The tower research rules allow an arcane character to take an existing spell and research it leading to a modification, creating a new higher level version. There are random tables although you could just pick the effect you want depending on how everyone agrees to play the game. This could allow you to take magic missile and create a new level 2 version called doctorbadwolf's thunderous magic missile. A level 2 spell that also knocks back its targets by 10 ft. You can only have a certain number of these researched spells but, after testing it and agreeing that it is of a suitable power level for the spell, it becomes a permanent part of the game world and your spell may be traded and copied to scrolls and spellbooks of other wizards or taught to other sorcerers or bards or warlocks.
I like it!
Definitely looks like something that can be very easily ported to inventions and magic items and alchemy, so long as you use spell equivalents to balance those resources. My Swashbuckler/Bladesinger would definitely use it more for those, than for spells. In fact...it might be worth getting just to steal the system for use in making magic items with spells/equivalent of a level higher than what you can cast, which is a thing in our game*.
*Using a variant of the Xanathar's rules for magic item crafting. requires research, a scroll/schematic, and there is a chance of wasting the rare ingredient and part of the time spent, ie bad rolls make it cost more in time and gold.
We don't really like the idea of having to adventure just to spend the reward for adventuring, instead of doing some downtime stuff and then getting back to the adventuring we
want to do, so we don't always require actual adventuring to get the rare ingredient.
One of our DMs once had dwarves whose mine we'd save offer to "pay" us by letting us use their mine...and keep what we mined. Nah, we didn't take this job to get a job to get paid, we took this job to get paid, son.
Also, my character had been a statue for several years in that mine, so he especially was like "LOL nope! I'm gonna nope on over to the tavern, see if I can get a bath, feed my wolf, find a pretty barmaid or bar...guy? (what is a male equivelent?) that's interested, and see if I feel useful tomorrow. Some time around noon, maybe? Maybe we can look for work in a forest? Some lovely coastal villages, perhaps? Somewhere far from any caves, mines, tunnels, or other subertanea?"