Lords of Magic

The world is filled with wandering monsters and fixed buildings filled with monsters. Lords of Magic is notably different from other strategy games in that it has only one map, with each faith starting at a different location. This results in a somewhat repetitive nature, counteracted somewhat by a supplied map editor.

Throughout the game, players travel across the high-fantasy land of Urak (which is split into 8 distinct regions, one for each faith), building an army composed of archers, infantry, cavalry, and creatures. The overworld map gameplay is turn-based; here, players manage cities and move their armies. When beginning a battle, the gameplay switches to real-time. Champions and Lords can be equipped with treasures found throughout dungeons or from other factions. As the game progresses, many faithless marauding parties will attempt to disrupt the faith's economies and progress. There is also a loose diplomacy system that can be used to interact with other factions as well for trade or the exchange of research.

The main goal of the game is to defeat Balkoth, Lord of Death, by any means necessary. After finishing the game once, players can begin a new game as Balkoth with the goal of conquering all of Urak.

Lords are the avatar characters used by the player. They are like champions, but colored differently and have higher stats. When a lord dies, the faith is removed from play, unless the player has obtained an "heir". Heirs are obtained by befriending another faith, then liberating their great temple before they have, in which case the faith becomes the player's and their lord in turn becomes the heir.

There are eight different factions: life, death, order, chaos, air, earth, fire, and water. Each faction represents their element with their own set of units, heroes and spells. The Heroes of the game consist of three different types which offer unique game play and tactics. They are Warrior, Thief and Mage. The Warrior is a close combat specialist who is best at leading armies into battle. The Thief works best alone, being able to steal money and spy. The Thief can even kidnap other heroes, ransoming them for money and artifacts. The Mage is very weak with low hit points, but can use spells which can change the entire battle in his army's favor, summoning great monsters or raining down fire and lightning from behind the front lines. There are over 160 different spells and they are different for each faction. These spells are divided into four types: "offensive", "defensive", "overland" and "general knowledge". There are over 90 different artifacts as well to discover and collect.

The game includes a single-player mode and limited multiplayer features on LAN and the Internet as well.

The game takes place in the land of Urak. The people of this world worship one of eight religions. Each religion has an opposite in the circle of life and the people of those faiths are bitter enemies. The atmosphere of the game is high fantasy, loosely inspired by the works of Tolkien, as well as Dungeons & Dragons. Balkoth, the lord of Death, has embarked on a campaign to destroy all other faiths in honor of the dark god Golgoth. The other lords scramble to expand their ranks to defend themselves against this dark threat but also to once and for all destroy their lifelong nemesis.

Each faith has its own weaknesses and strengths. One of these considerations is that each faith's polar opposite (e.g., Chaos vs. Order, Fire vs. Water) begins the game extremely hostile to its counterpart. Diplomacy is possible between these factions but difficult. However, all faiths (other than Death itself, which strives for global conquest) have the same ultimate goal: to defeat Death.

• Life – Referred to as the "Elddren", the followers of life are elves who fight with oaken staves and bows. Their structures are carved out of trees with white bark and golden leaves and they are at home in the woods. Their land is a distinct vibrant green. Life has the strongest archers in the game, but suffer from weak melee fighters. Eventually they can summon Pegasus riders and the mighty phoenix.
• Death – The Dark Elves who follow Golgoth. They inhabit the swamps and marshes of Urak and are feared for their potent necromancy, spear-throwers and cavalry. They have very few weaknesses, the greatest one being that that other faiths are initially hostile toward them, and their relationships will automatically depreciate over time. Their special creatures are the vampire and lich.
• Earth – Based heavily on the hobbits and dwarves of Tolkien, the Earth-Folk live in giant mushrooms and earthen burrows. They have the slowest movement speed of any faction, an often crippling weakness, but make up for it in the endurance and strength of their warriors. They can summon golems and the Great Worm.
• Air – In Urak, both storm giants and fairies make their homes among the clouds. Air Mages are renowned for their incredible magic and their giants wield massive swords that can topple foes. They suffer from weak cavalry but typically their armies march quickly and unhindered. Eventually they can summon a storm dragon.
• Fire – The volcanoes and lava filled caves are home to the faith of Fire, a people composed of both Giants and Dwarves. Their magic is destructive and their offense relentless. They can do large amounts of damage but often can't handle much themselves. They can eventually summon a mighty dragon who can destroy armies on its own.
• Water – The Amazons rule the waters in Urak. The Water people live in coral-encrusted homes by the shores. They benefit from the strongest ships in the game by a margin so large that most faiths can't even compete for dominance. They also have strong cavalry and warriors and quick scouts. They suffer from lacking a special creature that succeeds on land and from poor archers. They are the only faith that can summon more than one legendary creature, the Giant Arachnids.
• Order – Heavily based on the legends of Camelot, the members of Order represent a typical medieval fighting force. Plate-armored knights and hardy crossbowmen make up their ranks. The faction of Order is the most well-rounded in the game but suffer from not excelling in any field. Also, in the regular game their city is found close to the center of the game world, so an Order player who makes many enemies will quickly realize they have bitten off more than they can chew. Their special creatures are spirit warriors and Sir Lancelot of the Lake; when fully leveled, Lancelot is superior to the special creatures of the other factions.
• Chaos – Barbarians who roam the mountain and plains of Urak. Living in a tribal society, these warriors excel at brute force, but lack in defense and marksmanship. Their warriors and horsemen can strike fear into many, but their laughable stickthrowers make effective ranged attacks next to impossible. They can summon a Hydra as their special creature. They also benefit, and sometimes suffer, from a chance-based magic system. Their spells can either do great harm to their enemies, or themselves.

Lords of Magic was developed by Impressions Games for Microsoft Windows and released by Sierra Entertainment in December 1997.

• Official website via Internet Archive
• Lords of Magic at MobyGames
• Lords of Magic: Special Edition at MobyGames