James Ward's "Some Thoughts on the Speed of a Lightning Bolt" - it's in BOTD 1, and The Dragon #12, explicitly mentions needing a "to hit" roll for magic missiles. It mentions them as having a high hit chances against a lightly-armored warrior.
Good find! Dragon #12 is from Feb 1978, so that's just after the Monster Manual was published in late Dec '77, and prior to the "autohit" in the PHB in mid-78. Further support for the OD&D version requiring a to hit roll.
I dont have Holmes in front of me but one thing I recently discovered was the way Magic Missile is handled in Moldvay. Magic Missile is listed with a Duration of 1 turn. No where does it say that the caster only gets the Magic User only gets to cast one of these. Given the potency of Sleep in B/X having the use of Magic Missile for 1 full turn (essentially being able to use it once a round up to a turn) makes the Magic Missile more effective.
Just a thought. Ive decided to adopt this view for using Magic Missile in my old school game. It will make the spell more desirable I think to Magic Users
I've seen that mentioned on Dragonsfoot. It's an interesting interpretation.
One thing I note for Holmes is that he just says that "Higher level magic-users fire more than one missile". This is a vague reference to the Greyhawk rule (2 extra arrows per 5 levels), but the plain reading to me is that you get one arrow per level; i.e., 2 arrows at 2nd level, 3 arrows at 3rd level; etc. This is not so unbalancing with Holmes as each requires a to-hit roll. You could also further make it that one is fired per round.
I also give Holmes magic missiles a +1 to hit as they are "equal to a magic arrow", and they can hit monsters only hit by magic items, so definitely a useful spell to keep on a scroll.
James Ward's "Some Thoughts on the Speed of a Lightning Bolt" - it's in BOTD 1, and The Dragon #12, explicitly mentions needing a "to hit" roll for magic missiles. It mentions them as having a high hit chances against a lightly-armored warrior.
ReplyDeleteGood find! Dragon #12 is from Feb 1978, so that's just after the Monster Manual was published in late Dec '77, and prior to the "autohit" in the PHB in mid-78. Further support for the OD&D version requiring a to hit roll.
ReplyDeleteI dont have Holmes in front of me but one thing I recently discovered was the way Magic Missile is handled in Moldvay. Magic Missile is listed with a Duration of 1 turn. No where does it say that the caster only gets the Magic User only gets to cast one of these. Given the potency of Sleep in B/X having the use of Magic Missile for 1 full turn (essentially being able to use it once a round up to a turn) makes the Magic Missile more effective.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought. Ive decided to adopt this view for using Magic Missile in my old school game. It will make the spell more desirable I think to Magic Users
I've seen that mentioned on Dragonsfoot. It's an interesting interpretation.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I note for Holmes is that he just says that "Higher level magic-users fire more than one missile". This is a vague reference to the Greyhawk rule (2 extra arrows per 5 levels), but the plain reading to me is that you get one arrow per level; i.e., 2 arrows at 2nd level, 3 arrows at 3rd level; etc. This is not so unbalancing with Holmes as each requires a to-hit roll. You could also further make it that one is fired per round.
I also give Holmes magic missiles a +1 to hit as they are "equal to a magic arrow", and they can hit monsters only hit by magic items, so definitely a useful spell to keep on a scroll.