If you are playing an artificer and you use a pistol, can you cast heat metal on one of the bullets before you fire it so that the bullet hits the enemy and does 2d8 fire damage as well as 1d10 piercing damage? Also will the bullet stick in the enemy so that you can continue to use a bonus action to deal more damage with it?
So long story most likely not, Most guns you cant see the bullet in the chamber. Heat metal is a manufactured metal object you can see that's within range. So don't think you want to hold the bullet and then load it.
As a Dm my call would be no overall. 1. Cannot see the bullet
2. What happens when you heat a bullet normally with fire/heat.... It explodes.... damaging the gun and or yourself in the process.
You have to see the metal object you cast the spell on, which means casting it prior to loading in this example. That means you take the damage.
And the creature needs to be in physical contact with the metal when you use your bonus action to cause the damage again (for the first time on your actual target rather than yourself). This requires a fair amount of DM adjudication.
Heat metal is not intended to be used on projectiles/weapons as added damage, it is intended to be used on objects in continuous contact with the target: worn or carried items. The spell text even refers to that.
As everyone has pointed out there is a major hurdle to this in the mechanics of Heat Metal because it requires that you be able to see your target. There is however at least one way to see a bullet in the gun, look down the barrel. This work around has obvious downsides.
Also as many people have pointed out this would almost certainly cause a misfire. This is a very likely DM ruling on the matter but not technically RAW as Heat Metal only deals fire damage to creatures, and not objects.
One thing to note is that Heat Metal only deals damage when the spell is cast and when you take the bonus action to trigger the damage on subsequent rounds. So a potential work around is to cast Heat Metal on a bullet in your bullet pouch. The DM may well consider you in contact with the bullet and so cause you to take damage and risk breaking your concentration. But then on the next round you could load the bullet into the chamber, fire it, and then use your bonus action to trigger the damage if you hit. Range and targeting requirements only need to be met when the spell is first cast unless otherwise specified by the particular spell, which Heat Metal does not.
All of this is a round about way of using Heat Metal though. If the target is wearing metal armor, it is much better to simply target that. Otherwise you could work with an ally to stab the enemy with a dagger and leave it in them so you can then target the dagger.
Even assuming you could successfully heat the bullet, load it into the gun, and then fire it, there are two other issues at play:
Heat metal's damage is instantaneous - it doesn't just apply to anyone that touches the metal over the spell's duration. It occurs immediately when you cast the spell, and occurs again whenever you reactivate the spell as a bonus action. So it would not automatically apply 2d8 damage upon striking a target.
"Hitting" the target does not inherently embed the bullet in them. In fact, it doesn't even necessarily make contact with the creature. That all depends on how the DM wants to narrate that particular shot against that particular enemy. Its possible that the DM could decide that this bullet managed to embed itself into the target, but it is equally likely and justified for the DM to decide that the bullet simply grazed the target, causing the Heat Metal to be useless.
I agree with almost everything said above and think you should look for another way to try and implement your idea. ie a magic item or some other special ability such as the bloodhunter ability.
As to seeing the bullet/round in the gun, you cannot always look down the barrel and see it but on a revolver you can see the back of the rounds or the casing that the round and powder are encased in. But again the barrel is designed to have specific radius objects fired through it and heating them more then normal (through the expanding gases) would be problematic.
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If you are playing an artificer and you use a pistol, can you cast heat metal on one of the bullets before you fire it so that the bullet hits the enemy and does 2d8 fire damage as well as 1d10 piercing damage? Also will the bullet stick in the enemy so that you can continue to use a bonus action to deal more damage with it?
i would think heating the bullet in the chamber would be far worse for the shooter than the target. remember metal expands when heated.
So long story most likely not, Most guns you cant see the bullet in the chamber. Heat metal is a manufactured metal object you can see that's within range. So don't think you want to hold the bullet and then load it.
As a Dm my call would be no overall.
1. Cannot see the bullet
2. What happens when you heat a bullet normally with fire/heat.... It explodes.... damaging the gun and or yourself in the process.
You have to see the metal object you cast the spell on, which means casting it prior to loading in this example. That means you take the damage.
And the creature needs to be in physical contact with the metal when you use your bonus action to cause the damage again (for the first time on your actual target rather than yourself). This requires a fair amount of DM adjudication.
Heat metal is not intended to be used on projectiles/weapons as added damage, it is intended to be used on objects in continuous contact with the target: worn or carried items. The spell text even refers to that.
You are describing the spell spell Flame Arrow, with a minor house rule to work on the bullets in a gun rather than the arrows/bolts in a quiver.
Flame Arrow is a 3rd level, not a 2nd like Heat Metal.
As everyone has pointed out there is a major hurdle to this in the mechanics of Heat Metal because it requires that you be able to see your target. There is however at least one way to see a bullet in the gun, look down the barrel. This work around has obvious downsides.
Also as many people have pointed out this would almost certainly cause a misfire. This is a very likely DM ruling on the matter but not technically RAW as Heat Metal only deals fire damage to creatures, and not objects.
One thing to note is that Heat Metal only deals damage when the spell is cast and when you take the bonus action to trigger the damage on subsequent rounds. So a potential work around is to cast Heat Metal on a bullet in your bullet pouch. The DM may well consider you in contact with the bullet and so cause you to take damage and risk breaking your concentration. But then on the next round you could load the bullet into the chamber, fire it, and then use your bonus action to trigger the damage if you hit. Range and targeting requirements only need to be met when the spell is first cast unless otherwise specified by the particular spell, which Heat Metal does not.
All of this is a round about way of using Heat Metal though. If the target is wearing metal armor, it is much better to simply target that. Otherwise you could work with an ally to stab the enemy with a dagger and leave it in them so you can then target the dagger.
Even assuming you could successfully heat the bullet, load it into the gun, and then fire it, there are two other issues at play:
I'm just going to say "no". The reasons have been covered pretty well.
I agree with almost everything said above and think you should look for another way to try and implement your idea. ie a magic item or some other special ability such as the bloodhunter ability.
As to seeing the bullet/round in the gun, you cannot always look down the barrel and see it but on a revolver you can see the back of the rounds or the casing that the round and powder are encased in. But again the barrel is designed to have specific radius objects fired through it and heating them more then normal (through the expanding gases) would be problematic.
Have Fun