One plus to the Holmes magic missile requiring a to-hit roll: you can
give a 1st level M-U a Wand of Magic Missiles...
One plus to the Holmes magic missile requiring a to-hit roll: you can give a 1st level M-U a Wand of Magic Missiles with 100 charges and it is not unbalancing.
Olde House Rules I agree in general since the MU could throw daggers for d6 damage (per Holmes) vs d6+1 for the MM. There are situations where it would be more effective, like against monsters requiring magic to hit, particularly undead immune to Sleep/Charm. (MM should give double damage against a Wight since it is "equal to a magic arrow"). A good spell to keep on a scroll since in Holmes a 1st level M-U can make one.
Jonathan Perkel That's a 3E feature, right? With the Wand it will run out of charges after a while and the MU will have to make another at great cost... : )
Don't know about 3E. It's a house rule of mine, the cross-bow. It was the know-nothing, easy to use weapon of its time, requiring very little combat skill to use as opposed to a bow, sling or throwing dagger. I'm low magic, so I prefer allowing them to use that than a wand.
Re: magic missile, isn't it also true that the Holmes version is cast in advance and then you can shoot the glowing arrow floating next to you whenever you want?
I allow magic users to use various weapons -- with a heavy non-proficiency penalty. After all, someone who can figure out magic ought to be smart enough to figure out which is the shooting end of a crossbow. It might take a very lucky shot for them to hit anything with it, but saying they even pick one up is not realistic.
Good idea, especially since using your ONE spell slot for a CHANCE to hit is silly...
ReplyDeleteOr a crossbow... :-)
ReplyDeleteOlde House Rules I agree in general since the MU could throw daggers for d6 damage (per Holmes) vs d6+1 for the MM. There are situations where it would be more effective, like against monsters requiring magic to hit, particularly undead immune to Sleep/Charm. (MM should give double damage against a Wight since it is "equal to a magic arrow"). A good spell to keep on a scroll since in Holmes a 1st level M-U can make one.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Perkel That's a 3E feature, right? With the Wand it will run out of charges after a while and the MU will have to make another at great cost... : )
ReplyDeleteGame-wise, it lets the player feel like a proper magic user at levels where they would otherwise be a one or two hit wonder...
ReplyDeleteYes, that's exactly what I was thinking of. It's like giving them a "Zap" at-will cantrip which I believe is in the more modern versions (4E/5E?)
ReplyDeleteDon't know about 3E. It's a house rule of mine, the cross-bow. It was the know-nothing, easy to use weapon of its time, requiring very little combat skill to use as opposed to a bow, sling or throwing dagger. I'm low magic, so I prefer allowing them to use that than a wand.
ReplyDeleteRe: magic missile, isn't it also true that the Holmes version is cast in advance and then you can shoot the glowing arrow floating next to you whenever you want?
3e wizards can definitely wield a crossbow by spending the right slots, even a heavy one.
ReplyDeleteI allow magic users to use various weapons -- with a heavy non-proficiency penalty. After all, someone who can figure out magic ought to be smart enough to figure out which is the shooting end of a crossbow. It might take a very lucky shot for them to hit anything with it, but saying they even pick one up is not realistic.
ReplyDelete