Spell Modifications In Master of Magic K. M. Dale 9/25/99 These are the changes I have made in my copy of the game, and are presented here as ideas to try. I would like to hear about other players' ideas too. This document covers summoned units as part of the summoning spells. Notation: "WIZ" indicates that the changes should be made to the WIZARDS.EXE file. "SPD" indicates that the changes should be made to the SPELLDAT.LBX file. "aaaaa xx > yy" means change the byte at aaaaa from the old value xx to the new value yy. "aaaaa ii > jj, kk > ll, mm > nn, ..." means change bytes aaaaa, aaaaa+1, aaaaa+2 and so on. "aaaaa, bbbbb, ccccc xx > yy" means make the same change at several addresses. A. Overall changes 1. Reduce the research cost of every Death spell by 40%. The background rationale is that the evil gods provide magical assistance to the wizard in return for his allegiance to the dark realm. The game reason is to strengthen Death magic (which, aside from the 11 book strategy, is IMO the weakest of the five colors), and to produce a faster developing game. Changes: SPD 18e4 14 > 0c; 1908 28 > 18; 192c 3c > 24; 1950 50 > 30; 1974 64 > 3c; 1998 82 > 4e; 19bc a0 > 60; 19e0 be > 72; 1a04 fa > 96; 1a28 dc > 84; 1a4c 2c > b4, 01 > 00; 1a70 5e > d2, 01 > 00; 1a94 90 > f0, 01 > 00; 1ab8 c2 > 0e; 1adc f4 > 2c; 1b00 30 > 50, 02 > 01; 1b24 6c > 74, 02 > 01; 1b48 a8 > 98, 02 > 01; 1b6c e4 > bc, 02 > 01; 1b90 20 > e0, 03 > 01; 1bb4 70 > 10, 03 > 02; 1bd8 c0 > 40, 03 > 02; 1bfc 10 > 70, 04 > 02; 1c20 60 > a0, 04 > 02; 1c44 b0 > d0, 04 > 02; 1c68 14 > 0c, 05 > 03; 1c8c 78 > 48, 05 > 03; 1cb0 dc > 84, 05 > 03; 1cd4 40 > c0, 06 > 03; 1cf8 a4 > fc, 06 > 03; 1d1c 3a > 56, 07 > 04; 1d40 d0 > b0, 07 > 04; 1d64 ca > 46, 08 > 05; 1d88 c4 > dc, 09 > 05; 1dac b8 > 08, 0b > 07; 1dd0 ac > 34, 0d > 08; 1df4 a0 > 60, 0f > 09; 1e18 94 > 8c, 11 > 0a; 1e3c 88 > b8, 13 > 0b; 1e60 70 > 10, 17 > 0e. 2. Change the Subversion spell to a Demon spell. The background rationale is that a field of magic which can summon demon lords should be able to summon lesser demons as well. The game reason is to give Death a combat summoning spell to help cope with attacks by Death creatures. Changes: SPD 1b08 53 > 44, 75 > 65, 62 > 6d, 76 > 6f, 65 > 6e, 72 > 00, 73 > 00, 69 > 00, 6f > 00, 6e > 00; 1b1b 26 > 23; 1b1d 06 > 00, 00 > 01; 1b20 01 > ff; 1b22 64 > 14; 1b26 fa > 6b; 1b28 03 > a9. B. Summoning spells and summoned units General notes: I adjusted the ratio of summoning cost to upkeep cost to be about 50:1 for most creatures. Life creatures have a 60:1 ratio, Death creatures without life stealing have a 75:1 ratio, and regenerating creatures have a 40:1 ratio. Death creatures with life stealing have the usual 50:1 ratio since the life stealing allows them to heal. In general I have tried to make summoned creatures a more attractive alternative than they are in the standard game. The Chaos and Life creatures are IMO especially overpriced for what you get. 1. Reduce War Bears casting cost and lair cost to 50 and upkeep to 1, and increase their melee attack to 8. Changes: SPD 0316 46 > 32; WIZ 2af6a 07 > 08; 2af72 46 > 32; 2af74 02 > 01. 