Ritual Magic
Elemental Forums
To make magic more interesting, I would like to see its mechanics go beyond simple cast and target.
What about a kind of ritual magic, that requires more than one spell before it reaches its primary effect (though it might have secondary effects before that).
Lets assume an army approaches one of the cities of a powerful channeler. He has a spell that can flood land to turn it into a deadly swamp for some time but that spell requires a nearby big water source. Since the approaching army knows that, it avoids going near the river. But the channeler has prepared with some water rituals to make a temporary magical way from the river for the water. Now he only needs to lure the enemy army close to the end point of his rituals which are invisible to mundane eyes and can then use his powerful spell.
Rituals like that would dissipate after some time so you can't prepare forever and you would either need to go there yourself or move an enchanted hero near there to work through him.
To add more spice maybe some rituals would require a unit to prepare the place for the ritual with a building.
An example: You want to protect a mountain pass with a magical barrier. To make one you have to build a kind of crystal at both ends of the barrier to contain the magic. Only then you can start imbue those crystals with the ritual magic and after you have imbued the second a magic barrier forms between them.
The rituals might also require a sequence of ritual spells that have to be cast within x turns of each other to complete the ritual circle. Or you might have different choices about how to continue after each such spell but the possible outcomes get fewer with each spell in the circle you cast.
Certain rituals might also require special buildings that are scattered around the map or only castable at certain times (like at full moon).
All these things can balance powerful spell effects and require you to actually have a good plan.
