Mage's Maze
A popular game in Azoria, Mage's Maze involves a competing pair of wizards using cantrips to reshape the game board and control the path of an homunculus-type creature as it races through the maze.
The game board is several metres across, and resembles a rocky landscape with several paths through it and a variety of natural obstacles. These obstacles include gaps in the path, streams flowing down gullies through which the homunculus must travel, vertical ascents and descents, small holes which the homunculus must traverse, and the like.
The semi-intelligent game-creatures move through the obstacle course at their top speed to reach the rewards at the end, and the spellcasters use cantrips to either clear obstacles out of their way or obstruct the other caster's homunculus. The homunculi can be wilful, so the wizards must urge them through carefully, but using any spells directly on the homunculus other than the enlarge/reduce cantrip will see the caster disqualified.
The cantrips have a variety of effects on the game board. One makes the creatures grow or shrink, allowing them to move faster, climb ladders, or fit through small spaces. Another moves the ladders, bridges and rocks around, clearing or blocking a path. Moving rocks may block passageways or divert streams from gullies, allowing their homunculus through or blocking the other - or washing it backwards. A third cantrip will create a short-lived candle-flame, attracting the homunculi forward or backward or along a certain path.
Variants of the game involve larger game boards, teams of homunculi controlled by a single caster, teams of wizards each controlling a single homunculus to get their team through the board as one, or multiple casters each controlling a single homunculus and competing against all the others to be the first to complete the maze.
The board game is popular both as a method of practicing magical control, and as proof of the caster's magical skill. The magical colleges field teams against each other, and the game boards are magically magnified to allow onlookers to see what is happening from the seating.
The game board is several metres across, and resembles a rocky landscape with several paths through it and a variety of natural obstacles. These obstacles include gaps in the path, streams flowing down gullies through which the homunculus must travel, vertical ascents and descents, small holes which the homunculus must traverse, and the like.
The semi-intelligent game-creatures move through the obstacle course at their top speed to reach the rewards at the end, and the spellcasters use cantrips to either clear obstacles out of their way or obstruct the other caster's homunculus. The homunculi can be wilful, so the wizards must urge them through carefully, but using any spells directly on the homunculus other than the enlarge/reduce cantrip will see the caster disqualified.
The cantrips have a variety of effects on the game board. One makes the creatures grow or shrink, allowing them to move faster, climb ladders, or fit through small spaces. Another moves the ladders, bridges and rocks around, clearing or blocking a path. Moving rocks may block passageways or divert streams from gullies, allowing their homunculus through or blocking the other - or washing it backwards. A third cantrip will create a short-lived candle-flame, attracting the homunculi forward or backward or along a certain path.
Variants of the game involve larger game boards, teams of homunculi controlled by a single caster, teams of wizards each controlling a single homunculus to get their team through the board as one, or multiple casters each controlling a single homunculus and competing against all the others to be the first to complete the maze.
The board game is popular both as a method of practicing magical control, and as proof of the caster's magical skill. The magical colleges field teams against each other, and the game boards are magically magnified to allow onlookers to see what is happening from the seating.
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