Harry Potter seemed to have some good duels in the later movies.
D&D seems to not do them well, but is the classic media to do them in. The alternating turns and counterspell mechanics are not for movie magic.
I had a game (in the D&D 3.5 era) where the party arrived among tons of war refugees at a wizard academy. The party wanted to get in good with the academy leadership to persuade them to join the war effort, so the party's enchanter PC, Diogenes, tried to win prestige by engaging in spell duels. We had three famous spell duels that we still talk about twenty years later.
The rules were:
- Two wizards enter a ring 60 feet across, within which all damage is nonlethal.
- You can only have one spell active before the duel starts.
- If you fall unconscious, are knocked to the ground two times, or get three spells of yours countered, you lose.
- If you leave the ring, you lose.
- If after 15 rounds no one has lost, the contestants are judged on style.
The tournament consisted of one person representing each school of magic. Diogenes would naturally represent enchantment, which historically did not do that well, because the duels are non-lethal, and so charming someone doesn't really help, since friends can still duel friends and want to win. And people who knew they were going to face an enchanter would often plug their ears with wax before the duel, rendering
suggestion moot.
Also participating was Katrina, an NPC fire sorcerer filling the evocation slot. She was sister of the party's PC rogue, named Rantle. Katrina and Diogenes could not have been more opposite in approach. Katrina was reckless and scrappy, always using brute force of raw fire. She dressed as the most stereotypical fire mage, with red clothes and fire motifs. She was even a redhead.
Diogenes was fastidious and clever, and disdained violence. He looked unimpressive, with male pattern baldness and a bit of a paunch. He had built a clever robe with fake shoulders and a fake arm, so it looked like he had one hand tucked in a pocket, but there was actually enough space inside the cloak for him to do somatic components hidden from the view of others. He was very proud of how clever he was, and he felt like Katrina was a buffoon.
The First Duel
Diogenes faced the academy's illusionist prodigy, Iscalio, who famously won a duel by starting out with an illusion active that made it look like the bounds of the dueling ring were smaller than they actually were, so when the duel began, he stepped back -- appearing to leave the ring and lose embarrassingly -- after which his opponent assumed he had won and left, but since the opponent was the first to
actually leave the ring, Iscalio won.
People gathered to watch the duel, and before they began, Iscalio trash talked and mocked Diogenes, then very obviously put in earplugs. Diogenes just smoked a cigarette, looking like he was barely invested in the outcome.
Finally they entered the arena, and the judge told them to begin.
Immediately Iscalio hopped backward out of the ring and loudly announced, "I concede. Earlier today the Great Diogenes cast a single
suggestion spell on me and told me to pretend this did not happen until the duel started, and then to leave the ring, concede, and tell you all this."
The judges argued about whether that was legal, but people appreciated Diogenes's cheek of making his foe call him 'the Great Diogenes,' so public sentiment made the judges agree it was okay, but to thereafter forbid people from having any spells active
on their opponents when the duel started.
Meanwhile, Katrina won her duel against a necromancer by fireballing him.
The Second Duel
Diogenes faced Bettely, a conjurer who was known to be able to cast silent spells. She had won a couple duels by casting invisibility and silent summon monster spells, sending monsters to assail her foes while she stayed hidden. Diogenes enlisted Katrina's brother Rantle to spy on Bettely, through which he learned that Bettely was planning to cast
deafness on herself before the duel so she would be immune to any compulsion spells.
So Diogenes went over to where she was chatting with her friends.. He introduced himself politely, thanked her for not being an arrogant braggart like Iscalio, and then said, "Oh, by the way, if I do
this," and he made an down-up-down wave with his hand, "that's sign language for drop prone, stand up, and then drop prone again. Good luck."
Then he cast
see invisibility before the duel started, hit her with
suggestion, and waved.
Meanwhile, Katrina won her duel against an abjurer by fireballing him. That struck everyone as suspicious, since obviously an abjurer would be smart enough to start with a
protection from elements spell active, until they learned afterward that a rumor had been going around (spread by Katrina's brother Rantle) that Katrina was going to switch to lightning. She didn't.
The Third Duel
Diogenes faced Katrina.
Nearly the whole school was gathered for the tournament final, and there were little side acts of mages showing off their new spells, keeping the crowd hyped. Diogenes spotted Katrina being flirted with by a retinue of awkward academy students, so even if he won the tournament, she clearly would be more popular and influential.
The outcome didn't really matter to the campaign, because if either of them won, the party still would get the attention of the academy leaders. But Diogenes
needed to show up Katrina.
He of course started with protection from fire active, but he had all sorts of tricks planned, illusions to make her waste her fireball on the wrong target, a smug suggestion for her to not cast any spells that used fire, and if all else failed he had the old standby of
hold person.
Before the duel started, Katrina's brother Rantle came over and complained about seeing his younger sister acting like a princess and being vain about all the attention. He told Diogenes to take his sister down a notch, in hopes a public loss would humble her. He warned Diogenes that his sister was actually taking the duel seriously, and planned to cast
protection from evil, which would make her immune to charm and compulsion spells. He could pretty easily dispel that, but Katrina wanted him to waste his first spell, which would give her a chance to wear down his
protection from fire spell with, y'know, fireball.
Diogenes nodded in thanks. Rantle shook his hand to wish him luck, and patted him on the back as he headed into the ring. And Diogenes started to calculate.
Was it a genuine tip? Was Rantle helping his sister and trying to psych him out? Could Katrina even
cast protection from evil? Was
she lying to Rantle to make him trick Diogenes?
The judge shouted for them to begin.
They rolled initiative. Katrina won. She blasted him with a fireball, which his spell protected him from.
Diogenes decided not to trust Rantle. Time to take her out, he thought, and he began to cast
suggestion. He reached for his component pouch to draw out the necessary snake tongue and honeycomb. And he realized he did not have his spell component pouch.
Rantle, walking around the edge of the ring toward his sister's side of the arena, was tossing the bag up and down in his hand, smirking. He had picked Diogenes's pocket.
So Diogenes, with his 17 Intelligence, quickly ran down the list of any spell he could cast without material components.
Dispel magic? Kind of moot.
Charm person? Useless in a 'friendly' duel.
Hold portal? Hardly topical.
Magic missile and blindness were from his banned schools - evocation and necromancy.
Phantasmal killer? Tempting, but murdering Rantle's sister was probably excessive.
What about his illusion spells? They just needed fleece. His cloak was wool, but how could he win with just illusions?
No, he realized. He had only one last trick he could pull.
He charged, and bull rushed, and the 8 Strength wizard knocked the 8 Strength sorcerer out of the ring. And thus did the Great Diogenes become the first wizard to win the championship bout of a spell dueling tournament without casting a single spell.
