Magic Missiles roll damage - What school are you ?

[DeLastOne]

Hi


Some players say damage from Magic missile should only be rolled once (1xD4)
Some say it should be roll for each missile separately. (3xD4)

I am actually not sure what BG3 uses but I am interested to know what players usually uses as a rule when playing tabletop D&D

Ps : according to Jeremy Crawford it should only be one roll for all.

[Uncle Nubbs]

In table top D&D each dart is rolled separately. That's why players as a high level mage always have a handful of 1d4 dice at the ready.

[zero]

Messaggio originale di Uncle Nubbs:

In table top D&D each dart is rolled separately. That's why players as a high level mage always have a handful of 1d4 dice at the ready.

also if your dm is aggro you can use them as caltrops to get away.

[Lani]

I believe Jeremy means (1xd4)3
I.e. you roll once to see what each missile does for damage.
It's less fuss in TTRPG but 3xD4 is just as fast in CRPG but it's such a minute thing to get fuzzy about

[guard65]

Targeting game wise they could have made it where you select targets then select apply. Then it could go through the targets in a loop until there are no more missiles. Much easier on the user and your mouse.

[Mister Magician]

Here is a better solution, throw multiple d4 dice at once to save time; simulating the missiles bumping into each other and getting smaller or bigger.

[jonnin]

roll once seems flat out wrong. That means you have a high chance of casting a 4 or 5 damage spell, at level 3 or 4 upcasting. It should be near impossible for a 4th level spell to do 5 damage to one target one time and that is all you got. Its possible rolling all the dice, but odds are very low. 25% chance if you roll 1 die, ... no.

[Mosey]

It's clearly written that each missile does 1D4+1 and it launches 3 missiles.

The English language declares that this means each missile should be rolled separately. The history of D&D itself also indicates that is the proper way to do it.

If it was intended to be rolled once, the spell would (or should) declare that you roll one D4 and multiply by number of missiles yet it says no such thing. If each missile does 1D4+1, then each missile does 1D4+1.

If the guy that wrote it says otherwise, then they are a garbage writer and should be fired. It's literally their job to write concise copy, and they failed miserably.

[Hobocop]

Messaggio originale di Mosey:

It's clearly written that each missile does 1D4+1 and it launches 3 missiles.

The English language declares that this means each missile should be rolled separately. The history of D&D itself also indicates that is the proper way to do it.

If it was intended to be rolled once, the spell would (or should) declare that you roll one D4 and multiply by number of missiles yet it says no such thing. If each missile does 1D4+1, then each missile does 1D4+1.

If the guy that wrote it says otherwise, then they are a garbage writer and should be fired. It's literally their job to write concise copy, and they failed miserably.

It's no secret by now that 5e has no shortage of badly written rules.

[Mosey]

Messaggio originale di Hobocop:

It's no secret by now that 5e has no shortage of badly written rules.

Badly written perhaps, but this one is clearly stating to roll multiple dice.

I get that it's simultaneous, but that's an absurdist way to read the spell is my only real point I suppose. Guy is a hack.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Beware of players of evocation wizards trying to make their Empowered Evocation 10th-level feature absurdly strong.

[illumnati]

Cut and Dry 1d4+1 per missile.
Level 1 = 3 missiles. Level 2 = 4 missiles. Level 3 = 5 missiles.
Level 4 = 6 missiles. Level 5 = 7 missiles. Level 6 = 8 missiles.
Wearing the Physic Spark amulet adds 1 more dart (missile) to that count.
1d4+1 equates mathematically to [1+4]/2+1 = 2.5+1 = 3.5 average per dart.
You have to do it for every dart, you can't just mix it in a blender.
Also, you can target as many enemies as you fire darts.
This is great for "cleanup" ... you might have 4 enemies in combat that have
only 1 or 2 hp remaining, shoot all 4 and all 4 are dead.
Magic Missile is 100% to hit, no roll involved.
It will hit for less if the enemy has FORCE resistance (half damage).
It will miss completely if the target is IMMUNE to FORCE (full damage).
There are other conditions and situations where MM misses completely.
Meta Magic Twinned : No (spell can already hit more than one enemy as is)
Meta Magic Distant : Yes (spell can reach 50% farther)
Meta Magic Extended : No (Cannot do any more damage than it already does)
(Also, there is no area of effect damage, so that cannot be extended either)
Meta Magic Quickened : Yes (can cast as bonus action if you desire)

I hope this helps explain Magic Missile.