Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor

Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor is a strategy game by the relatively unknown developer, Asciisoft.

Overview
This is a game about Robert, a simple man with a destiny. It begins with him receiving a letter from a relative in England, and is invited to meet him at Stonehenge. When he arrives, he is whisked away to Valoria. Valoria is a magical place with Orcs, Dragons, and Wizards. There he learns of his destiny.

Spellcraft consists of fighting in one of seven realms: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Mind, Ether, and Death. Each realm can be morphed, damaged, and manipulated by magical spells that are cast by either the player or an enemy wizard. The player's character can attack with his sword and cast spells when in a realm. Spells consist of the following types: Attack, Defense, Terrain Modifier, Personal Modifier, Transformations, and Creature Summoning.

Magical spells are created through the use of spell components. Start with one Aspect. Mix in a specific ratio of Powders, Jewels, Stones, and Candles. Then say the magic word. This creates a base of a magic spell that can be duplicated and used in battle. If the wrong formula is used, the player will die in one of many horrific deaths. The key is to solve the formulas by information both gathered in game and in the game's manual. The manual contains a mostly empty table where players can write-in all the spells they make in the game. Later, the player can modify his spells to customize them by slightly altering their formula to enhance one or many attributes.

Also the player can speak and trade with a variety of NPCs located across Earth. They provide hints to formulas and provide tidbits of story.

Ports/Sequels
In addition to the MS-DOS version, Spellcraft was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Super NES version is very different than the MS-DOS version as it focuses on adventuring instead of strategy.

Reception
The game was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #190 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.