of the

Flame PrincesS
Adventures

LamentationS
of the black text
Flame PrincesS
Adventures

666
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THE MAYHEMIC MISSSILE METHOD
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(Tenscore and Sixteen Ways
for Sorcerists, Witches, and Other Thaumatrophs
to Defend Their Indefensible Persons)
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WORDS: EZRA CLAVERIE

ART: YANNICK BOUCHARD
LAYOUT AND DESIGN: ALEX MAYO
EDITING: MATTHEW POOK
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Text© 2021 Ezra Claverie

Issued Under Exclusive License

First Edition, First Printing 2021

Published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess
www.lotfp.com

Printed in Finland by Otava Book Printing Ltd., Keuruu

First Printing: 2000 Copies
ISBN 978-952-7238-53-0 (Print) / 978-952-7238-54-7 (PDF)
 INTRODUCTION
The Lamentations of the Flame Prin-
cess rulebook describes the spell Magic
Missile as follows:
‘Each Magic-User’s Magic Missile
is unique in appearance and
always looks the same. […] Each
absence thereof, the caster must meet
this prerequisite.
Unless a description explicitly says
that a Misssile affects a ‘single target’
(using that phrase), then a caster with
multiple damage dice may designate

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different “signature” for a Magic multiple targets, allocating the dice
Missile must be researched and/ among them before rolling. In such a
or transcribed as if it were a case, each target can make a saving

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different spell.’ throw versus Magic to suffer only half
damage (rounded down). Note that
6×6×6: The Mayhemic Misssile Method some Misssiles have special effects if
elaborates on that system. directed at a single target, per their
descriptions.
GENERAL RULES
A Mayhemic Misssile takes up a first-
level spell slot, but a Magic-User may,
at any time, convert any other spell
that she has prepared, of any level,
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into any Misssile from her repertoire.
In such extemporaneous casting, the
Misssile only inflicts damage rolled
on the lower half of a die’s range
(i.e. numbers on the lower side of
the range that the die can generate).
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Damage rolled on the upper half of the

range gets ignored, and any modifiers
to damage on that die become void.
For example, if the player rolls a d4
that shows a ‘3’ (in the upper half of
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the die’s range), the target ignores the

damage.

All Misssiles assume that the caster

has human anatomy, at least before
casting (if not during). If a description
specifies a body part used in casting
(e.g. a hand), then the caster must
have at least one such living part,
attached and functional, in order
to cast that Misssile. Likewise, if a
description specifies a garment or the

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 THE SIX METHODS then every target after the first costs
one die from the caster’s pool. For
A Magic-User casts a Misssile according
example, a fifth-level caster would
to one of the six Methods below. Each
have six dice to use against a sin-
Method calculates damage differently,
gle target, but only five dice to use
and some entail risks to the caster.
against two targets, four dice against
three targets, and so on.
Treat each Method for each Misssile as
a different spell. Thus, the same Miss-
sile memorized twice, but according to
Method Three:

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two different Methods, would take up
d6 + d4 damage at first level
two spell slots. Furthermore, to learn
how to cast a familiar Misssile accord-
Method Three begins even more
ing to a new Method, the caster would

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deadly, but it offers no advancement.
need to conduct research, apprentice
to a senior, exchange techniques with
If the Misssile description allows
a colleague, or capture the notes of a
multiple targets, then the caster may
rival.
allocate dice between two targets.

Method One:
Method Four:
d4 damage per caster level

A Misssile cast using Method One

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makes a first-level Magic-User roughly
d12 + caster level

Potentially devastating even at first

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level, Method Four scales up slowly,
even with a civilian armed with a
and it can only ever strike a single
musket: the spellcaster inflicts less
target.
damage but need not roll to hit and
runs no risk of misfire.
Furthermore, on a damage roll of
natural twelve, the caster must make
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If the Misssile description allows

a saving throw versus Magic. If she
multiple targets and the caster has
succeeds, then the target suffers the
multiple damage dice, then the caster
damage as rolled, but if the caster
may allocate dice among those targets
fails the saving throw, then both the
at no penalty.
target and the caster each suffer half
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of the damage rolled for the Misssile,

rounding down for the target and up
Method Two:
for the caster.
([caster level] +1) times (d4)
damage
If a caster converts another spell into
a Method-Four Misssile, she still risks
Method Two begins deadly and scales
backfire on a roll of ‘12’: if she fails
up.
her save, she suffers half damage from
the roll of ‘12’ (still rounding up),
If the Misssile description allows
while the target suffers none.
multiple targets and the caster wants
to allocate damage dice among them,

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 Method Five:
d10 at first level, +d8 at second,
and +d6 at third
Method Five begins mighty and makes
rapid gains, but it offers no increase
after the caster’s third experience
level.
Moreover, doubles on the damage
dice indicate a misfire: the two dice
showing the same number cancel each
other out. If the caster has a third die,
that die can still damage its target.
But triples on the damage dice indi-
cate a backfire. The caster must make
a saving throw versus Magic: success
means a harmless fizzle, causing no
damage to the caster or to any target.
e other half of the spell backfires on
Failure means that the caster sus-
tains whatever damage shows on the
dice, while the target sustains none.
Additionally, any backfire damage that
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exceeds the caster’s hit points, her
comrades suffer, starting with those
physically nearest.
If a caster converts another spell
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into a Method-Five Misssile and then
throws triples on the damage roll, the
backfire only inflicts damage rolled
on the lower half of a die’s range (per
the rules on extemporaneous casting).
For example, if the player rolls a d10,
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a d8, and a d6, and each die shows a
‘4’, then the caster suffers damage
only from the d10 and the d8 (where
‘4’ appears on the lower half), but not
from the d6 (where ‘4’ appears on the
upper half).
Method Six:
d8 at first level, +d6 at second, +d4
at third, and +1 per level thereafter
This last method offers a high-powered
start yet still scales up thereafter.
A caster above third level must assign
her plus-one-per-level damage bonus
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to a single die, before rolling.
If the Misssile description allows
multiple targets and the caster wants
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to allocate damage dice among them,
then each target gets its usual saving
throw versus Magic to halve the
damage (rounding down). If any target
succeeds in its saving throw, then it
suffers half damage normally, but the
the caster, who must now save versus
Magic or sustain the other half of that
die’s damage (rounding up).
If a caster converts another spell into
a Method-Six Misssile for extempo-
raneous casting, then it only inflicts
damage rolled on the lower half of a
die’s range, per the rules on extem-
poraneous casting. But if a Method-Six
Misssile backfires, then the caster
suffers damage rolled anywhere on the
die’s range (including the plus-one-
per-level damage bonus, if applica-
ble).