Spell Effects Beyond the PH Description

[Scott]

The spell description in the DMG really expand on some of the PH spells. Came across another example reading through G3. There's this note pertaining to the containers in Snure's treasure cave: "These locks cannot be picked by thieves and must be opened by "bending bars" or knock or magic missile spell." My players have never thought to use magic missile this way. I'm not sure I would have allowed it if a player suggested it. Anybody have experience with this? What can/can't magic missile do?

[GRWelsh]

I don't see commentary in the DMG for the magic missile spell. In the PH, the area of effect is "one or more creatures in a 10 square foot area" and in the spell description it states: "If the magic-user has multiple missile capability, he can have them strike a single target creature, or several creatures, as desired." I've always interpreted that to mean the spell only targets creatures. The G3 text might be more compatible with the version of magic missile as it first appears in the Greyhawk Supplement, however, where it is described as "a conjured missile equivalent to a magic arrow" and doesn't specify the target is a creature.

[Scott]

Yes, G3 was definitely in the gray, transition period between OD&D and AD&D, which in retrospect, all of AD&D kinda was.

[geneweigel]

Here is Mentzer which might be unreliable considering it isn't directly asking Gary like the DISPEL CONFUSION Q&As. Its from SPELLING BEE in POLYYHEDRON #4 (FEB 1982). I emphasized a relevant part in BOLD:

Magic Missile: The obvious advantages
of this attack are its speed and its accuracy.
With its 1 segment casting time, it
can often be tossed into a melee before
the opponents have a chance to do anything
- sometimes even when the caster
loses initiative, depending on weapon
speed factors, enemy casting times, and
so forth. It hits almost any creature, no
saving throw; magic resistance always
applies.
Felonius likes it because of those reasons,
and also because it has no material
component; he can zap one off without
worrying about a long casting time, and
doesn't have to dig anything out of his
pouches. It's always ready.
There are few defenses: a shield spell.
brooch of shielding, spell-eating or
-turning devices .. on the whole, it's a
fast delivery for a moderate amount of
damage. Consider: a puny first level
magic-user can slay a kobold 210 feet
away outside.
There are several ways it is commonly
misused. Note that it only hits creatures;
Felonius can't blow a lock open with it, or
shoot out a torch. The targets must all be
within a 10 square foot area; this could
be an area 5' long and 2' wide. Not much,
so it's almost always one creature. And
all the missiles go out at once; at the end
of the casting time , all the damage is
delivered to the targets. No delays, no
one-missile-per-segment variants, and
no misses as long as the target is
detectable.
Detectable, you say? Sure ... by vision
(normal or infra-) OR by magical detection.
Obviously Felonius can shoot at an
invisible opponent if he's got a detect
invisibility running, but what if he doesn't?
He can't shoot 'em if he can't see 'em. But
he can see 'em in a variety of ways -
such as detect magic, if the invisibility is
magical This detection gives him something
to target on, and the missiles will
hit. Similarly, if he can see the location
precisely without actually seeing the
enemy, he can still shoot. For example:
Athelstan had that detect magic spell up,
picked up a magical invisible enemy, and
cast a faerie fire on it. Felonius could see
the out line from the magic, even though
he couldn't see the actual creature.
Suppose the enemy peeks around a
corner, and Felonius starts casting the
magic missile. The baddie sees him
casting and ducks back out of sight . Felonius'
missiles won't zip around the
corner at him: sorry, but he misses. He
couldn't see the target at the instant the
spell was completed - the crucial determining
factor.
The AD&D combat system is NOT designed
for critica l hits. You cannot magic
missile a creature's eyes, for example; in
an abstract sense, you can remove some
"hit points" from an opponent with this
spell. One word should be added to the
familiar phrase, to clarify: "and unerringIy
hit their target creature," not just any
target The missiles do abstract "hit
points" of damage, and the creature as a
whole has hit points. This can, on occasion
become very important; against a
basilisk, for example.
Remember: it's only a first level spell.

[geneweigel]

From EXPEDITION TO BARRIER PEAKS (1980) page 6, two relevant bits that I emphasized in BOLD:

The cells are force field shells, so magic will not function beyond them,
but cold has a 10% chance of causing a lock to malfunction, fire
balls (from outside and distant, hopefully ) and magic
missiles have a 50% chance, and lightning/electricity a 10%
chance per die of damage. The robots will not take away any
gear from prisoners unless the item was used to attack one of their
number or is a weapon they are familiar with (pistols, etc.).
At various times robots will leave, so at some point within 12 turns
there will be only 1 robot there, but there is a 1 in 12 chance of
another entering each turn.
A locked metal chest in the corner farthest from the cells contains
2 gas masks (give total immunity to all gasses on the ship), 12
sleep gas grenades, and 2 needler pistols with 1 clip of
ammunition for each. (Weapons are detailed at the end of the
module.) The chest can be forced open with magical weapons
- one in six chance per weapon per round of forcing. It will also
open by gray or red card placement in its lock slot.

