Let's Explore Magical Worlds - A Master of Magic Let's Play (With Mods)!

 It's about time I Let's Played my favorite game of all time - Master of Magic. For most fantasy 4x enthusiasts, this game needs no introduction, but this is considered by many to be the grandfather of the genre, and a timeless classic that largely still holds up today, despite some quirks.

The long and short of it is that these games are about ruling over a wizard empire as a heavily customizable wizard emperor, with many traits and spells. And that's not all. Every playthrough is different, because the map, enemy wizards, and lairs all get randomized on every game. This game combines city management, deeply strategic combat, exciting treasure hunts and rpg style hero building all in one!

For the purposes of this Let's Play, I'll be using two mods. The first, Caster of Magic for Windows, is actually sold on Steam itself, and can be bought from here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1557960/Master_of_Magic_Caster_of_Magic_for_Windows/ It's a standalone recreation of the original mod on a new engine. The second, Caster of Magic for Windows: Warlord (henceforth referred to as Warlords), is a comprehensive mod of this mod, hosted at ModDB: https://www.moddb.com/mods/caster-of-magic-for-windows-warlord/downloads/caster-of-magic-for-windows-warlord-1595-for-com2-10509 Both of these mods aim at fixing what I feel were severe deficiencies in the original game, mainly in terms of how much "oomph" spells had, and how usable summons were. The first mod is a little controversial in terms of its design, but the second mod fixes most of its flaws and adds some very cool things that make the experience considerably more interesting.

Now, LPing any longwinded strategy game is no easy task, and that goes doubly so for this game, which can often see grueling stalemates develop thanks to some realms countering others hard. My plan is to weave compelling stories around the wizards and empires I try out, instead of giving a turn by turn report of the game, though of course there'll be some insights into how the game plays. To that end, I'll also let the game randomize my wizards, to showcase just how much variety and flexibility the game has.

Alright, hopefully that's enough to get a solid start. Next time, the LP begins in earnest! See you all then!