Magic Missile Accuracy challenge.

[missmvicious]

A friend of mine brought up an interesting question that I, as a caster, take much interest in.

If magic missiles never miss their intended target (barring magic that resists force damage), and they do force damage... could one aim magic missiles at someone's eyes? If so, would that sort of attack blind them (blow their eyes out)? Can magic missile be that accurate, anyway?

It sounds like a DMs call, but he's typically a DM and was curious about how to rule that. I said I'd seek the wisdom of the Playground on this.

[Tyndmyr]

D&D lacks called shots intentionally, since it operates on a somewhat higher level of granularity. Much like facing, introducing such things into the game brings up a great number of problems.

In short, no, it doesn't blind them. Magic Missile doesn't do that. It hits a person, not a part of a person. That's not a valid targeting option.

[missmvicious]

You make a good point. Plus, it just doesn't make sense to make the Wizard even more powerful than it already is. I'll pass the info along.

[Jarawara]

I don't have the rulebooks in front of me, so I can't check if it's ever been defined what type of damage magic missile actually does.

However, my rules trumps the book rules, and in my game magic missile hits directly to the life force of the person. (Or spirit, or unlife, or whatever energy force that empowers the target and gives it the mechanism of life.)

But magic missile does not, in any way, do 'force' damage, or 'electrical damage', or 'fire damage' or anything. No physical damage is scored... it simply zaps you for hit points of damage.

Therefore, if the magic missile DID hit you in the eyes, it would probably startle you, and it would hurt, but it wouldn't actually do any damage to your eyeballs. It would enter through your eyes, go right to your life force, and score the 2-5 points of HP like it always does.

*~*

That being said, I still don't think I'd allow called shots, unless you wanted to roll to hit (and possible miss?), and even then you'd have to get a 20. I can just see a player wanting to manufacture an additional benefit. "Yay, I scored 2 hp of damage, but he's also stunned and shocked from it going through his eyes, right? Now's the time to double-backflip sneak-attack expertise power whirlwind cleave falcon-punch!!! Hey, why's that DMG flying through the air towards my head?"

[pwykersotz]

I play a game with called shots. You only hit the called shot if you roll a critical, but in the event you do roll a crit it deals very specific damage.

In our game, Magic Missile couldn't be used for that since you don't roll an attack roll. The "magic" already seeks out the target, it's inerrant, but the magic grants the certainty of the hit and removes the ability of the caster to make fine control options.

[Darth_Versity]

But magic missile does not, in any way, do 'force' damage, or 'electrical damage', or 'fire damage' or anything. No physical damage is scored... it simply zaps you for hit points of damage.

I think you'll find it does


A missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.

[Rules Lawyer #1]

Necro Post, but:

Supposing that a Magic Missile had the accuracy to target a person's eyes...

It would auto-fail (zero damage and spell slot expended), because the cornea of the eye is invisible, which means the cornea itself cannot be targeted. And so when you target the "eyes", it is like targeting something behind a window or a Shield spell.

"I attack the darkness" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zng5kRle4FA)

Assuming you could target the visible sclera, then the spell would still auto-fail (zero damage and spell slot expended) if your target blinks, because you cannot target creatures with total cover or total concealment such as behind walls. And unlike readying an action for someone to poke their head around a corner, blinking is an instant involuntary reflexive action (on the level of the speed of the magic missile spell), meaning that unless your target exerts deliberate effort not to blink, the readied Magic Missile spell will still auto-fail (zero damage and spell slot expended) solely from the involuntary action of the target's eyelids.

Why does this matter? Aren't the other posts in this thread about the homing nature of the Magic Missile spell sufficient?
No, those posts are not sufficient to resolve this matter, because it is possible to have parasitic creatures occupying the space of a normal creature's eyes, which means that the eyes could count as separate creatures from the host creature and thus, by RAW, be targeted specifically.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

It would auto-fail (zero damage and spell slot expended), because the cornea of the eye is invisible, which means the cornea itself cannot be targeted. And so when you target the "eyes", it is like targeting something behind a window or a Shield spell.


Pff. You literally have to wait until you can "see the whites of their eyes" before you can actually hit them.

[flat_footed]

The Fullmetal Mod: Thread necromancy is a forbidden art.