2. Reduce Sprites upkeep to 2, and add magic immunity. The background rationale is that sprites are highly magical creatures who depend on defensive magic rather than size and strength to survive. The game reason is that sprites are IMO too fragile for their cost. Changes: WIZ 2af98 03 > 02; 2afa6 00 > 20. 3. Increase Giant Spiders melee attack to 6. Change: WIZ 2affa 04 > 06. 4. Add regeneration to Cockatrices. It seems strange that no Nature creatures in the standard game can regenerate, when Regeneration is a Nature spell. Cockatrices have no missile attack, low defense and few hit points, so regeneration will be a big help to them without unbalancing the game. Change: WIZ 2afcf 00 > 20. 5. Increase Nagas melee attack to 10 and hit points to 9. Nagas are IMO much too weak for their cost in the standard game. Changes: WIZ 2b1f2 04 > 0a; 2b202 06 > 09. 6. Reduce Djinn upkeep to 13. Change: WIZ 2b1b4 11 > 0d. 7. Increase Hell Hounds casting cost and lair cost to 50. Changes: SPD 0e0e 28 > 32; WIZ 2ac12 28 > 32. 8. Reduce Fire Elemental casting cost to 15 and lair cost to 75, and add immolation and +1 to hit. It seems reasonable that a creature composed of fire should have immolation, and almost all common creatures have +1 to hit. Changes: SPD 0ee6 14 > 0f; WIZ 2ac7a 00 > 01; 2ac7e 64 > 4b; 2ac90 00 > 08. 9. Reduce Fire Giant casting cost and lair cost to 100 and upkeep to 2. Changes: SPD 0f2e 96 > 64; WIZ 2ac5a 96 > 64; 2ac5c 03 > 02. 10. Reduce Gargoyles casting cost and lair cost to 150 and upkeep to 3. Changes: SPD 0f9a c8 > 96; WIZ 2ac36 c8 > 96; 2ac38 05 > 03. 11. Reduce Doom Bat casting cost and lair cost to 200 and upkeep to 4, remove immolation and add a strength 4 poison attack. Changes: SPD 0fe2 2c > c8, 01 > 00; WIZ 2acea 2c > c8, 01 > 00, 08 > 04; 2acf7 00 > 04; 2acfc 08 > 00; 2ad00 00 > 04. 12. Reduce Chimeras upkeep to 7. Change: WIZ 2acc8 0a > 07. 13. Reduce Chaos Spawn casting cost to 450 and upkeep to 9, and increase lair cost to 450. Changes: SPD 10ba f4 > c2; WIZ 2aca2 90 > c2; 2aca4 0c > 09. 14. Reduce Efreet upkeep to 11. Change: WIZ 2ad10 0f > 0b. 15. Increase Hydra upkeep to 16. Change: WIZ 2ad34 0e > 10. 16. Reduce Great Drake upkeep to 18. Change: WIZ 2ad58 1e > 12. 17. Reduce Guardian Spirit casting cost to 60 and lair cost to 35. Changes: SPD 1462 50 > 3c; WIZ 2af06 32 > 23. 18. Reduce Unicorns casting cost and lair cost to 240 and upkeep to 4. Changes: SPD 155e fa > f0; WIZ 2aee2 fa > f0; 2aee4 05 > 04. 19. Reduce Angel casting cost and lair cost to 540 and upkeep to 9. Changes: SPD 16ea 26 > 1c; WIZ 2af2a 26 > 1c; 2af2c 0f > 09. 20. Reduce Arch Angel casting cost and lair cost to 840 and upkeep to 14, and add dispel evil (which the Angel already has). Changes: SPD 189a b6 > 48; WIZ 2af4e b6 > 48; 2af50 14 > 0e; 2af65 00 > 08. 21. Reduce Skeletons lair cost to 15 and upkeep to 0, and remove +1 to hit. The game does not allow a fractional upkeep cost, so I rounded it to 0. Changes: WIZ 2ad76 01 > 00; 2ad7a 19 > 0f; 2ad7c 01 > 00. 22. Reduce Ghouls casting cost and lair cost to 50. I would have reduced the upkeep as well, but fractions are not available and zero seemed too low. Changes: SPD 1996 50 > 32; WIZ 2ad9e 50 > 32. 