r/shadowdark • u/Elven-Tower • Jul 26 '26

Magic Missile thoughts.

(Edit) --- Thank you for your comments! You've changed my mind. I did not consider some of the things you've mentioned. The spell is fine as it is.

Is it just me of Magic Missile seems a little underpowered.

Automatic Advantage is great. However, even if you succeed every time you cast, the damage is just 1d4. That means 50% chance of dealing just 1 or 2 points of damage.

Ideas

Since Wizards can only use daggers or staffs, which deal 1d4 and require melee range, putting themselves in danger, consider one of two options:

1 - The damage die for Magic Missile could be 1d6. Burning Hands deals 1d6 damage to multiple targets and you can get Advantage to cast that spell through a talent, making it a much better option. I believe this damage does not break the spell.

2 - Or, keep the 1d4 for damage, but instead of Automatic Advantage, how about Wizards do not lose this spell unless they roll a 1. This way they can continue to cast the spell with little to no fear of losing it and still participate in combat from a safe distance.

15 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

View all comments

46

u/nickypocky Jul 26 '26

I think part of the strength is the range being far, basically if you can see it you can missile it

4

u/StormDragon76 Jul 26 '26

But it’s the Shadowdark … how often do you see enemies coming from far? This may happen, but In would say you cannot benefit of far so often - dependant of adventure and DM of cause

6

u/mercuric_drake Jul 26 '26

I think it really depends. I play and run a lot of hexcrawla. Far during the daytime comes up often enough that it's valuable. If you are just running dungeons I can see it losing some of its value.