Mage Knight

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Mage Knight is a miniatures wargame using collectible figures, created by WizKids, Inc. A synthesis of classic miniatures games (of which Warhammer Fantasy Battles is possibly the best-known example) and of collectible card games (which began with the introduction of Magic: The Gathering in 1993), Mage Knight was an immediate success when it was introduced in 2001. Image:MageKnightLogo.gif

Unlike other miniatures wargames, Mage Knight eliminates the need for constant reference to rulebooks and tables by integrating a dial into each figure that contains the current combat statistics of each figure -- its movement rate, attack and defense values, combat damage, and special abilities. While this system lacks the versatility of other miniatures games, mainly because players cannot customize their figures, it makes up for this by facilitating rapid gameplay and by having a large number of distinctive figures. The system, called the combat dial, has proved to be highly popular and is used in WizKids's other games, including Heroclix and MechWarrior.

All miniatures, called warriors, come pre-painted and are pre-assigned point costs based upon their abilities. These costs range between 3 points (for a weak figure) to over 500 points (for a powerful dragon). To play a game, players will generally agree upon a point cost total, and then design their armies to maximize their strategic capabilities within the specified point cost total. Each player is allowed to take a number of actions per turn equal to the point cost total divided by 100. These actions include movement, combat, or the use of special abilities such as Regeneration and Necromancy. Game play is typically rapid, but often highly strategic.

Mage Knight figures are sold in Starter Sets (which historically have contained 8 or 9 figures) and Booster Sets (4 or 5 figures). Figures are sold in basic sets, as well as expansion sets. Figures are distributed with seven rarity levels; the most rare figures were the "Uniques", of which only one could appear in a player's army. In addition, WizKids gives away limited edition, Unique versions of the non-Unique figures in the sets as prizes for tournaments in comic and game shops. These figures are not available for retail sale, and have different statistics and point costs than the regular figures. This novel prize policy is in part responsible for Mage Knight's success.

On 5 November 2003, WizKids released a new "base" set (their third, after Rebellion and Unlimited), colloquially referred to as "Mage Knight 2.0," that introduced new strategic possibilities to the game, including capabilities to customize Unique warriors and battles via styrene cards called Domains, Items and Constructed Terrain. Later expansions have introduced more options via Spellbooks, Spells, and Adventuring Companies.

Mage Knight has seen 14 expansions in booster packs, though bonus figurines appear in the Heroic Quests, Conquest, Titans supplements, and special figures from the Holiday 2001 and Holiday 2003 genres. The expansions are (in order of release):

The Dungeons and Sinister expansions have both been nominated for Origins Awards. Mage Knight Dungeons won Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game Product 2002 and Mage Knight Dungeons 3D Dungeon Tiles won Best Game Aid or Accessory 2003. Individual miniatures have also won awards, as in 2002.

On June 30, 2005 Wizkids announced the Nexus expansion would be the last in the current series and that after November 2005 all tournament support would cease. Neither Wizkids or Topps gave any official reason for the cancellation, though drops in sales and player base have been mentioned as possible causes. A previously announced PC game (Mage Knight: Apocalypse) is still scheduled to be released in the spring of 2006, and a tabletop role-playing game using the Savage Worlds system has been announced. Other projects under the Mage Knight logo may appear in the future.

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Story

Mage Knight is based in a fantasy world on a continent known only as The Land. Through a section of the Mage Knight website, known as the Scrying Chamber, as well as through a comic book series and two novels, we learn of the history of the people of the Mage Knight universe.

The game of Mage Knight revolves around a conflict sparked by a rebellion against the powerful Atlantis Guild. Hundreds of years before this rebellion lived a mighty magically-gifted person named Tezla. Prior to Tezla's rise to power, there were two known schools of magic in the Land: Elemental and Necromantic. Because these magical schools were diametrically opposite, it was deemed impossible for anyone to master both without going insane. Tezla, however, managed to do just that. Additionally, he invented a third school of magic, known as Technomancy. This Technomantic magic was dependent upon a magically-infused mineral called magestone. As a result, the Atlantis Guild began mining the mineral, though the task was dangerous due to the radiation that unprocessed magestone produces.

Though Tezla was able to sustain life far longer than most humans, death eventually found him. Upon his death, the proponents of each school of magic claimed to have captured his soul essence in an Avatar of their creation. Because it was widely accepted that a soul could not be divided, and because each school claimed fervently that they possessed the true Tezla, strife began to form among the three schools. Eventually, this led to the Necromantic and Elemental schools leaving Atlantis. These breakoff groups became known as the Necropolis Sect and the Elemental League, respectively.

Atlantis continued to focus on Technomancy, and numerous strip mines were dug throughout the land to harvest the mineral. It was discovered that dwarves, who had a natural immunity to magic, were resistant to the deadly radiation emanated by the raw magestone. As a result, many dwarves were enslaved and forced to work in the strip mines, often for their entire lives. This continued for many years, through the reign of the Prophet-Magus Karrudan, a powerful magic-user in his own right.

