In 1998, the next game in the series was released: Magic and Mayhem. Many of the spells and game mechanics are recognisable from the earlier games, but the move to the 32-bit PC platform brought substantial improvements to all areas of the game. These included, for the first time, a single-player campaign with a scripted storyline: rookie wizard Cornelius arrives home from university to find his uncle Lucan missing, and goes in search of him. It becomes apparent that much more than Lucan's life is at stake.
A prequel, Magic and Mayhem: The Art of Magic was released in 2002, with similar game mechanics but using 3D polygon graphics rather than the isometric graphics of its predecessor.
Magic and Mayhem contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Bomb: The Lucifer's Farewell spell transforms any creature into one.
- All Myths Are True: The three Arcane Realms are based on Celtic, Greek and Arthurian myths.
- "Avoid This Area" Effect: The Totem of Fear drives away any creatures near it.
- The Battle Didn't Count: Bosses frequently portal away when defeated, rather than dying. Amusingly, the second time you meet Ariadne, the developers forgot to do this, and it's possible to kill her. She still shows up a few levels later to do her Heel–Face Turn, though.
- Cast from Lifespan: As the single-player game progresses, it is revealed that use of magic in the Arcane Realms causes its owner to age prematurely. The Overlord is attempting to retrieve various plot tokens to reverse the process.
- Chain Lightning: Becomes available fairly early on. There is also a non-chain Lightning spell which attacks a single target.
- Claymation: Used for the cutscenes. The in-game models are sprites, but they're made to look like this style.
- Deathly Unmasking: After the Overlord is defeated, the final cutscene shows the mask slipping off his lifeless body.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Ariadne's character arc.
- Disposable Decoy Doppelgänger: The illusion spell allows a wizard to create illusory copies either of summoned creatures, or of themself, to use as decoys. They can do damage in combat, though units with a high intelligence stat are more likely to see through the illusion and cause it to dissipate.
- Escort Mission: In the Valley of Owain you have to keep a slow, weak Brownie alive long enough for him to open the castle gate and let you escape. Other levels tend to become this when your allies insist on wandering into danger.
- Face–Heel Turn: Percival's obsession with the Grail leads him to turn on Cornelius.
- Familiar: Hermes the raven, the game's method of feeding useful information to the player. You learn near the end that he actually isn't, since Lucan's familiar is a cat. In the very end it turns out "he" is Morgana le Fey under the effect of a Forced Transformation.
- Glass Cannon: The Skeleton is one of the best-armed low-end units, but can't take very much damage before collapsing. The same applies to the Basilisk: its bite attack is one of the most deadly in the game, but it's very easily killed.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Zombies attack by pulling their own left arm off and using it as a club.
- Healing Boss: Bosses can have the same heal spell you do. Particularly noticeable with the Overlord in his ultimate form; try to wear his health down, and he has a tendency to cast heal in bulk to recover his strength.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: The Chain Lighting spell leaps from one target to another, the Judgement spell destroys all creatures in a given radius, and the Totem of Pestilence infects creatures near it with plague (and they, in turn, can infect other creatures...)
- Holy Water: It's an artefact that casts the bury spell when used, destroying undead creatures within range that don't make their saving throw.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: From time to time the Overlord shows up, menaces Cornelius and portals away. In these encounters, it is (theoretically) possible to defeat him — but it isn't possible to stop him killing Lucan on Salisbury Plain.
- I Broke a Nail: When allies' health reaches 50%, they call for assistance. On the level where Ariadne first becomes the player's ally, the message has her complaining of having broken a nail.
- Liquid Courage: In one set of levels, Cornelius has to recruit King Arthur's surviving knights to his cause. In the case of Kay, this involves finding a flask of wine to give him courage.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Delivered by the Overlord to Cornelius before their final confrontation. And promptly repeated a few seconds later when Lucan's ghost shows up to reveal that no, actually, Lucan is Cornelius's father.
- Mana: Mana is used up when casting spells, and recharges when a wizard, or creatures under their control, stand on a Place of Power. Gaining control over Places of Power is usually the main objective for the combatants.
- Market-Based Title: Released as Duel: The Mage Wars in the US.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Lucan gets offed by the Overlord.
- Meteor-Summoning Attack: The Meteor Shower spell bombards the area with meteorites, and is one of the few spells that deals out enough damage to destroy totems.
- Offerings to the Gods: On a couple of levels, there are altars at which the player is instructed to sacrifice either a summoned creature, or an apple; if they do so, they are rewarded with a number of creatures.
- Our Vampires Are Different: They're pinkish-purple humanoids with wings and pointy ears, that can transform into pinkish-purple bats, and replenish their life force by draining that of others. They avert Magic Pants by not wearing any clothes, in either form.
- Real-Time with Pause: In contrast to the turn-based system of the earlier games.