[geneweigel]

In GREYHAWK ADVENTURES: ARTIFACT OF EVIL (1986) Chapter 13, there is an elaborate physicality to magic missile:

"Shaz sneers at me!" Melf exclaimed, watching a wounded horse begin to trot slowly down the track. Before
engaging Chert, the two henchmen of the mysterious rider had managed to chop the constricting tentacles. The magical
members had inflicted bloody damage upon the hapless war-horse, but the animal still stood and carried its houda and
rider away as commanded. The horse was slow and Melf reacted quickly. He again gestured, uttered a strange, staccato
string of syllables, and shot forth his arm, with forefinger extended. A series of thick, greenish bolts shot forth, each
glowing missile following its predecessor unerringly to impact upon the canopied arrangement atop the huge destrier.
"This is not so, and I do not believe," Melf said loudly as he observed the effect of the spell. When the last of the
greenish streaks struck the houdalike affair, the draperies burst into a sudden fire, a flash followed, and then horse and
houda were no more. Only a greasy, brownish cloud of smoke wafted slowly down the path where mount and rider had
been. "Bring me true vision," the elven mage uttered as he passed the symbol of Fharlanghn before his eyes. Revealed
thus was the same destrier and its odd trappings, proceeding as if nothing had occurred, save for the scorched areas of
the canopy where his magic missiles had struck home.

[geneweigel]

Here are another two Mentzer-isms talking about Moldvay's (1981) and his (1983) edit of D&D in particular (The 10 minute turn as a fixed duration instead of AD&D "as desired").

From DISPEL CONFUSION-DUNGEONS & DRAGONS in POLYHEDRON #11 (APR 1983):

DO: How does a Magic Missile work?
The rules say it's a magic arrow, but my
friends say it's a bunch of little missiles
(undescribed ). They also say that each
does 1d4+1 points of damage. but the
book says ld6+1. Who's right?

DA: You, and the book, are correct. Your
friends are using AD&D's game rules- a
different game. Don't mix the two! They
are different games.
When the D&D game Magic-User casts
this spell, a glowing arrow appears next
to him. It will remain there up to a full
turn (10 minutes) and he can fire it at
any time simply by pointing at a large
creature. If not used by the end of that
turn, the glowing arrow disappears.

AND

From DISPEL CONFUSION-DUNGEONS & DRAGONS in POLYHEDRON #17 (MAY 1984):

DQ: Does the duration of one turn in a
Magic Missile spell mean that a magic-user
or elf casting it can "save" a missile
or two to shoot later during the ten
minute period?

DA: Yes. After the spell is cast, the missiles
appear as glowing arrows which
hover next to the magic-user until shot.
They will move with the magic-user until
shot or until the spell duration ends. They
automatically hit any designated visible
target, and if the magic-user is of a sufficiently
high level to produce multiple
missiles with the spell , they may be shot
at different targets.

DQ: What about the " visible" requirement
for a Magic Missile spell? Could a
Detect Invisible spell allow the caster to
use a Magic Missile spell against an
invisible target? What about dumping
paint over an invisible creature?

DA: Either of these methods will work . A
caster with a Detect Invisible spell running
can use a Magic Missile spell against
any targets the spell picks up. A Detect
Magic spell will also work if the target is
magically invisible, or if the invisible
creature is carrying magic. Mechanical
methods of negating invisibility will also
enable the use of a Magic Missile spell.
(Paint might not be immediately available,
but flour serves the purpose as well. )

[geneweigel]

From DRAGON #33 (JAN 1980), Lakofka gets super cheap with Magic Missile variants in the article Smoothing Out Some Snags
In the AD&D® Spell Structure but touches on official stances on the spell in discussions with Gary Gygax:

Magic Missile
Gary Gygax and I have gone around in a circle on this spell for
some period of time. The controversy, in my opinion, lies around the
fact that there is NO SAVING THROW and that the missile goes
“unerringly” to its target. Why is this so annoying to me? It is unfair
because it allows players to foil most opposing spells by putting a Magic
Missile into the opposing spell caster, it allows Magic Missiles into melee
regardless of the size difference and quantity of ‘friends’ in the melee,
and it allows for shots that would amaze Robin Hood with their
accuracy!
Gary says that a Magic-User can counter with a simple spell like
Shield to prevent this damage. What he overlooks is that the opponent
must take a round to cast the Shield and in that time the spell caster is
beset by fighters, et al. I find it too unfair to “monsters” that a single
FIRST-level spell can be this powerful. Therefore, I have modified the
spell in the following ways:

