What's a good way to spice up magic dart and other boring spells? They just seem so ordinary and roleplay-killing.

i would make it match the wind of the caster,bright wiz maybe tiny fireballs calestreal wiz mini lightning blasts and so on let the pc tell you what he/she wants it to look like

Ahh, good idea. Our wizard is a grey wizard. Thoughts?

jh

hmm.. maybe small shadows on the ground the jump up at the lats min. to strike its target?

Thinking back to a D&D campaign I was in, I played a chaos sorcerer. My main spell was Chaos Bolt (very much like WFRP's magic dart). Each time I cast the spell, I created some narrative for the scene of how it played out. being a light-hearted, humorous, campaign this often included koalas leaping in out of nowhere and running off, chandeliers falling, teleporting upwards and falling... whatever came to mind at that moment based upon the situation, the narrative, and imagination.

Ultimately, however, the spell did 1d10+modifiers damage. No more how great the story, the only true effect of the spell on the game world was that damage. No sign of the Koala afterwards, the chandelier is right where it was before the spell was cast, the NPC was back on his feet immediately.

The WFRP system in general is great for this sort of free-range description in the hands of the player. As long as the player understands, any description he gives is ultimately subject to the card effects (and GM fiat, of course).

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In the case of a Gray Wizard, a magic dart doesn't need to be a projectile firing from the wizard to the victim. It can be hands grasping out of the shadows, it can be a complicated illusion, it could be a jackal rising from the shadows to bite the foe. Ultimately, the effect is a few damage per the mechanical effect of the card.

Encourage creativity in the player to describe what is causing a spell's effects line-by-line as they are resolved. Damage from where? Free maneuver why? The causes of the card effects are limitless, but good narration shouldn't derail the seriousness of your campaign session or impede the flow of the story. When the player is stumped for ideas, it's usually because they haven't thought through their character's background and the world, or haven't a clear image of the setting of the scene. And when a player is stumped, prompt with questions and provide a narrative for them. Easier said than done all around, I guess~

The easiest way is to take the most generic damaging bolt of the mage (if there is any), and make a small version of it.

For example, Grey Wizards shoots spectral daggers at the enemies, you may just use weak version, with one dagger.

You will have much more problems with Collegues like Amber or Gold, making generic Alber/Golden bolt from generic magical missile