.
As Grendus just said someone said, if it's exploitable, why not exploit it?

This reaction template style of thing would essentially open the floor up to mass production - regardless of how obscure the 'ingredients' are.
Rubies? No problem, whether you're willing to add a smelter reaction for them or just order them en masse from caravans. Troll blood? There's a thread on mermaid harvesting somewhere, so I don't see how a little _scourges ingenuity couldn't get you barrels of it. Two dozen goblin skulls? Most players have two hundred kicking around.

[Rowanas]

That's why a costless but unpredictable magic system will always be best. Letting loose the magi should be almost as dangerous as de-activating all your military when the goblins show up. Sure you'll win, but you'll also lose

[Arkenstone]

ex: a few powdered rubies + a gallon of troll blood + the offering of two dozen goblin skulls = a flaming weapon.

I think this is the root beef most people have.
As Grendus just said someone said, if it's exploitable, why not exploit it?

This reaction template style of thing would essentially open the floor up to mass production - regardless of how obscure the 'ingredients' are.
Rubies? No problem, whether you're willing to add a smelter reaction for them or just order them en masse from caravans. Troll blood? There's a thread on mermaid harvesting somewhere, so I don't see how a little _scourges ingenuity couldn't get you barrels of it. Two dozen goblin skulls? Most players have two hundred kicking around.

That's why a costless but unpredictable magic system will always be best. Letting loose the magi should be almost as dangerous as de-activating all your military when the goblins show up. Sure you'll win, but you'll also lose

All right, you've convinced me.  I think that such enchantments are better overpowered anyways, and the lack of control balances that.  In adventurer mode, I don't think you need controllable magic, a few things like healers though would be great when the wound system is managed (or before, no more phantom limbs!)  'Controlled' magic would probably go best in tower mode, 'you' are just sitting at the top, with an omniscient  view of the battlefield, occasionally casting a spell or two to wreak havoc!  You have some 'control' over your wizard, but you only get so much; expect a few fireballed roaches and sudden and inexplicable demands, think of a noble with grenades and even stranger tastes, if that's even possible!

[Grendus]

I still love the idea of having wizards as eccentric-going-on-batshit-insane old men who just do whatever and don't care about the consequences.

Damnit Merlin, that's the fourth dwarf you've turned green this week!

Urist McSummoner cancels perform ritual: interrupted by C'thulu.

[Evil One]

That's why a costless but unpredictable magic system will always be best. Letting loose the magi should be almost as dangerous as de-activating all your military when the goblins show up. Sure you'll win, but you'll also lose

I think spells should at least cost something, Mana, magic or whatever you want to call it as well as a certain amount of fatigue, The unpredictability should be a value derived from base spell mana cost, level of spell, the casters current fatigue(if you're tired you can't concentrate very well), the casters skill(so very skilled wizards have less chance of blowing themselves up) and enviromental conditions(so unless your wizard is VERY skilled conjuring a water elemental in a desert is just asking for trouble).
Of course more powerful and skilled magic users would be a lot more expensive in Fortress Mode.

[Rowanas]

Ok, a cost should exist, I was talking physical cost, but having dwarves fatigue, thirst and hunger themselves from spellcasting seems very reasonable. It stops them being commonplace, because you only use them when you need to. Maybe the worst effects should range right up to wounds appearing, or even the dwarf aging for casting spells. I think mana is right out personally. It's a crappy way to do magic when there are so many other options, and it's only useful in pen and paper RPG games because we don't use computers to work out exactly how much magicalness you have left. Having very tough magi would be cool because it would stop them from suffering from thirst/hunger/tiredness/damage while casting.

Secondly, no spells. Hell no. You command the magi to cast, and they'll damn well cast until they're tired/thirsty/hungry/too wounded. The effect would be almost random out of anything that could happen (water magi could increase flow speed, create water, turn ice to water during cold months etc) and that's what spells would essentially be. no "do this thing" commands, just "magic please!" and hope it works for the best. Obviously the dwarves will have to be given a short list of the things that are good and bad for people, so when enemies are near they'll try to cast things that are bad for people near them, and things that are good for people near you, but it's all a bit chaotic.

Unpredictability is the base line, not something to be derived. You have to derive use from the chaos, because that makes magic fun and Fun^tm.

[Evil One]

You have to make magic at least reasonably powerful and controllable or people just won't bother with it and that'd be an entire arc wasted, my idea for magic would still allow magic to be directed and effective but would add the danger that miscasting a spell would cause problems based on the type of spell, so(dependent on skill) miscasting a fireball could result in it not exploding where the caster wanted, blowing up in the casters face or simply not exploding at all and/or causing the caster to burst into flames.
I agree with the mana thing though.

[Rowanas]

I don't think people will ignore it if you make magic a small but effective chaos. It would give you an incentive to use magi at critical junctures where something has to be done, and not to try using them as factories for magic. This way a single mage could tip the battle in your favour, but you can't just sit back and magic your way through sieges. You will have to use magic as a backup and stuff.

If a mage turned the ground to water underneath half a squad of goblins that's going to be a pretty good reason to use them, but you still need soldiers to fight the rest, and that particular effect isn't particularly replicable (might only have a 1 in 20 chance of happening when the water sphere mage starts casting) so you can't rely on your magi winning fights for you. Gathering 5-10 magi should be both an accomplishment and a huge boost to your fortress, but they still won't win you any wars directly.

[Karnewarrior]

you should be able to turn people into toads, if only for the irony