Magical duels are like their mundane counterparts; they provide a way for two mages to contest amongst themselves without causing physical harm to one another. In a duel, a mage harnesses his magical prowess to form a surrogate combatant, known as an avatar (not to be confused with the avatars of deities).

     It is the avatars that do battle, attacking, and taking damage in place of the mage. There will be more on the subject of avatars in the section entitled "How to Duel".

Why Duel?

     There comes a time when two mages might wish to contest between themselves. To prove which one is more powerful, for honour, to settle a bet, to divide treasure; there are numerous possibilities. However, unlike fighters, there is no way for a mage to "pull" a punch; a fireball is deadly, no matter what the mage does.

     In the Assembly of Tryll, magical duels are encouraged in place of actual battle between mages. First off, they're safer, and don't have the negative side effects on the local terrain that a real battle would have. Secondly, they make great shows; onlookers can watch a magical duel with no fear of injury. Also, the combatants themselves do not have to fear permanent injury (unless, of course, the duel is being fought to the death).

Who Duels?

     Magical duels have been adopted by the mages of the Alyndrian Assembly as a preferred way of settling disputes between mages. It has also become a popular sport at Dramidian and Altonian arenas, and are often saved for special occasions and grand finales. The duels themselves are invariably fantastic, and the displays of magical might, colour, and sound make even the most impressive fireworks display seem dull and uninteresting.

     The technique is simple, and has been adopted by mages from other countries. Magical duels are fought in The Northern Wastes, Thalendria, the Crescent Isles, and Naal'Maz. The elves of Arinanesti see the duels as frivolous, and refuse to take part. However, it is not unheard of for an elven mage in human lands to become involved in just such a duel.

     In Ingloria, mages themselves are seen as second rate. Magic is considered to be but a weak echo of divine magic. There, mages are actively discouraged from making a public spectacle of themselves. However, there have been instances of mages retiring to the privacy of a secluded forest or plain to engage in a magical duel.

     Vax Draconian mages do not see the value in a magical duel. They believe that any fight worth fighting, is worth fighting to the death. Thus, such a mage refuses to involve himself in anything as cowardly as a magical duel.

Where do Duels Take Place?

     A magical duel can be fought anywhere. All the combatants need is an area of at least 100 feet in diameter that is relatively empty. A sparsely treed forest glade would be fine, but the heart of a thick grove would not. Likewise, a relatively empty town square would serve, but a crowded marketplace would not.

     A popular choice amongst the more mercenary of mages is a city arena. Not only is the space ideal for magical combat, the crowds that invariably gather invariably bring considerable financial reward to the combatants, win or lose. Dungeon Master's note: when two mages publicly duel in an arena, there will be money generated. The amount is calculated by adding the levels of both combatants together, and multiplying by 50+1d100. The exact formula is: GP = (level of contestant 1 + level of contestant 2) x (50+1d100)

     For example, two fifth level mages decide to publicly duel. The DM adds their levels, then rolls 1d100, getting a result of 83. Putting these values into the equation looks like this:

     Therefore, this battle generates an income of 1,330 gp. Most arenas pay the combatants half of the monies generated by a battle, split 70/30 between the winner and the loser. Of course, other arrangements may be made, for particularly powerful (or popular) mages. This means that, in the preceding example, the winner of the duel would earn 465 gp and 5 sp, while the loser would earn 199 gp and 5 sp.

     This might seem like an easy way for mages to make money. However, a few other factors have to be considered. Part of the excitement, what draws a crowd to the event, is the mystery behind the opponents. A mage can only battle a maximum of once per month; any more, and the crowd begins to become bored with him (for each extra battle in a one month period, the takings at the door drop by half for that mage).

     Also, most Arenamasters are unwilling to hold a magical duel more than once per week. They know how important it is to keep magical duels rare, should they become mundane, their earning potential would plummet.

     The other consideration is one of trust; when one mage defeats another in a magical duel, he does have power over his vanquished foe. Not many mages are willing to trust that the other will let them go without taking advantage of that power; even if the duel was originally intended to be "just a show". More on this in the section entitled "How to Duel".

