I have resisted adding battle magic in the past. This is partly
my own prejudice against it (which I have tried to suppress since
many players do like battle magic). I have prefered making magic
to be more indirect. Using it for spying, making it rain to ruin
your enemy's archers, etc.
The other factor is a concern that battle magic would require
changes to the combat system, and extensive playtesting to
properly balance.
But perhaps this is not the case. I can envision some simple
attack spells which could fit into the existing system and not
be too unbalancing....
-- Rich Skrenta <skrenta@pbm.com>