During the reign of Karrudan, the oppression among the people of the Land was often severe. A small group of began to make plans to topple the Atlantis Guild's rule to free the dwarven slaves, as well as ease the oppression of the Land as a whole. During a daring raid to the floating city of Atlantis, the capital of the Guild, a rebel named Snow managed to successfully assassinate Karrudan with a new weapon: black powder. This assassination began the Black Powder Rebellion, and the rebels continued to gather support to their cause. This spark of conflict also enabled the Necropolis Sect to implement their own plans of domination, and the conflict quickly spread throughout every faction in the Land.

During this conflict, other factions became involved, such as the Orc Raiders, who were often a scourge to people of the Rebels and the Atlantis Guild; the Knights Immortal, high elves from the impenetrable Rivvenheim mountains dedicated to eradicating chaos among the "lesser races" of the Land; the Draconum, a race of dragon-men who continually seek self-improvement, evolving into more powerful forms; the Shyft, a mysterious lizard-like race from the islands of the sea who somehow maintain an empathic bond with the wild Mage Spawn creatures; and the Solonavi, an enigmatic race of energy-beings who offer their services for anyone willing to pay their price (which is often a favor to be collected later). During this time, the threat of an ancient cult known as the Tur'aj, or Apocalypse, began to secretly creep into the Land.

A major turning point in the conflict came after the Knights Immortal made an alliance with the Atlantis Guild in an attempt to destroy the Black Powder Rebels. However, shortly before a decisive battle, the Atlantis Guild leaders called their troops home, leaving the Knights Immortal to their own devices. Determined to retain their honor, the Knights Immortal fought on, though hopelessly outnumbered, and were routed by the Rebels at Khamsin. This act was seen by the high elven leaders as traitorous, and vowed to exact vengeance upon Atlantis. The Elven Lords began to rally their troops to fully eradicate chaos, while the victory at Khamsin allowed the Black Powder Rebels to become the Black Powder Revolutionaries - more than just a rag-tag group, but a fully-formed revolution against Atlantis' tyranny.

Shortly thereafter, a key Atlantean city, Rokos, was besieged by an organized group of Orc Raiders. Because of this siege, the Solonavi made known to the leaders of the Atlantis Guild that the Oracle's Needle, a tower in Rokos that served as home to the revered Oracles of Rokos (who had predicted Tezla's birth many years prior to it's happening), was a headquarters of sorts to the Solonavi beings, and that the Oracles were allied with them. With the help of the Atlantis Guild, the Orc Raiders were driven off, and their leader slain. The Solonavi made an offer to the Atlantis Guild to help them become the most powerful force in the Land in exchange for an unnamed favor. Though the Prophet-Magus Osiras encouraged Emperor Nujarek to accept, but Nujarek instead refused. This enraged the Solonavi, who expressed their wrath by cleansing Rokos and nearby Luxor of all Atlantean military presence. Nevertheless, Nujarek used this opportunity to transform the Atlantis Guild into the Atlantean Empire, in an effort to restore Atlantis' glory under Tezla.

The Orcs, banding under the Orc Khans, became divided by this loss. The majority of them went back to their homeland, the Fist, under the command of the Broken Tusk clan and it's leader, Khan Harrowblade. However, some clans chose to remain, breaking the tradition of the Orcs. These Shadow Khans chose to keep their spoils to themselves, and in so doing, earned the wrath of the clans who returned to the Fist.

During this time, the Necropolis Sect had been at work. To the west, the Necropolis Sect, under the command of the vampire-lord Darq the Corrupt, succeeded in taking control of many cities of the Galeshi, a nomadic race of men loyal to the Black Powder Rebellion. Simultaneously, a crusade was launched against the Elemental League in their home territory of the Wylden Forest. This crusade was led by a troll-turned-vampire, Kossak Darkbringer, who's will was enslaved to Darq the Corrupt via a powerful relic. The Necropolis Sect continued their crusade to conquer the Land, officially becoming the Dark Crusade, while the Elemental League, scattered remnants of their former selves, vowed to resist as the Elemental Freeholds.

The fighting continued, and in the shadows the Apocalypse Cult continued to gain power. Not long after the drastic changes among the factions, the Apocalypse allied themselves with the newly-evolved Shyft, who had retreated to their isles for a time. This alliance set out to capture an ancient Egg, guarded by the Draconum for centuries. The other factions of the land sought to hinder this attempt, but failed, and the Egg was hatched by the Apocalypse to bring forth the Apocalypse Dragon, a huge creature of enormous power. Centuries before, the Dragon had been defeated by a group of powerful warriors. Now it is loose again, promising to bring destruction throughout the land, and thus give victory to the Apocalypse cult.

Though many of the factions are dedicated to stopping this evil from occurring, due to the fragmented nature of the factions, it seems only a matter of time before the Apocalypse consumes the land.

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Notable characters

The story of Mage Knight contains many notable and important characters. Most of these characters have been made into figures, though some have not. Below are some of the more prominent characters in the Mage Knight storyline.