Yup. Objections to magic being difficult to do well have led to the modern editions versions of spells and abilities that people tend to complain about.
I can't speak to the magic jar trick, we were never that evil.
I do recall someone beating a critter with the party's halfling because he was wearing magic armor. Another thing that happened with our group a couple times was using tridents and nets to pin down monsters until the person with a magic weapon could get there.Someone tried to get away with repeated headbutts with a +1 helmet.