Behind the Spells Magic Missile

This is the first in a long series of Behind the Spells PDFs. Each one covers a single spell and goes into the history of how that spell came to be and has some new and alternative rules for the spells as well as alternative versions of the spell. The series is written by Brett Boyd and produced through Ronin Arts. The lay out of the PDF is very basic and the four pages support no art. They are though book marked which is always good to see.

The history is interesting as it just does not present a wizard making spells. There is a bit of a mystery and hints at a secret arcane organization. The seppl was originally created to help fend off goblin hoards. The product does well to show uses for the spell. Like the rules for altering what a Wizard?s Magic Missile looks like. The ability to see a shadow and try to aim at the owner of said shadow is also a nice touch. The missile while being usually useless against inanimate objects the book allows for small objects to be moved by the force of the missile. And there is but one odd variation that is a lawn mowing spell.

The new ways to use the spell can prove useful to a clever wizard. The lawn mower spell as I?m calling it is nice for farmers or against any plant creatures. Over all the PDF is pretty good and as the first one I think a little more could have gone into it. Hopefully as I explore others in the series I will see a nice growth in the products.
<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Nice theme and good ways to use the spell<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: More spell variants would have been great<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

It's difficult to complain about a product that costs little to nothing. However, I was disappointed with this product. The idea behind the series, "Behind the Spells", is a good one, but not enough is done with each spell. I was expecting to find all sorts of clever uses and variants for Magic Missile, but instead only found one real variant, and it wasn't very useful for my campaign (the sickle shaped farming missile). The anecdotes included are okay, but don't give the DM or player any useful ideas or information.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: It's a good idea.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Needs more information and creativity behind the product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Excellent work by Mr. Boyd -- well worth the $1.00 asking price.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I like my history fluff in gaming, so this product is ideal for my tastes. At the same time, the crunch is interesting enough that I will use that as well.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It's a small point, but I noticed a couple of usage errors as I was reading the product -- not nearly enough to make a huge difference, but present.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The BEHIND THE SPELLS series gives you a nice overview examining a single spell. It covers it's history and development, practical ways to use and defeat the use of the spell, and a few varient spells. This explores magic missile, often one of the first offensive spells a young wizard learns. The spell creator's background includes some great story hooks you could easily incorporate into your game. Only one varient spell was detailed, but several varient ideas were mentioned. Worth the money.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I liked the interesting ideas for applications of the spell against objects.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There was only one fully detailed varient spell. The other varient spells suggested could have also been detailed, instead of just quickly summed up in a sentance or two.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I really had no idea what to expect from this product, only that it might somehow give me a new view on an old spell, being the Magic Missile, but how did it do?

Well, it has some nice flavor, and it does what it proposes, which is to give you a few new views on this old spell, but somehow you are left with the feeling that there could have been more to it.

The variant spell is a good little crunchy bit and I can easily see a use for that one, although its mostly an RP spell and not really useful in a battle, but there could have been a few other crunchy bits, and perhaps the Magic Missile spell itself.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The flavor and story<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: the size, basically<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A short, but sweet, look at the origin of magic missle with suggestions on varients and uses. I like the idea of hitting targets when viewing via mirrors or shadows (though it requires a spellcraft check).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>