For those of you who have run into the "How much damage does Tidal Wave do to a Fire Elemental" problem, here are some numbers for you.

1 cubic foot of water contains ~7.5 gallons of water (https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/archive/dickinso/research/2004/range04c.htm). Therefore a 1' wide x 1' tall x 10' deep section of Tidal Wave (10 cubic feet of water) would do about 75 points of cold damage.

An average adult male has 20.45 square feet of body surface area (https://www.calculator.net/body-surface-area-calculator.html). This is the whole surface area, so a little less than half this number would be the front surface area, we'll say ~10 square feet.

If the Fire Elemental were the size of an average human male and hit by a Tidal Wave spell it would take 750 points of cold damage.

So yeah, that Fire Elemental is toast.

Woah

Why doesn't the damage increase when cast with a higher level spell slots.

Can someone figure out what damage to ships is like?

My only problem with this is that the spell does not actually specify the "depth" of the wave - "The area can be up to 30 feet long, up to 10 feet wide, and up to 10 feet tall."

Since the depth is not specified, is it not best to assume that the wave is only 1 foot deep (10 x 10 x 1), which would leave you with only 75 points of cold damage? Which is still great for EXTRA damage on a level 3 spell, resulting in 4d8 + 75 + prone (on fail).

I see what you're saying. I should have specified that at a maximum depth/thickness of wave, it would do 750 points of cold damage.

This DM would probably just say the fire elemental takes double damage from the spell and call it a day. :)

This^^, has anyone discuss what this is like in Ship to Ship battles? What if you cast Tidal Wave vs another ship?

well thats useful

Quote from rmdeming >>

For those of you who have run into the "How much damage does Tidal Wave do to a Fire Elemental" problem, here are some numbers for you.

1 cubic foot of water contains ~7.5 gallons of water (https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/archive/dickinso/research/2004/range04c.htm). Therefore a 1' wide x 1' tall x 10' deep section of Tidal Wave (10 cubic feet of water) would do about 75 points of cold damage.

An average adult male has 20.45 square feet of body surface area (https://www.calculator.net/body-surface-area-calculator.html). This is the whole surface area, so a little less than half this number would be the front surface area, we'll say ~10 square feet.

If the Fire Elemental were the size of an average human male and hit by a Tidal Wave spell it would take 750 points of cold damage.

So yeah, that Fire Elemental is toast.

 well it says that all unprotected flames are extinguished, so if the DM was really trying to get you with an elemental then the fire elemental could just take the normal damage then turn into say a earth elemental, or a water elemental

An important note, the Monster Manual Fire Elemental is is a large creature (not medium) so it would have even more surface area.

Quote from ericb >>

This^^, has anyone discuss what this is like in Ship to Ship battles? What if you cast Tidal Wave vs another ship?

Ships would take the same amount of damage as anybody else. Ships and boats have AC and HP just like creatures.

Go to "Game Rules" then "Vehicles" to see those stats.

It says up to ten feet tall. So that's depth. Right?

Quote from rmdeming >>

For those of you who have run into the "How much damage does Tidal Wave do to a Fire Elemental" problem, here are some numbers for you.

1 cubic foot of water contains ~7.5 gallons of water (https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/archive/dickinso/research/2004/range04c.htm). Therefore a 1' wide x 1' tall x 10' deep section of Tidal Wave (10 cubic feet of water) would do about 75 points of cold damage.

An average adult male has 20.45 square feet of body surface area (https://www.calculator.net/body-surface-area-calculator.html). This is the whole surface area, so a little less than half this number would be the front surface area, we'll say ~10 square feet.

If the Fire Elemental were the size of an average human male and hit by a Tidal Wave spell it would take 750 points of cold damage.

So yeah, that Fire Elemental is toast.

 To put that into perspective, Tiamat has 615 HP. 

Somatic component : table flip

How does this not push creatures away, but gust of wind does?

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What in the world are you talking about Powere Word Kill doing damage? PWK doesn't do damage and doesn't do anything at all if you cast it on an e enemy with 101 HP or more.

Quote from JasonCarson >>

What in the world are you talking about Powere Word Kill doing damage? PWK doesn't do damage and doesn't do anything at all if you cast it on an e enemy with 101 HP or more.

 I know PWK doesn’t do damage. I was saying it effectively deals 778 damage, which insta kills a Tarrasque at 100 hp. This was just comparing it to Tidal Wave.

This is a very effective spell at dealing with flying creatures.  Make them fall prone... they fall from the sky unless they have hover.