Magic Push...

So the other day, Lord Kilgore stirred some things up for suggesting that Mages might have some kind of magical Blast power that gives Mages a bit of something to do in combat. Yeah, it's not Vancian (big deal) and, gasp, it sounds like something that comes from later editions.

Here's my thought on the matter. How about at 1st level the mage gets some kind of a magical "push" ability (yes, I know, the spell...whatever) where the creature (or creatures, I guess) is thrown back and out of range of the mage for a round, no damage - I'm thinking of having watched Legend of the Seeker recently and Zed could send out these waves of energy that knock people over. So, what about that? Just kind of "pushing back" the foes so that the real fighters can take care of them? Maybe push back 1d4 HD per level of the mage?(so, yeah, at 10th level it's 10-40 HD - too much?) Not dealing any damage, just giving the mage a round breather from getting run-through - maybe then being able to get off a spell - or shove another opponent away...

Or - heck, why not a simplified Magic Missile kind of ability - 1d4 damage per level of mage - or even 1d2 damage per level - but not automatic hit (have to figure out the mechanic to hit...). So, yeah, again 10th level would do 10-40 (or 10-20) hp damage - pretty significant, I guess. Maybe too much. Heck - maybe make Magic Missile (can I use this term and still be a Grognard) "At Will"? Nah, too powerful...

I think of the two options, I prefer the Push/Shove option - it gives mages a bit more defensive capability - but not much more in their arsenal for attacking, since it does no damage whatsoever (hmmm, though shoving someone off a cliff...hmmm...of course, how often would that happen? Heck, I'd probably give a bonus to XP if a player used the ability creatively) Heh - and on a failure roll (yeah, still contemplating that one) the MAGE gets thrown back and maybe stunned for a round or something...