Takin' a Stab at Spells...

[Savage Wombat]

The problem with taking a null entry out of your block is that the reader might not be sure whether it is null or merely missing.

Imagine a "Web"-like effect that was intended by the writer to last for several rounds, but because the error made it past editing, it looks like it's meant to be a one-round effect, and the players all say it's useless at that level.

 

[YRUSirius]

Well that's an editing mistake. We shouldn't keep null entries just to prevent these mistakes. No entry means it's using the standard rules that are explained in the beginning of the magic chapter or somewhere else. If a web spell has no duration then it's simply an editing mistake.

-YRUSirius

 

[Leatherhead]

Can't we bump the Magic Missile Damage to 1d12.

I can't understand the attraction to Magic Missile at 1d4+1.

An absolutely definite hit with a dagger. Once. Woop-de-doo.

Besides the D12 needs something to do.

The standard for spell damage is d6. d4 is a tradeoff for hitting more often

 

[Ratskinner]

Nice. Simple. Clean. Give this simple spell description a casual gamer and he should be getting the jist of it in 1 minute.

That's a good goal.

I way I'm thinkin' MM would be:
Magic Missile - You project 1 + 1/level missiles of magical force at visible targets within Range: 50ft. Each missile deals 1d4+1 Force damage to its target. The missiles strike unerringly.

 

[Ratskinner]

Well that's an editing mistake. We shouldn't keep null entries just to prevent these mistakes. No entry means it's using the standard rules that are explained in the beginning of the magic chapter or somewhere else. If a web spell has no duration then it's simply an editing mistake.

-YRUSirius

I hope that 5e can/will rely on the DM and players to be smart enough to piece something like that together.

 

[seregil]

Magic Missile
(Evocation)
Effect: 1 bolt per 2 caster levels of arcane energy that magically always strikes its target (no "to hit/attack" roll necessary).
Damage: d4 +1 per level, per bolt
Range: 10' +10'/level
Duration: Instantaneous or see below.

This spell generates a dart or shard of arcane energy (any hue the player desires). The bolt fires unerringly at the caster's chosen target(s) dealing magical energy damage. Once cast, the Magic Missile(s) may be "held" or kept by the caster up to 1 round per caster level after which they must be fired or the magic dismissed.

As the caster increases in level, the number of mystic bolts able to be fired increases at a rate of 1 every other level of the caster (2 missiles @ 3rd level, 3 @ 5th, etc.). Multiple missiles may be directed to different targets as long as each target is within the mage's line of sight. The mage may opt to combine multiple missiles into a single blast, damage combining as normal. i.e. 3 Magic Missiles combined in a single bolt would do 3d4 +3 of energy damage.

It should be noted a Shield or Mage Armor spell will block the Magic Missile and, in turn, possibly negate the defensive spell as well (depending on the amount of damage delivered to the Shield or Mage Armor).

Perfect or near enough! The mechanics are clear but at least we KNOW what it does. It's not just a pile of numbers with no flavour. I also might add that this is still quite short and no one can realistically tell me that reading this is a pain or too long.

Maybe a few extra flourishes to add some more flavour: "This spell generates a dart or shard of arcane energy (any hue the player desires). The bolt fires and streaks unerringly at the caster's chosen target(s), exploding in a shower of sparks on impact, dealing magical energy damage..."

Now, obviously, I have added some extra stuff, but since this is just a 'prototype' spell description...

 

[The Shadow]

It does not seem at all likely that the number of missiles would go up with caster level. We already know that Fireball, for example, will do 5d6 damage, and that you'll need to prepare it in a higher-level slot to do more.

So I'd expect a 1st lvl MM to do 1d4+1 damage, period. But if you prepared it in a 9th lvl slot, you might get 17 missiles to fire off. I also don't expect that any 1st level spell is going to do significantly more than Magic Missile, without major tradeoffs.

We've also been told that they've found a way to compare non-damaging spells to damage, so as to balance them. I of course have no idea how good or accurate a job they've done, but if they've pulled it off, I wouldn't expect Sleep to be that much better than Magic Missile at lvl 1. Perhaps Sleep will actually go up in spell level instead.

EDIT: Oh, and one other point about that. We were told that Charm Person was equivalent to 10.5 hp in damage. Since 10.5 damage is the average of 3d6, I hereby predict that Charm Person will be a 2nd level spell.

 

[YRUSirius]

I also might add that this is still quite short and no one can realistically tell me that reading this is a pain or too long.

Well, actually yes I can. You'd be wondering how many non-gamers would shudder at the length of this spell description and just ask the DM what it does.

There's a reason why Apple products have become so popular with the mainstream.

And D&D Next is about accessibility to broaden the market too, right?

-YRUSirius

 

[Ratskinner]

Magic Missile
(Evocation)
Effect: 1 bolt per 2 caster levels of arcane energy that magically always strikes its target (no "to hit/attack" roll necessary).
Damage: d4 +1 per level, per bolt
Range: 10' +10'/level
Duration: Instantaneous or see below.

This spell generates a dart or shard of arcane energy (any hue the player desires). The bolt fires unerringly at the caster's chosen target(s) dealing magical energy damage. Once cast, the Magic Missile(s) may be "held" or kept by the caster up to 1 round per caster level after which they must be fired or the magic dismissed.

As the caster increases in level, the number of mystic bolts able to be fired increases at a rate of 1 every other level of the caster (2 missiles @ 3rd level, 3 @ 5th, etc.). Multiple missiles may be directed to different targets as long as each target is within the mage's line of sight. The mage may opt to combine multiple missiles into a single blast, damage combining as normal. i.e. 3 Magic Missiles combined in a single bolt would do 3d4 +3 of energy damage.

It should be noted a Shield or Mage Armor spell will block the Magic Missile and, in turn, possibly negate the defensive spell as well (depending on the amount of damage delivered to the Shield or Mage Armor).

Too crunchy? Too fluffy? Not enough of either? Too long? Too vague?

--SD

Since you asked for criticism...

Too wordy/long, IMO. We already know that "caster level" won't be a thing for spells, and its been strongly suggested that you can prepare spells at different levels for different levels of effect. The last paragraph is totally unnecessary. I know this is following the trend (at least until 4e), but look at how much space that took up for one of the simplest spells in the game! I want the PHB to cover as much ground as possible, not be one third spell descriptions by pagecount (as 3.5e's was.) I'm not a big fan of having 100+ pages of the output from "SELECT * FROM SPELLS".

All that information might be there, but I, for one, am over the idea that game information should come in blocks wherever possible. (Wherever needed, sure.) I don't think it actually helps newcomers or casual players. I think brief, concise, plain, mildly type-worded language is easier/quicker. Take, for example, the (evocation) line. How often do we need to know that, and for what purposes? Would it be better to have a list of Evocation Spells, in a module about schools of magic?

 

[Ratskinner]

It does not seem at all likely that the number of missiles would go up with caster level. We already know that Fireball, for example, will do 5d6 damage, and that you'll need to prepare it in a higher-level slot to do more.

So I'd expect a 1st lvl MM to do 1d4+1 damage, period. But if you prepared it in a 9th lvl slot, you might get 17 missiles to fire off. I also don't expect that any 1st level spell is going to do significantly more than Magic Missile, without major tradeoffs.

So it would seem.

We've also been told that they've found a way to compare non-damaging spells to damage, so as to balance them. <snippage>.

hmm....Do you have a reference for this?

Perhaps they can do it by linking HP to Saves, as they mentioned in that one blog.