Larloch's MINOR drain.

Worg

This spell does not age well. Sure, I'll use it for lvl 1 and 2. But I do not remember using it anytime thereafter. It is stuck as if the caster is forever level 1. Oh and I checked the 2ed. pnp players handbook and I could not find it, so it is probably a BG homebrew.
I think it should be seriously improved upon.

Hell, 4 damage +1 per level would be badass or just 1damage per level.

deltago

It is homebrew.

It is good till about character lvl 5 (20% hp), then the almighty magic missile takes over. I don't mind it not scaling because it'd be too powerful if it did.

DMC

It's atcually first published for AD&D in one of the Forgotten Realm's Players Handbooks or the Magister Handbook. It's moderately strong, but what did you expect from a 1rst level spell? Most don't continue to scale up very powerfully, unlike Magic Missile- which is the exception rather than the rule.

Sulla

Larloch's Minor Drain is a great spell even at higher levels. It is a self heal spell that allows the caster to go above maximum HP for a period of time. In games like Icewind Dale 2 which are combat heavy, it is part of my post-rest combat buffs along with Mage Armor, etc. I simply find an easy fight nearby and give my mage extra HP and then continue with the main quest. An HP cushion is nice for any unexpected sources of large damage which can mean the difference between a wounded or dead mage. I do the same thing with Vampire Drain once I get it and have a spare spell slot.

Merengue

Minor Drain is fairly extraordinary to start with, giving a 1d4x2 life swing from level 1. I imagine that, like Sleep, the poor scaling is the price you pay for the immediate power.

Worst case scenario, you can run it like a poor man's Arcane self-only Cure Light Wounds, healing 1d4 instead of 1d8. I could seriously imagine an RPing party where the Necromancer restores some minor damage by siphoning it off of the party's dwarven frontliner with 19 con, and nearly gets bashed by a hammer before the party manages to resolve the conflict.

Worg

What annoys me most, is that I am the type of person that would always play a necromancer. Yes, clerics beat them when it comes to raising dead, yes their spell selection has nothing really to do with contacting or manipulating the dead on low levels and they get to have Larlochs minor drain as their flagship spell.

@Sulla I see your point. In IWD2 it sounds like a wise and a smart thing to do. In IWD2 the extra hit points last 1 hour I believe, in bg 1 turn. That is about 60 seconds. While having a few hit points for 60 seconds does give you something, I am not good enough a planner to make that work for me except in rare instances.

@DMC Well, Invokers get magic missile. Transmuters get Burning hands. Necromancers get Larloch's minor drain. Only one of the three is nigh useless. I would perhaps mention chill touch, but my wizard died trying to use it. yay.

Sulla

I never liked the touch spells for clerics or mages in traditional DnD. I have used them from time to time either as part of a necromancer theme or as an "oh shit" moment, but it seems foolish to have them rush into melee. If I could house rule DnD I would make most, if not all, touch spells to be ranged spells. Just as many players (and computer versions) remove the need for spell components (I don't recall Gandalf reaching into his pouch for twigs and gems to cast spells and seems very anti-climactic). That's another reason why I liked Larloch's Minor Drain; it is ranged. Unfortunately, for pure damage it is necessary to go with Magic Missile at higher levels, as the previous poster mentioned.

ajwz

Larloch is a cool villain though.