1. There is still no saving throw if the target is surprised, immobile,
walking or prone and is at least the size of a Kobold.
2. Figures in melee, figures running (except those running right at
the spell caster), figures evading, behind (or moving behind) significant
cover, or casting a spell obtain some type of saving throw. This saving
throw is their normal one with modification as follows:
A figure casting a spell obtains a s.t., but at -4.
A figure in melee obtains a normal s.t. but adds +1 for every
opponent above the first one he/she/it is fighting (unless the size
differential is so significant that the opponents do not get in the way—i.e.,
6 dwarves against a hill giant would allow the giant a normal s.t. Missiles
that MISS their target might hit others in the melee! Select a figure and
then give him/her/it a normal s.t. to see if the stray missile hits or misses.
In the above example, the dwarves would not be hit.
All saving throws are on a missile-by-missile basis.
Missiles fire at a rate of 1 every 3 seconds. Thus, a figure moving
behind a wall might not be hit by every missile in a barrage of Magic
missiles.
A figure with over 50% cover (who then presents a target size of ½ a
kobold) always obtains a s.t. of from 16 to 20 depending upon cover
and his/her/its actions. This prevents firing through an arrow slit some
hundred feet away to hit some poor guard.
I have found it necessary to rule in this way to stop Magic-Users
from Magic Missiling everything that walks because of the broad
language of the spell text. Magic Missile, as written, is too powerful and
must be toned down.

[geneweigel]

From Lakofka's alternate D10/speed factor combat system variant, he mentions Magic Missile briefly, in The "Segment of Action" System Takes AD&D Melee One Step Further in DRAGON MAGAZINE #34 (FEB 1980):

In a melee situation it is unlikely that any spell can succeed, but the
DM might allow quick l- or 2-segment spells to be attempted. Longer
spells will require relative immobility, which will decrease armor class
by at least 4 levels. Thus, while Shield or Magic Missile might be tried a
longer spell would surely be spoiled by the mere fact that the opponent
is right on top of the spell caster and can grapple or just push him/her if
not hit him/her with a weapon.
Breath and Glance Weapons could use d4, as they are very rapid.
However, the slow movement of the catoblepas, for example, might
allow up to d10.
Finally, in the discussion of missiles, spells, breath and glance
weapons comes ranges and time. An arrow/sling bullet might take a
segment or two to travel to its target, perhaps 1 segment consumed per
6” of flight. Breath and glance weapons consume no time in this respect
so the breath would reach its full proportions within the first segment.
Spells that fire a projectile might be considered as rapid arrows while
those that produce an effect would be instantaneous. Thus Lightning
Bolt and Earthquake are instantaneous but Magic Missile might consume
1 segment per 12” traveled, just as Fire Ball might take some time
to travel. The DM must rule and think out this situation for him/herself
before play begins.

[geneweigel]

Lakofka touches on the feel of Magic Missile in an AD&D combat variant of actions in a round in the article ACTIONS IN THE MELEE ROUND in DRAGON MAGAZINE #43 (NOV 1980):

If a figure is not in the middle of an action or if the action has not
yet started, he/she/it might be allowed to react to the new information.
Example: A Magic-User states that he/she will fire a Magic
Missile at an opposing Magic-User who at the beginning of the round
is facing away from the caster. The Magic-User rolls 4 for initiative
but on segment number one the opponent Magic-User vanishes
(Invisibility? Teleportation? Dimension Door? Illusion?). The first
Magic-User might change to a new target, and might be allowed a
new spell altogether. He/she must use a segment (minimum) if a new
spell or action is contemplated. (It might be much longer if a material
component is required.) If the components for a new spell were not
at hand, he/she might get no action that round.

[geneweigel]

In the article MISSILE FIRE AND THE ARCHER SUBCLASS in DRAGON MAGAZINE #45 (JAN 1981), Lakofka again briefly mentions Magic Missile in the way he plays it (Also briefly mentioning that his variant D10/speed factor system, that I had just mentioned above, turned out crappy from DRAGON #33)

Here is a method of determining whether a spell is ruined:
Consider all blows in melee to be landing in the middle of a segment.
Likewise, consider all missiles to be hitting in the middle of a segment.
Consider all casting times as beginning in the first moment of a
segment and ending in the final moment of the last segment, as
called for by the spell’s casting time. If a blow hits for damage in any
segment of a spell’s casting time, the spell is ruined. Thus if a goblin,
for example, strikes with simultaneous initiative at a Magic-User
casting Magic Missile, the Magic-User’s spell is ruined if the goblin
hits.