23. Reduce Night Stalker casting cost and lair cost to 150, and increase upkeep to 2. Changes: SPD 1afe fa > 96; WIZ 2adc2 fa > 96; 2adc4 01 > 02. 24. Increase Demon lair cost to 100, and remove missile immunity. It's hard to see why lesser demons should have missile immunity when demon lords don't. Changes: WIZ 2ae0a 50 > 64; 2ae1a dc > d8. 25. Increase Shadow Demons upkeep to 8. Change: WIZ 2ae54 07 > 08. 26. Increase Wraiths upkeep to 10. Change: WIZ 2ae30 05 > 0a. 27. Increase Death Knights upkeep to 12. Change: WIZ 2ae78 08 > 0c. 28. Reduce Demon Lord casting cost to 900, and increase upkeep to 18. Changes: SPD 1e5e e8 > 84; WIZ 2ae9c 0f > 12. C. Unit Enchantments 1. Reduce Immolation combat casting cost to 20 (100 overland) and upkeep to 1. Changes: SPD 102a 1e > 14; WIZ 2b3b8 02 > 01. 2. Reduce Planar Travel upkeep to 3. Change: WIZ 2b3f0 05 > 03. 3. Reduce Wraith Form upkeep to 2. Change: WIZ 2b3c2 03 > 02. D. City Enchantments 1. Reduce Earth Gate upkeep to 3. Change: WIZ 2b416 05 > 03. 2. Change name of Flying Fortress to Flying City, and reduce casting cost to 250 and upkeep to 5. As many players have discovered, this spell can be cast on any friendly city (hence the name change). It works somewhat like a city wall - a unit of either side cannot enter or exit the city unless the unit is flying, non-corporeal, merging or teleporting. This spell is IMO grossly overpriced in the standard game. Changes: SPD 0cff 46 > 43, 6f > 69, 72 > 74, 74 > 79, 72 > 00, 65 > 00, 73 > 00, 73 > 00; 0d12 f4 > fa, 01 > 00; WIZ 2b408 19 > 05. 3. Reduce Wall of Fire combat casting cost to 15 (75 overland) and upkeep to 1. Changes: SPD 0e7a 1e > 0f; WIZ 2b3f8 02 > 01. 4. Reduce Heavenly Light upkeep to 1. Change: WIZ 2b422 02 > 01. 5. Increase Prosperity upkeep to 4. Change: WIZ 2b41e 02 > 04. 6. Reduce Astral Gate upkeep to 3. Change: WIZ 2b420 05 > 03. 7. Reduce Wall of Darkness combat casting cost to 30 (150 overland) and upkeep to 3. Changes: SPD 1b46 28 > 1e; WIZ 2b426 05 > 03. 8. Reduce Evil Presence upkeep to 3. Change: WIZ 2b3fe 04 > 03. 9. Reduce Cloud of Shadow upkeep to 1. Change: WIZ 2b404 03 > 01. 10. Reduce Famine upkeep to 4. Change: WIZ 2b406 05 > 04. E. Global Enchantments 1. Reduce Chaos Surge upkeep to 30. Change: WIZ 2b440 28 > 1e. 2. Increase Crusade upkeep to 30. Change: WIZ 2b44e 0a > 1e. 3. Increase Charm of Life upkeep to 30. Change: WIZ 2b456 0a > 1e. 4. Reduce Zombie Mastery upkeep to 20. Change: WIZ 2b430 28 > 14. 5. Reduce Eternal Night casting cost to 750 and upkeep to 10. Changes: SPD 1df2 e8 > ee, 03 > 02; WIZ 2b42c 0f > 0a. 6. Reduce Evil Omens casting cost to 600 and upkeep to 5. Changes: SPD 1e16 4c > 58, 04 > 02; WIZ 2b42e 0a > 05. F. Combat Spells 1. Increase Cracks Call casting cost to 30. Change: SPD 03ca 14 > 1e. 2. Reduce Petrify casting cost to 25. Change: SPD 0556 23 > 19. 3. Reduce Creature Binding casting cost to 50. Change: SPD 0c82 46 > 32. 4. Increase Flame Strike casting cost to 90. Change: SPD 1192 3c > 5a. 5. Reduce Possession casting cost to 20. Change: SPD 1a6e 1e > 14. G. Special Spells 1. Increase Incarnation casting cost to 600. Change: SPD 1636 f4 > 58, 01 > 02.