When to Duel?

     Duels take place when two (and only two) mages of any level wish to do battle, without doing physical harm to either combatant. Such a duel allows each mage to throw the bulk of his magical might into the fray, without physical risk to himself or his challenger.

     Because of the strain involved in dueling, a mage may not engage in more than one magical duel in any seven day period. After a duel, both mages are left weakened, and lose their highest allowed spell level for one week. If only able to cast first level spells, the mage is left unable to cast period for one week.

     Thus, most mages do not undertake a duel lightly. The loss of magical ability, coupled with the potential harm the loser might suffer at the hands of the victor make a magical duel potentially as deadly as a real one.

How to Duel?

     When two mages wish to duel, they must be fully rested (at full hit points), and must have memorized a full compliment of spells. Each mage must determine the total number of spell levels he can cast (a level one spell is 1 level, a level 5 spell is five levels, etc.). For example, a fifth level mage may cast four 1st level spells, two 2nd level spells, and one 3rd level spell per day. This gives him 11 spell levels, as per the following formula:

     For greater mages, the calculation is simple. Spell levels is equal to his normal maximum manna points (mp). These total spell levels determine how many hit points the mage's avatar will have. The spells by level table from the document "Alternative Spellcasting" is reproduced on the Table 1, to help the DM and player calculate hit points quickly.

Table 1. Avatar Hit Points by Level

Level of Spellcaster	Hit Points
1	1
2	2
3	4
4	7
5	11
6	14
7	20
8	27
9	32
10	39
11	51
12	66
13	78
14	85
15	94
16	115
177	130
18	139
19	147
20	156

     To keep things simple, avatars of spellcasters beyond 20th level will add 5 BP per level of the caster.

     The mage begins by forming his avatar. This avatar can take any shape desired by the mage, within the following limits. The avatar cannot exceed 3 feet in diameter per level of the mage. Thus, a first level mage could make an avatar that looks like a beholder, or a tiny version of a troll (3 feet tall). Avatars may look as benign or dangerous as the mage wishes.

     The very first time a mage creates his avatar decides the form of that avatar for the rest of the mage's life. Once the form is chosen, it cannot be changed. So, if at first level, the mage chooses an avatar that looks like a red dragon, the avatar will always look like a red dragon (albeit a small one); the only change is that it will get bigger as the mage progresses in levels.

     Avatars do battle in a manner appropriate to their form. Thus, an avatar crafted to resemble an iron golem would punch, and perhaps breath poisonous clouds of gas. An avatar designed to look like a red dragon could claw, bite, breath flame, perform a tail slap, etc. Regardless of the physical appearance of the attack, the actual THACO and damage rolled are not affected. The physical form the attack takes is simply for show.

     Avatars are only capable of harming other avatars. An avatar cannot be used to battle a real opponent, even if that opponent were ethereal or otherwise insubstantial. Likewise, an avatar may only be harmed by another avatar. It is impossible to influence a magical duel by attacking or casting spells at an avatar.

     The avatar has the THACO equal to 20, minus the mage's level, plus one. Thus, at 5th level, a mage's avatar would have a THACO of 16 (20 - 5 + 1 = 16). The lowest an avatar's THACO can ever reach is 2. The armor class of the avatar is equal to 10, minus the mage's level. Thus, at 5th level, a mage's avatar would have an AC of 5. The lowest the avatar's THACO can ever reach is -10.

     When avatars do battle, they have one physical attack, and one defensive posture in any given combat round. The avatar has a pool of battle points (BP), from which he can allocate points towards offense and defense. The number of BP an avatar has is equal to its mage's level. Thus, the avatar of a 5th level mage has 5 BP per round.

     The mage must decide at the beginning of each round (before initiative is rolled) how many points the avatar will expend on attack, and how many on defense. When the points have been allocated, the mage will roll whatever die comes closest to that total to determine the effectiveness of both the attack and defense. All BP are automatically replenished at the beginning of every round.

