CRPG on AD&D spells

I liked reading the CRPG Addict's blog on compute role-playing games. Looking back at his older posts, I found this one about various AD&D spells in the Gold Box games.

Gold Box Spells and Their Uses

It's an interesting look at some AD&D spells and how they work in CRPGs. Some spells just suck in any game - Burning Hands has never not been a waste, for example. Others are overpowered everywhere - Fireball and Sleep, for example. On Sleep, he's got this great quote:

"If magic was real, "Sleep" and "Hold" would be outlawed by the Geneva Convention."

The lists only go for the spells in the Gold Box games* and thus doesn't have every spell or every level. But it has the real gems of AD&D, and this description of Fireball is priceless and accurate:

"Fireball. Perhaps the most useful spell in the game, or at least the one I like the most. Does 1d6 per damage for every level of the caster, and over an enormous 37-square area indoors. When I face a large group of enemies all bunched together, I get tingles. Enemies often make saving throws for half-damage, but even then it can disrupt every enemy spellcaster and soften them up spectacularly. It never gets old."

Yeah. It never gets old.


* Of which I only ever played Pool of Radiance, twice through.