I had an idea for a new way of casting spells. Rather than simply the classic way, which was to begin casting and at the finish of the cast, witness an effect, instead some spells would be "channeled." Channeled spells take multiple turns to cast and manifest different effects throughout the duration of the cast. For instance, "fire channel spell."
The fire channel spell would take 8 turns to cast. On the first 2 turns, it would fire fireballs at targets of your choice. On turns 3-4, it would summon fire elementals to fight for you. On 5-6, walls of fire would appear at locals of your choice. On turn 8, you would see the most powerful components of the spell, possibly a massive column of fire appearing in the center of the battle field which envelops all in its range.
There are plenty of spin offs to this idea. The effects might not even be certain, with different effects occuring throughout the channel.