- The Scrappy: Invoked in the last level, if played on the highest difficulty: During the game the player has had to keep Twigkindle the Brownie King safe on various occasions, no doubt got annoyed at his habit of straying into danger, and breathed a sigh of relief when he was killed fighting the Overlord in the final battle. On the highest difficulty level, the game resurrects him; the characters promptly decide he's 'nauseating' and ally to kill him again.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: The wizard Malduc challenges Cornelius and his allies to a 'game' — each side starts with zero mana, five Elves and five Fauns. If it looks like he's going to lose, he promptly regains all his mana and he and his apprentice attack the heroes with everything they've got. Cornelius protests, to which Malduc retorts "This is my game, and my rules."
- Shaped Like Itself: One artefact is called the Campaniform Bell. 'Campaniform' means 'bell-shaped'.
- Shout-Out: The effect used for the portals looks very similar to a Stargate ring teleporter.
- Taken for Granite: The effect of the Gorgon Stare spell.
- Taking You with Me: The Phoenix bursts into flames when killed, and the Hellhound explodes.
- Teleportation: Provided by the Teleport spell.
Magic and Mayhem: The Art of Magic also contains examples of:
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Aurax and Daephus must traverse one to reach the Thieves' Guild.
- Action Figure Speech: The characters' faces aren't animated, so in cutscenes they gesticulate while talking.
- Art Shift: Not only are the game graphics polygon-based rather than isometric, but the user interface graphics have a more cartoonish look to them.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Nadia, when Aurax finds her in Sassari.
- Captain Obvious: Lampshaded by Orgon."Walking into a dungeon containing the ruler of all Chaos makes you sense danger? Your magic powers amaze me, Aurax."
- Coup de Grâce Cutscene: After Aurax defeats vampire!Gaion in battle, her final death is shown in a separate cutscene.
- Death of the Hypotenuse: Aurax has two possible love interests: Gaion, his mentor, and Vex, an elf warrior. Gaion doesn't survive.
- The Dragon: Milesius, the wizard Aurax first meets, turns out to be the Necromagus's right-hand man.
- Escort Mission: One optional mission is to keep the Dwarves of the Glanum mountains alive long enough to reach their treasure. Since they have a tendency to walk straight towards lethal guardian totems, this isn't easy.
- Evil Chancellor: The character named only as 'Chancellor'.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Numinon after his Face–Heel Turn.
- Fanservice: The female characters tend to be young, pretty, buxom and scantily clad. Special mention to the Totem of Healing
, which manifests itself as a curvaceous water nymph (as opposed to a static fountain in the earlier game). - Fanservice Pack: When Nadia is kidnapped by the forces of Chaos, she's wearing reasonably sensible clothes. By the time Aurax finally reaches her in the Hell-Pits of Sassari, she's changed into the bikini-and-cloak combination favoured by most of the game's witches.
- A God Am I: The conclusion of Numinon's speech after revealing his true nature: "People of Karnak, I am no longer your leader. From this day forth, I am your God: Demonuminon! [Evil Laugh] "
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: The death of a wizard is marked by a tolling bell.
- Horns of Villainy: Milesius has a prominent pair on his helmet; so does his boss, the Necromagus.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Necromagus brings Aurax to the Hell-Pits of Sassari. It's just as nasty a place as it sounds.
- Large Ham: The voice acting for the two Chaos wizards in the encampment level on Azoria, who would like nothing more than to hear some elves squueeeeal in paiiiin.
- Leave Him to Me!: In Karnak Prison, one of your fellow prisoners tries to take on Glut, the warder, single-handed, and promptly gets killed.
- Mercy Kill: Vampire!Gaion begs Aurax to stake her so she can die as herself. He does.
- Miss Exposition: In the opening levels, Nadia explains to Aurax how magic works. After her spell as the Necromagus's Lovely Assistant, she takes up the role again, thanks to what she learned from him.
- Mordor: Most of the Chaos lands are barren and rocky. Sassari adds rivers of lava.
- One-Winged Angel: Numinon's demon form.
- Pillar of Light: The "Judgement" spell appears as a column of light.
- Reforged into a Minion: Poor Gaion.
- Rookie Male, Experienced Female: Aurax is a novice wizard; Gaion is his first mentor.
- Sequence Breaking: In the "Tavern" level the three drunken wizards don't become hostile until you've spoken to Daephus. If you force an attack on them (by holding down 'A') they won't fight back, and you can kill all three without any risk.
- Spirit Advisor: Gaion puts in a final appearance as one, after her death.
- Torture Technician: Glut, the warder of Karnak Prison.
- True Final Boss: After finally defeating the Necromagus, Aurax returns in triumph to Numinon, the Big Good... who turns out not to be as good as everyone thought.
- Wardens Are Evil: Glut certainly is.