     For example, a 5th level mage has 5 BP to spend each round. In the first round, he decides to allocate 3 points towards attack, and 2 towards defense. The avatar wins initiative, rolls an attack, and is successful. The avatar rolls 1d3 to determine how much damage it has done to the enemy avatar. The enemy avatar returns the attack, and is also successful, doing 6 hps of damage. The mage rolls a 2 on 1d2; 2 hps of damage from that attack are absorbed, so the avatar suffers 4 hps of damage from the attack.

     Note, if the attack damage ends up being a negative number, the avatar is not healed; instead, it simply suffers no damage at all from the attack. Also, a mage may decided to allocate his BP in any way he sees fit. Thus, he could expend them all on attack, or all on defense, should he so wish.

     There may be instances where the allocation of BP do not work out to even die rolls. For example, lets assume that a 14th level mage wishes to expend 9 points on attack, and 5 on defense. The DM would then assign the next highest die to the roll, ignoring any numbers which wouldn't apply. The mage would roll then roll 1d10 for the attack damage (re-rolling if the result is 10), and 1d6 for the defense (re-rolling should the result be 6).

     The mages may not cast spells, drink potions, walk, or indeed, take any action in a round other than to direct the actions of their avatars. Should a mage decide to take an action other than running his avatar, the avatar stands helpless for that round; any successful hit by the opposing avatar on such a round would kill the avatar instantly.

     As was mentioned earlier, avatars cannot be damaged by any creature other than another avatar. Thus, attempts by onlookers to influence the battle by attacking the avatars will not work. However, any interference on the mages themselves will end the duel immediately. It does not matter what form the interference takes. If a mage is attacked, or even if a beneficial spell is cast upon the mage, the magics which create the duel are disrupted, and the duel ends. Should this occur, both mages are assumed to be victorious, for purposes of determining the effects of the duel.

     Before the duel begins, the mages must decide on the penalty for the loser. This decision must be jointly agreed upon by both mages. Once agreed upon, the penalty cannot be changed. The magics of the duel will guarantee that both parties honour this decision.

     There are several goals the mages can work towards as the result of a battle. Acceptable goals are listed and explained in Table 2.

     The contestants in a magical duel can chose different goals. This is not true if the goal is Agreement; if that is the case, it must be the goal of both mages. Once a goal has been chosen, it cannot be changed (no fair pulling a fast one).

     The loser of a magical duel is stunned for 1d4 non-combat rounds. Therefore, there is a chance that the winner might decide to kill the loser, unless there is someone else around to stop him. That is why most mages will appoint a Intercessor in any magical duel, to prevent such an occurrence.

     A mage may not enter a duel if he is under the influence of any mind affecting spell. Thus, a charmed or geased mage would not be able to engage in such a duel. The mage may have personal-protective magics running during a duel (such as stoneskin or protection from normal missiles), but no spells that would disrupt the flow of magic (such as globe of invulnerability or spell turning).

Table 2. Goals of Magical Duels

Goal	Explanation
Competitive Spirit	The magical duel is fought for no particular goal. The mages might want simply to determine who is best, or to settle a friendly wager or argument.
Agreement	The combatants are fighting over a particular item, person, place, etc. For example, two mages might be contesting over who owns a staff of power, or who gets the right to court a lovely maiden. The winner of the prize gets his way in the agreement, obviously.
Service	The loser enters into a period of service to the winner (pre-set before the contest began - not to exceed one year). The victor cannot require the loser to perform any act that would violate his alignment or ethos. Thus, a LG mage could not be ordered to slay a gold dragon, or to steal a valuable gem from a local merchant. The service can be mundane or magical, but cannot put the loser in serious fear for his life.
Charm	The loser is charmed by the winner, and will treat him as a best friend. While there is no initial saving throw to avoid this effect, the loser may make further saving throws as time goes on, as established in the spell description.
Geas	The loser is geased to perform any one action or deed (as established before the battle begins). This geas, once set, cannot be altered. It can force the loser into performing an action that would contradict his alignment or ethos.
Control	The victor can force the loser's psyche out of his body, and into a prepared phylactery, then taking control of the body. The loser's psyche is then transferred into the victor's body. Each mage maintains his mental statistics and class related abilities, but now has the physical statistics of his new body. This swap is permanent.
Displaced	The loser is teleported in 1d100+20 miles away in a random direction (no chance of teleporting in high or low).
Death	The loser dies immediately.

