Counterspell

Andrew sez:

A basic counter spell showdown would be Caster A1 targeting Caster B1 with a spell, say, "Fireball", and Caster B1, made aware of the Fireball perhaps due to some Trump(?), conjures "Ice Blast" in response. Both the spells then resolve, with the Ice Blast canceling the Fireball and both casters surviving.

A cool scenario would be to imagine two (or more) groups of casters going at it -- Group A and Group B. Caster A1 targets Caster B1 with the Fireball again, with Caster B1 responding by targeting Caster A1 with the Ice Blast. Allowing for creative spell names, Caster A2 then targets Group B with "Song of Summer" which suppresses Ice-based magic. The spells would "stack" with Song of Summer on top of Ice Blast on top of Fireball, much like in Magic: the Gathering. Once all the declared spells were in, when they resolved, Song of Summer would fire off first, canceling out Ice Blast, and the Fireball would launch unhampered.

Even more complex spell-vs-spell situations could arise, both destructive and constructive, perhaps utilizing secondary spells to cancel out unwanted traits of more complicated spells: turn a party member to stone, then make him weightless, then use him as a barge to cross a chasm?