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Pretty sure it dates back to 1e, when nothing had underlying reasons. And we loved it that way.
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That seems to have been the design theory initially, back in 1e it was an even more fearsome spell, there was no maximum on the number of missiles created, and hp were generally lower.
Pretty sure it dates back to 1e, when nothing had underlying reasons. And we loved it that way.
It's the difference between Modern Magic and Mystical Magic.
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That seems to have been the design theory initially, back in 1e it was an even more fearsome spell, there was no maximum on the number of missiles created, and hp were generally lower.
Even more? It used to be fearsome when the 15th lvl wizard sent 8 missiles your way and hit points were low and protection magic items were an odd and wonderful find rather than something you could try and find on the market... nowadays, it's a nifty spell, but a minor one... too many ways to escape it, and too little damage (and capped at lvl 9) for it to be anywhere near fearsome... I miss the time of 15 of 50 die fireballs, those made rings of fire resistance worthwhile.
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Yeah, I've always wished there were scaled up versions of magic missile.
It was a lot more terrifying in 1st edition by the sound of it.
Although, keeping it as a first level spell would be too good.
But it seems like we could have a high level spell that would continue to scale.
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Yeah, I've always wished there were scaled up versions of magic missile.
Back in 3.5, I played a wizard who researched a spell called greater magic missile. It was a 3rd-level spell that was the same as magic missile, except that it created 1 missile per caster level (max 10 missiles). The spell counted as magic missile for any and all effects that affected magic missile (e.g. shield spell).
We did not find this spell game-breaking or otherwise imbalanced.
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mmmh.... looks like it would still work in PF
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I cast greater magic missile at the deeper darkness!
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Yeah, I've always wished there were scaled up versions of magic missile.Back in 3.5, I played a wizard who researched a spell called greater magic missile. It was a 3rd-level spell that was the same as magic missile, except that it created 1 missile per caster level (max 10 missiles). The spell counted as magic missile for any and all effects that affected magic missile (e.g. shield spell).
We did not find this spell game-breaking or otherwise imbalanced.
Makes sense. Fireball deals 10d6 but gives a save for half but also deal damage in an area.
Greater Magic Missile would give 10d4+10, but no save.
I can even imagine an even higher level version. 5th level, that would be like lightning arc (which can deal up to 15d6) and would do 15d4+15 (again each missile dealing 1d4+1).
1d4+1 works out mathematically as the same average as a 1d6.
So the big difference is targeting requirements, never missing with magic missile, and no save to reduce damage vs area spells (or weird ones like lightning arc) which can damage multiple creatures but also gives saves for half damage.
I've always found it weird there weren't more force spells for someone to be a specialized force user.
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I feel like Toppling greater magic missile would be fairly strong xD
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The old 2E Monstrous Compendium states the animating force of a ju-ju zombie is strongly tied to the Negative Material plane resulting in a number of defenses. Among them, they're difficult to harm with weapons, immune to mind-affecting spells, psionics, illusions, electricity and magic missiles.
So it's an artifact of previous editions couched in an explanation that the abundance of negative energy animating Juju zombies protects them from harm. Fluff-wise, I'd say there is so much negative energy permeating Juju zombies that they register as inanimate objects to whatever arcane frequency magic missiles use to target creatures.
except of course a tie to the negative energy plane does not explain at all resistance to a force effect (as opposed to positive energy).
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A juju zombie is an attempt to create the african zombie. Yes, the general idea was there, buy they lacked research.
But to put it short, zuzu zombies have their souls locked somewhere else, not on their own bodies. This turns them into a very rubbish version of a lich, they are a sentient dead body, but lack any magical spellpower of a caster.
So, their body is merely an object, while their soul is somewhere else, and their body is controlled by sobrenatural negative energies (Juju). Unlike the regular zombie that was a dead body animated by negative energy.
So, the general idea was that magic missiles could not find them as targets. The execution wasn`t stellar though, and we have what we see today.
We would have to raise Gygax from the grave to know the truth though.