     Should a mage under the influence of such a spell attempt to enter into a magical duel, he will not be able to summon his avatar. This may be an indication to knowledgeable onlookers that the mage is, indeed, affected by a charm like spell (assuming no other reasonable alternative exists). As the mage cannot summon his avatar, the duel does not begin, and no battle takes place.

Sample Battle

     Two mages, Kin and Storm, are arguing over who has rightful claim to a patch of land outside of Val Endos. Unable to solve their dispute through argument, and fearing that it will soon come to blows, both mages agree to enter into a magical duel. Kin is a 15th level mage, and Storm is 17th level.

     First, we determine the statistics of Kin's avatar. Kin is a 15th level mage, so we do the following calculations:

AC = 10 - caster's level = 10 - 15 = -5
HP = total spell levels the mage can cast = 94 (at 15th level)
THACO = 20 - 15 + 1 = 6
BP = 15 (Kin's level)

     Next, we calculate the statistics of Storm's avatar:

AC = 10 - caster's level = 10 - 17 = -7
HP = total spell levels the mage can cast = 130 (at 17th level).
THACO = 20 - 17 +1 = 4
BP = 17 (Storm's level)

The Battle

Round One

Step one: Each combatant secretly determines how to spend their BP. Kin decides to apply 10 BP towards attack, and 5 towards defense. Storm decides to spend 7 points on attack, and 10 on defense.

Step two: The avatars roll for initiative; Kin wins.

Step three: Kin's avatar attacks, rolling a 3 on 1d20; this hits an AC of 3, which misses.

Step four: Storm's avatar attacks, rolling a 12 on 1d20; this hits an AC of -8, which hits Kin's avatar. Storm rolls 1d8, and gets a result of 8. He re-rolls the damage (7 maximum, all results of 8 are ignored), getting a 4.

Step five: Kin's avatar rolls 1d6 for his defense (5 maximum), and rolls a 2. He absorbs 2 hps of damage successfully, and suffers 2 hit points of damage from Storm's attack.

Round Two

Step one: Each combatant secretly determines how to spend their BP. Kin decides to apply 5 BP towards attack, and 8 towards defense. Storm decides to spend 10 points on attack, and 7 on defense.

Step two: The avatars roll for initiative; Kin wins.

Step three: Kin's avatar attacks, rolling a 13 on 1d20; this hits an AC of -7, which successfully hits Storm's avatar. He rolls 1d6 for his damage, getting a result of 3

Step four: Storm's avatar rolls his defensive die. He has allocated 7 BP to defense, so rolls 1d8; with a result of 5. As 3 - 5 is -2, Storm's avatar suffers no damage from the attack.

Step five: Storm's avatar attacks, and hits. Storm rolls 1d10, coming up with a 2.

Step six: Kin's avatar has 8 BP put towards defense, and so rolls 1d8. He also rolls a two, canceling out Storm's avatar's damage roll. Neither combatant takes injury this round.

     As you can see, a magical duel can be a protracted affair. Of course, to the observers, it is a magical, mystical affair, with the avatars throwing flame and light, delivering mighty blows, and performing valiant acts of defense.

Conclusion

     Since their advent, magical duels have become quite popular with the mages of Tryll. The duel provides a safe way for two mages to prove their mettle, without endangering their own lives. Gone are the days when mages would battle in the public arena using real spells; no more must the public risk being killed by an errant lightning bolt.

     There have been some reports of mages seeking ways to give their avatars physical form, but this is, as of now, only unsubstantiated rumour…