[geneweigel]

From an attempted semi-official article on magic resistance in DRAGON MAGAZINE #79 (NOV 1983) MAGIC RESISTANCE WHAT IT IS, HOW IT WORKS by Kim Mohan, Penny Petticord, Jon Pickens, and Roger Moore, briefly mentions magic resistant beings and self-Magic Missiling is not a work around:

Magic resistance only applies against
spells that would have a direct effect on
the magic-resistant creature generally
those effects that threaten to change the
creature in some way. Magic resistance
does not apply against magical armor,
shields, or weapons: a suit of +2 armor
worn by a demon will still work like +2
armor. This is because these items effects
apply only to the items themselves, and
do not directly affect the wearer.

For the same reason, a magic-resistant
being could use a wand of magic missiles
against other creatures, but might have
trouble shooting the missiles at itself.

[Scott]

Wow, never realized there was such controversy around the spell.

[GRWelsh]

The way Lakofka tries to screw over the magic missile spell reminds me of Eric making the spell require a "to hit" roll back in the day. I was shocked and pointed out to him that in the book it didn't require one and that was the whole point of the spell. He didn't care and made us roll to hit anyway. I don't think the spell is overpowered because of its ability to automatically hit, since at low levels a magic-user can only cast one or two per day and it offsets the magic-user's poor attack rolls. Since the magic-user gets so little to do, when he does something it should be impressive. At low levels, it isn't more powerful than sleep. But it is one of those rare spells that increases in power with no upper limit, so a lot of magic-users (like Maylin) load up on magic missile at higher levels. That may bother some DMs but it doesn't bother me, since I like the idea of magic-users having some lower level spells that are still useful at high levels, rather than just memorizing a lot of "dead weight."

One of the facts about AD&D is that magic missile is a great spell, and that's just how it is. If EGG allowed the spell to target non-living things as well as creatures, I'd allow that also.

[geneweigel]

Completely from memory, when I talked about GREYHAWK SUPPLEMENT I (1976) with Gary (Gygax), he mentioned that Magic Missile was more of a class ability fix than a spell and that it was technically a spell but it was more of a balance feature from play. Plus, he brought up his idea that there could never be a "Magic Missile of healing" when designing new spells because all movable healing should be hands on. I think that is the only MM thing that I heard from him directly.

[GRWelsh]

AD&D is so well balanced because it is one of the most play-tested games ever. It came directly out of that fertile 1973-1979 time period when EGG and others were playing constantly. So, the only changes I make are usually due to expediting things, or fleshing things out, but not to "correct game balance." I don't think it needs correcting. When people complain about this or that spell being too powerful, I always think: what game are you playing? AD&D is deadly when played properly. The odds are already against the players, so let them have some powerful spells and magic items.

Part of the game is figuring out as a player what works best. I don't punish players for 'exploiting' a spell or magic item in an effective way. That deserves praise.

[geneweigel]

I just remembered another official bit on Magic Missile from the THE ASTRAL PLANE by Roger E. Moore with marked editing by Gary Gygax to make it official (I marked the Gary correction as large):

page 31: Under MOVEMENT & COMBAT

The only problem that will occur in
combat is in using missile weapons or
thrown items. Because everyone is used
to adjusting missiles or thrown weapons
to take into account the effects of gravity,
persons who fire or throw missiles will
find their aim poorer at first. Missile fire
will initially be made at a -6 penalty “to
hit”; each subsequent missile fired by
the same character will gain a +1 modifier
“to hit,” cumulatively, until this penalty
is removed. However, once a person
leaves the Astral Plane, this adjustment
is forgotten and must be “re-learned”
upon re-entering the plane at any future
date.

Long ranges are extended on the
Astral Plane for missiles of any sort, because
of the lack of gravity; short and
medium ranges remain the same. The
maximum range of any missile weapon
is doubled, so a longbow (for instance)
would have a long range of 14”-42”.

