One of the joys of being a Magic User in D&D@ is the chance to invent
new spells appropriate to the types of situations the player encounters.
Magical research is conducted at the inn or castle or guild hall, in between
quests, and is a good way to USE up the copious amounts of treasure that
sometimes come a player’s way. However, too often players select spells as
if out of a vending machine. They “put in” <$ilver dollars>, wait the requisite
time period, and out comes anything they want. Too often, DMs let players
get away with this — forgetting that just because research was conducted
doesn’t mean:

a) The spell is a particular level just because that was declared.

b) The spell is appropriate to <THE WIZARD> just because he wants it.

c) The character researching the spell can, in fact, do a spell of that level.

Naturally, players want the most powerful spells at the cheapest cost. A
good guide for what would be an appropriate spell level is the current list in
the D&D@ rules. There seems to be a basic assumption among players that
if a spell is in Grayhawk or the new, revised D&D@ rules, that the spell is
common knowledge in the profession. This gives standard to measure
proposed research. An example of an appropriate spell appeared in Paul
Suliin’s article in the September 1978 issue of The Dragon. “Moon Runes”
are a written version of the Magic Mouth Spell. As a first level spell they
would have been too cheap — as they can accomplish far more than a
Ventriliquism Spell — and at third level they would have not been worth
having, as the written spell Explosive Rune is a third level spell which can
cause damage.

Another example from that article is “Magic Missle II” as the obvious
second level equivalent of the standard Magic Missle. (When a Wizard of
my acquaintance researched it a couple of years ago, we called it “Magic
Javelin”).

Some of Mr Suliin’s level choices for researched spells allow a player too
much too soon. “Wall of Water” blocks creatures under 5 hit dice and does
6 dice of damage to fiery creatures. The already extant fourth level spells,
Wall of Fire and Wall of Ice, block creatures under 4 hit dice and Wall of Ice
does only 1 die of damage to fiery creatures. Furthermore, both of these
spells require concentration while “Wall of Water” does not. Another
example of an overly powerful spell for fourth level is “Shatterray” which
does 5-30 pts. of damage, can be used against inaminate objects, can be
aimed, and increases in power with the level of the caster. The Grayhawk
spell, Ice Storm, is fourth level and does 3-30 pts. of damage but has none of
the other advantages of “Shatterray.”

This brings up Rule One of Research: No researched spell may cause
more damage, gain more information, summon more powerful beings, or
give more control over mind and matter than an already existing spell of
the same or lower level. The exception to this rule is if the researcher is of a
profession more suited to the spell. For instance; if a DM allows
“specialist” Magic Users, a “Fire-Mage” might get “Firebolts” or
“Firebeams” doing equivalent to Fireballs at second level.

Rule Two of Research: A character cannot learn a spell that is the
province of another profession. This is highly subjective and utmost DM
discretion is called upon. There is some overlap already — Magic Users can
do some Illusionist spells (but of course, Illusionists are a profession which
did not exist until those spells had already been given to Magic Users) such
as Hallucinatory Terrain, and both Magic Users and Clerics can do Light
Spell — but in general there should be a dividing line between professions.
Clerics do not manipulate natural/ supernatural forces to attack — Web,
Magic Missle, Fireball — and Magic Users don’t get divine guidance and
intervention — Detect Traps, Speak With Dead, Resurrection. Sharply
delineated character classes, each with special powers and weaknesses,
increases game enjoyment immeasurable.

Rule Three of research should be self-evident: A character cannot
research a level spell of a level he cannot yet learn. Forcefield-type spells
might be researched at any level (E.g. Shield is a first level spell) but if the
third level spell Protection From Normal Missles is not available to a
character then certainly he can’t research any sort of magical weapon
protection. If a character can’t do Wall of Ice he certainly can’t research
“Vortex” or “Wall of Dust.”

DMs should apply these rules strictly, so that when the day comes that a
Novice Magic User has fewer Sleep Spells than the DM has orcs, the DM
won’t be confronted with “But don’t you remember? I researched a first
level spell of ‘Sneeze to Repel All Orcs’ just last week!”