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This spell was invented by one of my players in the very first 1e campaign I ever ran, and this is my attempt to convert it to 2e. This is a pretty rough draft, and I'd love to hear feedback.
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Evocation, Force
Traditions arcane, occult
Cast [A] (somatic, verbal)
Duration 1 minute
Range 120 feet; Targets varies
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As you cast this spell, a field of twinkling points of light - fifteen in total - begins swirling around you. For the duration of the spell, as an action, you can convert some of the points of light into darts of force streaking towards creatures you can see. Each such creature in a 10-foot burst you designate is struck by one dart; the darts automatically hit and deal 1d4+1 force damage.
Additionally, if a creature you can see within range makes a melee or ranged attack against you, you may send three darts at that creature as a reaction. In this case, combine the damage of the darts before applying bonuses or penalties to damage, resistances, weaknesses, and so forth.
When you have no more points of light, the spell ends.
The darts launched by this spell are considered to be magic missiles for the purposes of abilities that specifically interact with magic missiles (such as a brooch of shielding).
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Heightened (+1) The number of points of light you create increases by three, and the number of darts you can fire as a reaction increases by one.
I really like the idea of the spell, but some parts of it confuse me. Can you never use more than one dart as part of an action? Or is there no limit on how many darts you can fire as an action?
One dart per creature in the burst, per action.
So if you can find a ten-foot-burst with five creatures in it, then you can fire five darts as an action, one at each.
The idea is that the spell is good at pelting groups of weaker creatures but not much use against single stronger targets - unless you are using the counterattack option.
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I like it. I've always loved missile storm spells.
I like this one a lot as well. The flavor feels very fun.
Initially I thought the damage looked very low for a 5th level spell, but then I started thinking about how you can use its single-action aspect to fill in between other spells for free damage, plus also get the reaction punishment, all while still casting other spells normally. It doesn't compete with the main spell you're casting each round, so its per-round damage can't be too high. There may still be room to tweak the numbers or the heighten. Against level 10 creatures, an additional 3.5 damage per creature in the burst at the cost of an action is very small... but maybe 7 damage is too large?
Yeah, "is the damage in the right place?" has been my biggest question mark on this one.
On the one hand, the total amount of damage dealt by the spell is significantly higher than magic missile heightened to an equivalent level - 15 missiles vs 9, and that gap gets wider as it heightens.
But on the other hand, the damage dealt per action is quite small.
I wonder if it's useful to compare it to the Wand of Manifold Missiles
The spell's one action thing does 1d4+1 to all targets in the burst, but uses up the total count faster, and how often are there that many enemies grouped up?
A 160 gp, level 5 wand held in each hand can give you 2d4+2 against any target every round for a whole minute at no action cost after the first two discharges.
Draconic Barrage is another good comparison. At 5th level, you'd get 5 "bolts" that deal 5d6 damage each, and firing them takes an action each.
It seems pretty safe to me. The reaction attack is the real bonus, and it's essentially a modest thorns effect that takes up your reaction.
Yeah, as is it seems pretty safe.
The missile storm has some interesting modes. In a pinch you can spend 3 actions in a round once its set up to do 3x damage to all targets in its area. Mostly you're spending only one action to do less damage than a wand of manifold missiles activation (which even continues without costing additional actions afterward). Sometimes you're getting solid extra damage when enemies start targeting you. 10.5 damage for no action cost is pretty good.
I guess here's the question - Is anyone ever going to want to spend a 3rd action at 10th level to deal 1d4+1 damage? Instead of just setting this up and using it for its reaction mode exclusively? Like, it seems some people already don't like the Force Bolt focus spell that deals 3d4+3 at this level for 1 action without costing a spell slot.
I guess here's the question - Is anyone ever going to want to spend a 3rd action at 10th level to deal 1d4+1 damage?
A good question, but I'd argue casters tend to have trouble using their third action if they have nothing better to do, which crops up a lot. Since it only lasts a minute, they might start spending some of their missiles down just to avoid waste.
And if a few enemies are grouped up, it sounds just plain fun to send a volley at them.
It does sound fun! But when it doesn't do more than tickle their health pool, I'm not sure if people will be interested. Especially if they have to spend a 5th level slot for it.
I've definitely seen the discussion about casters having nothing to use their third action on, but in games I've run at least, they've always had something at least marginal to do (cast shield, reposition somewhere a little safer).
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The whole "send a volley of missiles" idea though makes me want an AoE magic missile like:
Itano Circus (Spell 4)
Evocation, Force
Traditions arcane, occult
Cast [A] to [A][A][A] (somatic, verbal)
Range 120 feet; Area 10-foot burst
You fire two bright, streaking beads of force at each creature within the area. Each bead automatically hits and deals 1d4+1 force damage. For each additional action you use when Casting the Spell, increase the number of beads you shoot at each creature by two, to a maximum of six beads per creature for 3 actions. For each creature struck by beads of force from this spell, combine the damage before applying bonuses or penalties to damage, resistances, weaknesses, and so forth.
The beads launched by this spell are considered to be magic missiles for the purposes of abilities that specifically interact with magic missiles (such as a brooch of shielding).
Heighten (+3) You fire one additional bead of force at each creature within the area for each action you spend.