Page 32
MAGICAL ALTERATIONS
As has already been mentioned, many
spells will not have their normal effects
when cast upon the Astral Plane. Some
of these spells for various reasons will
have no effect at all, while others will
work only partially or in an unexpected
manner. A few spells will not work astrally
but will not be forgotten when cast;
these spells may be re-cast at a later time
(after the caster returns to the Prime
Material Plane, or perhaps travels to a
different plane) when they will take normal
effect. Spells cannot be cast in any
case from the Astral Plane to any other
plane, and vice versa; they cannot be
cast through Gates and similar devices
or spells (as noted in TSR™ module Q1),
since the true distance between the
planes exceeds the spell’s range.
Unless a spell caster has taken special
precautions, any traveling done by Astral
Spell will result in leaving behind all
material components for spells, reducing
the spell caster to using only those
spells with verbal and/or somatic components
alone.
Once a character enters the Astral
Plane, spell recovery (regardless of the
amount of time spent astrally) becomes
more difficult. Clerics and druids may
not recover any spells except first and
second level ones — unless the deity
they worship normally resides on the Astral
Plane, in which case they may recover
any spell levels. Any spell casters will
find they have but one opportunity to
pray or study for new spells after casting
spells on the Astral Plane, and that subsequent
attempts to recover spells will
fail because of the magical properties of
the plane. Clerics will find that certain
spells — Commune, Divination and Spiritual
Hammer — will not work on the
Astral Plane unless the cleric’s deity lives
on that plane.
Unless otherwise stated, a spell caster
must remain stationary on the Astral
Plane when casting a spell; he or she
cannot think about moving around and
perform magic at the same time. Spell
casting, as in all other cases, cannot be
hurried up in any manner, and if a spell is
interrupted, it is lost. Spells may be cast
from devices and scrolls in a normal
manner, as detailed later in this article.
Those spells that normally affect a flat,
planar area (such as Bless and Haste)
will, when cast astrally, affect a spherical
area with a diameter equal to the normal
spell’s smallest dimension in area of effect.
Thus, Bless affects all within a 5”
diameter sphere, Haste and Slow affect
all within a 4” diameter sphere, Tongues
affects all within a 6” diameter sphere,
and so forth. This does not apply to
spells such as Hold Portal, Knock, and
Wizard Lock, which were designed to affect
flat surfaces.
The Astral Plane is a poor conductor
of heat or cold, making some spells like
unless the spell caster or psionic initiating
the travel can make a saving throw
vs. magic. If the deity’s magic-resistance
roll fails on the first severing attempt,
subsequent rolls may be made without
requiring another successful “to hit” roll
against the silver cord.
Any character wounded while on the
Astral Plane will not normally recover
any lost hit points, no matter how long a
time is spent there. [Obviously, however,
after 365,000 days of relative rest a normal
character would regain 1 hit point.]
Only the use of magical devices or spells,
or the psionic discipline of cell adjustment,
will allow the recovery of lost hit
points astrally. Once a wounded character
leaves the Astral Plane, wounds may
be naturally recovered from at the normal
day-to-day rates.
Infravision, which relies upon detection
of heat sources, useless. A Fireball could
go off next to a character, and if the
character was just outside the area of
effect he or she would not feel the heat
from the attack.
Fire-based spells that are cast at bodies
of water on the Astral Plane will have
no effect; they will be smothered immediately.
Any fire spell that strikes a body
of ice will usually have no other effect
than to melt the ice down into water, immediately
extinguishing the spell. Because
all objects on the plane are effectively
weightless, flame sources will
appear circular; even though one would
expect an open flame to be extinguished
by its own waste gases if held immobile,
this does not occur in astral space.
Astral travelers, though they will soon
discover that they apparently do not
need to breathe in astral space, are still
susceptible to attacks of poisonous gas,
drowning, and so forth; the poisonous or
foreign material will find its way into the
respiratory tract and do physical damage.
These attacks will affect even astrally
projecting characters, though as noted
before this will not actually kill the
affected characters, but will cause their
spirits to return to their home plane.
Following are listed those spells that
yield unusual results when cast on the
Astral Plane. When possible, reasons are
given for why a spell malfunctions. If
new spells are encountered or created
by characters, the DM should arbitrate
the effects on the Astral Plane, noting
whenever possible the effects of any similar
spells listed here.

Page43 Under MAGIC-USER SPELLS

Magic Missile: Ignore the penalties
applied to hurling or launching missiles
astrally; magic missiles do not miss.

As an aside to this, in THE NINE HELLS series that was given to dipstick Ed Greenwood to flesh out there was a limited list of spell alterations in THE NINE HELLS PART II in DRAGON MAGAZINE #76 (AUG 1983) that had Frank Mentzer corrections to give it a somewhat official stance. There was zero mention of Magic Missile not even Wand of Missiles.

[GT]

In my campaign, I decreed that magic missiles are simply bolts of force, with no heat element. They are a first level spell whereas flame arrow, essentially a spell to ignite the arrows of fighters is third level! (I modified that spell a bit to make it a bit more worthy of being at the same level as fireball and lightning bolt).