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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 4504960" data-attributes="member: 3586">It was more than that, though. To a very large extent, the magic-user of AD&D had difficult to use magic.For the first four levels, the magic-user pretty much existed as a inferior missile combatant with the occasional combat-changing spells. Sleep was the big one there, as no other 1st level spell in AD&D before supplements was worth preparing. Seriously! Look at the list for a 1st level magic-user:Burning hands - 1 hp to a small number of opponentsCharm person - 1 opponent might help youMagic Missile - 1d4+1 damageShocking Grasp - 1d8+1 damage (and you had to enter melee!)Sleep - puts to sleep (effectively) 4-16 HD of monstersThat's it. Sleep was far and away the most effective spell for a low-level magic-user.2nd level spells don't add much. Stinking Cloud and Web are the only two offensive spells! It is in the 3rd level spells where you begin to get interesting attack spells: fireball and lightning bolt. However, both of those spells were almost unusable in a dungeon environment. Fireball filled 33,000 cu. ft of space. If you assumed a 10' ceiling, that was 33 ten foot squares - enough to toast party and enemies alike in the cramped dungeons of 1e.5th level did make Magic Missile worth preparing, though: 3 missiles at 1d4+1.I've a sneaking suspicion that the low-level magic-user in AD&D really needed to hire a man-at-arms or two, and that's how the player participated for the most part: running the man-at-arms in combat, with the occasional game-changing spell from the magic-user, and then good exploration/puzzle-solving and suchlike from the main PC in non-combat situations.To understand the balance of the magic-user in 1e, you need to understand the spell list: it is nowhere near as powerful as it became in 2e and beyond!Cheers!</blockquote>

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