Fixing Magic Missile

[Nifft]

I finally realized what I hated about Magic Missile, and what to do to fix it.

The guide to 1st level spells says that they should cap out at 5 dice of damage. That's fine for many spells, but it's based on an underlying assumption -- one die per level.

What the designers should have said is that 1st level spells should cap out at 5th level. Then, spells which graded differently due to the power of their effect -- such as Magic Missile, which increases at one die per 2 levels -- don't outstrip other spells of their spell-level.

Therefore, I'm going to cap Magic Missile at 3 missiles (5th level), where it is still balanced against Shocking Grasp and Burning Hands.

-- Nifft

 

[Cheiromancer]

Hmmm. That way, mages of 6th level and under won't notice the difference.

It's a good solution.

 

[the Jester]

Nice! -Although I've always seen MM to be a 'benchmark' spell, as good as they get at 1st level. Your fix makes it merely an 'average' spell.

 

[Spatzimaus]

You have a good point, but I think there's a secondary problem here, in that the rules assume all damage dice are created equal.

Fireball, for example, does ten dice of damage, but they're d6's of fire damage (easier to be immune to), and allow a saving throw for half. If Fireball did 1d4+1 force damage per caster level with no saving throw, it'd be much better than it is now.

So, to me MM's damage dice are just BETTER. More consistent, harder to resist, no saving throw...

One possible change we're playing with IMC is to turn MM into a dedicated anti-caster spell. Drop the damage to 1d3 force damage per missile (cutting its average damage almost in half), but any spellcasting the victim does in the next turn requires a minor Concentration check (DC 5 + force damage taken in the past round).
(This isn't enough to absolutely STOP the enemy from casting, but it gives him an annoying 20-25% fizzle rate for a round. And, low-level casters can "gang up" on a high-level one to lock him down.)
When used as a readied action to stop a spell being cast, the DC increases to the usual (10 + damage + spell level) for that one spell, AND still disrupts casting for the next round.

Anyway, the idea was to give the spell a useful niche without having it be the only 1st-level damage spell worth having at high level. Suggestions?

 

[Eolin]

Problem with that, Oh great Spatzimaus. (no, really). and its a wizard problem not so much as a sorcerer one.

Namely, why would a high-level wizard ever teach a student a pure anticaster spell? Granted, if they are going to need it against some evil wizard who they are going to have to fight, you might teach the apprentice ... but in general, i don't see you teaching the low-level mage that spell, because it is anticaster. While at current it is a spell you teach the young ones so they have some possibility of surviving....

I think at any rate.

Wow, if i wrote this poorly or expressing myself as badly as i do here on a paper, that'd be the end of me.....

 

[Spatzimaus]

Namely, why would a high-level wizard ever teach a student a pure anticaster spell?

Same reason spellcasters learn Silence, Anti-Magic Shell, and so on. Spellcasters aren't just one big, happy family, and you want the ability to do unto others before they do unto you. If you ever think you'll be fighting a caster (which you will), it's nice to have a tool for the job. This is especially true in a campaign world where arcane and divine casters don't get along.

The point is, though, that right now Magic Missile is a no-brainer spell because it's good damage for its level, never misses, no save, and is very difficult to stop. I've seen 20th-level casters fire off empowered ones in combat simply because nothing else was getting through. So, I wanted to change it into a somewhat more specialized spell.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I think the changes should be minimal or else its no longer magic missile. You have to think about NPCs with the spell, after all- you don't want to make it work totally different. I think capping it at 3 missiles is sufficient.

 

[Al]

Hmm...I'm not really sure. The problem with rebalancing of the nature described is that it doesn't make Magic Missile too weak per se, but unnecessarily weakens a good 1st level spell.

A similar effect would be if Fireball were capped, say, at 9d6. The new weaker Fireball would still be a third level spell (patently too powerful for 2nd) but would be unnecessarily weakening an existing 3rd level spell.

Similarly, the new Magic Missile would still be a passable 1st level spell- I'm just unsure as to whether it's necessary or not. If you feel that Magic Missile is too powerful at higher levels, then it's probably a reasonable chance.

 

[Nifft]

Similarly, the new Magic Missile would still be a passable 1st level spell- I'm just unsure as to whether it's necessary or not. If you feel that Magic Missile is too powerful at higher levels, then it's probably a reasonable chance.

I very much do think that Magic Missile is too strong at 9th level. Compare it to Shocking Grasp and Burning Hands (the other two direct damage 1st level Wizard spells) -- what sane person would prepare Shocking Grasp when they could do the same average damage, bypassing all elemental resistances, at range, with no miss chance due to Incorporeality?

IMHO Magic Missile is balanced up to level 5, when it does two dice less than the competition. The balance is between unavoidable, guarenteed damage (MM) vs. higher potential damage (SG) vs. higher damage area effect (BH).

-- Nifft

 

[seasong]

Nifft: Thanks. I plan to use this, as it very nicely settled my own issues with the spell, without changing the nature of the spell. Yum!