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except of course a tie to the negative energy plane does not explain at all resistance to a force effect (as opposed to positive energy).
Negative/positive energy used to be thought of and treated differently - more as an energy of the cosmos and not so much as one of the spirit, so it could still be something that interfered and interacted in strange ways with energies other than just its antipode. It would have made more sense when taken in the greater milieu of the literature back then; I don't care for the direction it's since been taken.
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except of course a tie to the negative energy plane does not explain at all resistance to a force effect (as opposed to positive energy).Negative/positive energy used to be thought of and treated differently - more as an energy of the cosmos and not so much as one of the spirit, so it could still be something that interfered and interacted in strange ways with energies other than just its antipode. It would have made more sense when taken in the greater milieu of the literature back then; I don't care for the direction it's since been taken.
Meh , for the last 35 years I've understood negative energy as causing death and fueling undeath, and positive energy as being the fuel of life and healing, though it can be equally lethal in excessive dosage 'i.e. when exposed directly to the Positive Plane). What you say makes no sense to me.
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My guess? Long ago, when the juju got protection from bludgeoning weapons (back in the early days, 1E or 2E), someone somehow came up with the idea that magic missile does blunt damage, so therefore the juju was immune to it. No idea how this string of illogic would come together, but I could see someone coming up with it...then forgetting about the spiritual hammer spell.
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I've always found it weird there weren't more force spells for someone to be a specialized force user.That's for balance reasons, I think. Very few creatures have any resistance to force spells, which makes them one of the most consistent and reliable sources of damage a character can get - most other attacks have to at least deal with the occasional DR or Energy Resistance. It's basically the same reason why there aren't too many Sonic spells.
I agree that there probably should be more force spells, but they'd have to be designed very carefully so as to not become inherently better than the game's other options. (Reliability is valuable, after all.)
I don't think that the proposed options here are too powerful though.
The reliability, the lack of resistance, the ability to hit ghosts are all things that are good about the spell.
The trade-off is basically single target rarely resisted damage (shield spell) vs elemental damage spells which deal damage to multiple targets but can save to reduce damage and has more common resistances to various elemental types.
But I think of it like this, if various energy evocation spells exist you can get around the resistances and the spells are still useful. So, people who specialize into fireball usually have a way to change up the energy type a couple times a day.
Plus, the whole of the improved version of magic missile would still be stopped by Shield. I think it's pretty balanced.
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Meh , for the last 35 years I've understood negative energy as causing death and fueling undeath, and positive energy as being the fuel of life and healing, though it can be equally lethal in excessive dosage 'i.e. when exposed directly to the Positive Plane). What you say makes no sense to me.
Negative/positive energy used to be thought of and treated differently - more as an energy of the cosmos and not so much as one of the spirit, so it could still be something that interfered and interacted in strange ways with energies other than just its antipode. It would have made more sense when taken in the greater milieu of the literature back then; I don't care for the direction it's since been taken.
What I've read from past editions (the Ghul Lord kit from 2nd Edition AL-QADIM's fantastic Sha'ir's Handbook, for example, as well as stuff from the even more fantastic PLANESCAPE setting) sent me the message that there was more to them than that.
but then again you have that whole "magic missle darkness" or blasting doors etc with it.
so yeah.
Both of which aren't legal targets, and the "I shoot magic missile into the darkness" is a joke from the Gamer's movies.
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Both of which aren't legal targets, and the "I shoot magic missile into the darkness" is a joke from the Gamer's movies.but then again you have that whole "magic missle darkness" or blasting doors etc with it.
so yeah.
*casts magic missile at the incorrect citation*
Honestly never heard of them before.
Both of which aren't legal targets, and the "I shoot magic missile into the darkness" is a joke from the Gamer's movies.but then again you have that whole "magic missle darkness" or blasting doors etc with it.
so yeah.*casts magic missile at the incorrect citation*
To be fair, the movies are more popular than the Dead Alewives... but yea, it's worth being introduced to their work.
To be even more fair, my first exposure came from reference material as well, it's just that mine happened to be more inclusive of a citation.