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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old Fezziwig" data-source="post: 2733618" data-attributes="member: 59">Behind the Spells: Magic Missile is a 4 page, black & white PDF by Bret Boyd from <a href="http://www.roninarts.com" target="_blank">Ronin Arts</a>.  There is no art, and the layout is clean, readable, and professional.The conceit of the PDF is that it serves as a guide to the creation of a specific spell in the SRD, offering notes on its development as well as notes on variants, from the point of view of a fictional narrator, Maxolt Alberiim.  When Alberiim describes an alternate use of the spell, a gray box of text follows, detailing that note in game terms (for instance, changing the appearance of magic missiles increases the Spellcraft DC that other wizards need to beat to identify what spell is being cast).What I liked about this PDF were the small adventure hooks embedded in the narrative — such as the idea that ghostly goblins and humans haunt the area around the workshop of Mirtanin Moldao, keeping potential looters, researchers, and adventurers away from the rest of Moldao's work.  This doubles the utility of the PDF, making it potentially useful for GMs as well as players.  Another nice touch was the description of potential variants, which could be useful for a player looking to create a personalized spell but feeling daunted at the prospect of creating something whole cloth — by using Boyd's small descriptions, the player has a framework to apply to his new spell.On the other hand, I was less enthused by the variants and alternative spell suggested.  Although balanced and well-designed, none of them were particularly exciting to me.  The magic sickles variant had a great backstory and a definite niche in a fantasy world (it'd be perfect for Eberron) but struck me as being of limited use as a spell for a player character or NPC, except as something to stow in a spellbook.Behind the Spells: Magic Missile is, in the end, what a GM or player makes of it and is wonderfully priced.  In terms of style and idea, I'd say the product is a solid 5, with some neat ideas for adventures, but the pedestrian mechanical material brings the product rating down to a 4.25, rounded down.</blockquote>

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