Here we go!
Okay, so first off this was a fantastic little exercise. Nice one
@NIGHTBRINGER !
Being a bit of a nerd (yes... I know... it’s a bit hard to believe
) I did the leg work of listing out for myself in one spot EVERY Lore attribute and EVERY 8th edition (or used in 8th Edition) spell so I could really compare apples to apples for each spell number (signature through to Sixth level spells).
My aim was to create the ultimate strategic Lore. The one that would be the best all-rounder Lore that could be utilized by most armies. That would give a balance of some hitting power with spells that deliver major strategic advantages.
Having rejected other names, I went with the Lore of Renown... Bit derivative but there you go
SPELL LORES:
First off, I took a look through the Lore attributes. I agree with both Nightbringer and Lord Agrogax in that the Lore of Life attribute is clearly superior to any other lore. All you need to do is cast the spell, with no further dice rolls, and your wizard or another character or monster or whoever can regain a wound lost. Very powerful considering there’s only one magic item (Potion of Healing) that does this and otherwise it’s limited to Lore of Vampires (I actually didn’t really notice their Lore Attribute does the same thing for the VC) and specific special characters, their magic items and some monsters (Bale Taurus for instance if you cast a Lore of Fire spell on it).
The Lore of Metal is fantastic situationally, but it’s not versatile enough for a truly strategic Lore as with a high enough strength you can also cancel out armour saves so you can still achieve the same effect of no armour save and high-odds dice roll to wound. Plus the models still gets their ward save if they have one obviously.
I looked over the rest of the Lores and while some have some good results (like HE Lore of High Magic with +1 ward save for wizard and unit and WE Lore of High Magic protective counters that can prevent wounds to wizard or unit), none come close to being able to auto-heal your wizard or another character in 12”. This is deadly in any army as everyone will have a Lord/Hero or monster or similar high-wound-count model that they want to keep alive and generally these have a high wound count. They are also usually those which your opponent is desperately trying to hack down as fast as possible, but with their various protections they will usually still be alive at the end of the turn. Cast a couple of Life spells and, voilà, fully healed.
LORE REFERENCE:
Lore of Life – Successfully cast spells can heal 1 wound on the Wizard or another model within 12 inches
Lore of Fire – +D3 for casting a spell on a unit that’s already had one from Lore of Fire
Lore of Beasts – Gives -1 casting cost for spells cast on specific wild unit types
Lore of Metal – No armour save and use the Armour Save as the “To Wound” roll.
Lore of Light – Daemons and Undead take D6 extra hits
Lore of Heavens – Flying models also suffer D6 S4 hits
Lore of Shadow – Successfully cast spells can switch the wizard with another friendly character within 18 inches
Lore of Death – For each wound caused by spells, roll a D6 and on a 5+ you get another power dice.
Lore of the Wild – None
Lore of Hashut – When cast on Flammable targets, add D3 to casting total
Lore of Tzeentch (DoC) - Any wounds, choose horror or screamer unit, roll D6 for each wound: horrors 4+ adds a model, screamers 6+ adds a model
Lore of Nurgle (DoC) - Any wounds, choose plaguebearer or Nurglings unit, roll D6 for each wound: plaguebearers 5+ adds a model, Nurglings 6+ adds a model
Lore of Slaneesh (DoC) - Any wounds, choose daemonettes or fiends unit, roll D6 for each wound: daemonettes 5+ adds a model, fiends 6+ adds a model
Lore of Dark Magic (DE) - any hex, direct damage or magic missile successfully cast with a double of any kind also causes 2D6 S1 armour piercing hits on unit. A triple of any kind causes 3D6 hits of same.
Lore of High Magic (HE) - successful spell gives unit and caster +1 ward save
Lore of High Magic (LM) - Successful spell can be replaced by spell chosen from any spell lore he normally uses. Normal procedure of rolling, can exchange for signature, etc.
Lore of the Great Maw - successful spell recovers one wound to caster on 2+, on a 1 you suffer S6 hit
Spells of the Big Waaagh - +1 to strength if more friendly units then fleeing friendly units
Spells of the Little Waagh - successful spell roll dice on 5+ take one dispel and add to power pool
Skaven Spells of Ruin - None
Skaven Spells of Plague - None
Lore of Nehekhara - successful spell on unit resurrects D3+1 Nehekharan undead. Constructs can only recover one wound per phase
Lore of Vampires - Successful spell heals 1 wound on model in 12”
Lore of Tzeentch (WoC) - successful spell then any dice rolls of 6 are added as power dice for that wizard only
Lore of Nurgle (WoC) - successful spell roll dice, on 6 add plus 1 to T and W
Lore of Slaneesh (WoC) - successful spell, for any wounds roll dice, each 6 adds 1 WS, I and A until next magic phase
Lore of High Magic (WE) - each spell successfully cast add protection counter, if wizard or model in wizards unit suffers wound ignore and remove 1 counter
Lore of Dark Magic (WE) - successful spell place counter next to enemy unit, next spell adds D3 hits for each counter
