Level
3rd
Casting Time
1 Action
Range/Area
150 ft
(20 ft )
Components
V, S, M *
Duration
Instantaneous
School
Evocation
Attack/Save
DEX Save
Damage/Effect
Fire
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.
* - (a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)
Except it also hits allies which makes it very difficult to use in battle sometimes in fact very often. I think evocation wizards can do some trickery to stop that sometimes as well as sorcerers but that's pretty much it and even then they have to use other power to stop it from hurting their allies.
remember this can't destroy spell books, because it doesn't destroy stuff being worn or carried
Has anyone else noticed that this spell disappeared from the archived version of the Wildfire Druid? It's no longer always prepared or in the known spells list, though it does show up in the circle spells block.
I have a procedural debate to settle. I have a wizard that really enjoys heaving fireballs around at just about everything that moves in any kind of threatening manner (ie, everything). Certain critters have advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects. If you would like an example of such a critters, look up the Adult Blue Dracolich.
The party wizard insists that the effects of a fireball are not a magical effect, they are the end result of a spell that has expended itself by the time a Dex save is required. Essentially, the spell initiates the fireball and the 'explosion' is mundane fire damage.
I think this is quite the load of horse apples and as the DM I can make the ruling as I see fit and makes sense, but fair is fair and I'd like to hear if anyone has any thoughts on this.
The party paladin insists that swords don't kill people, the severe wounds left behind by the swords do. They're both wrong.
You can cast wish? Just cast a ninth level fireball instead.
I really want this to not spread around corners, so that an artillerist could make a "flamethrower". Simply get a tube with one end closed off, cast fireball at the closed off end, and you get a flame gun.
If one of my players were to play a WM sorcerer, I would allows them to roll a WM surge immediately after the next leveled spell they cast after using Tides of Chaos. This would make WM Surges more frequent, and would allow the sorcerer to rely on advantage whenever it needs to. So it gains an infinite use of advantage, but with the cost of unpredictability and mayhem. That would make a WM sorcerer more fun to play, since you'll be getting surges more often.
So after killing like 8 bats with a fireball........uh...I'm not sure if I should explain this next part. It may be too vulgar and disgusting.
The saves for spells are always (stating this as a fact because i don't know any exceptions):
8 + proficoency of the caster + spellcasting modifier.
"I cast fireball!"
"You're OUT of 3rd level spell slots, you can't cast fireball AGAIN."
"..."
"..."
"I HAVE A FOURTH LEVEL SLOT!"
-xp to level 3
I know this an old one but Rai according to sage advice the player has no control over what is summoned by the spell only which lvl group so depending on the dm it could be pretty useful or useless.
The summoned creatures are determined by the DM not player so could be good but also could be a complete waste.
FOR THE GREAT FIREBALL!!!!
yeet
lol
conetration splell
Multiple things. For one Conjure Animals is a concentration spell, if it's broken it's not nearly as valuable. Then, 8 wolves is one of the most powerful ways to use conjure animals, and is one of the reasons most DMs don't let the players choose which animals appear. Also, a fireball is STILL way more effective in many cases than conjure. It's big strong AoE, so it's effectiveness goes up the more badly you need it. It's incredibly effective at something that no other spell at its level is really good at, while conjure animals only really adds more of what a party can already do. When you're deciding to pit your players against a swarm or horde, you always have to set the difficulty based on whether or not people know fireball (unless they're fire resistant or immune, or have counterspell) because it's common for a fight that would be really hard without fireball to be too easy with it. This also means that a fireballer can be forced to rely heavily on fireball just because it's by far the most effective tool they have in certain situations.
Oh, and finally, what would happen to your eight wolves if they got fireballed? It'd even be worth eating the friendly fire, because not doing it just means you'll get chewed on some more.
I say this to people who say fireballs friendly fire potential balances out it's raw power.
1) Long range, it's not that hard to place it to catch a few enemies safely, you can even toss it in the air to affect a smaller area on the ground.
2) If you can't find a good spot for it, AoE damage probably isn't what you need right now anyway.
3) If you just catch 2 or 3 enemies with it, it's raw damage is enough to make it still better than alternatives.
4) It may have circumstances where it's not ideal, but the ceiling for how effective it can be when it is in ideal circumstances (lots of enemies at some distance), is ridiculously high. 5) And lets be real, its not that rare of a circumstance, artillery solves lots of problems. Boat on boat action? Clearing a roadblock ambush? Archers on a wall? Boom. Surrounded by bandits? Blow open a hole, run through it, then when they group up while chasing you, blam the lot of em.
In summary, it's radius makes it unwieldly, but it's still far more of a plus than a minus and it remains a flexible spell. Oooh, this spell is *too* dangerous to be good? ummmmm. Isn't that the point?
Sorry for multiple comments, coming at things from multiple angles.
Here's some suggestions for if you as a DM want to nerf fireball.
1) Decrease its base radius, have the radius scale by level. For example start it at 10 ft radius at level 3, then 15 at 4 and back to 20 at 5. It scales with level more, this makes it feel balanced at level 3 while still giving it the same max potential, you just get level 3 mini nukes instead of level 3 nukes. It also makes those BIG fireballs actually feel like a power move at mid-late levels. "At 5th level? OOOOOH S***!"
2) 2 damage zones. Creatures within 20 ft take 5d6 damage, creatures also within 10 ft take additional 3d6 damage. Less severe than the first option at low spell levels, but also a smidge more complicated, having to figure out two different radii and who's in which zone, slightly more math steps.
3) Just lower the damage to.... 6d6? Feels a bit more like a fire puff than a searing ball of death but it's still good at what it's supposed to be good at, and now you have more reason to upcast it if you want your REAL oomph back. I personally prefer method 1, but the large radius is what sets fireball apart from level 2 spells, so this has its benefits as well.
4) Decrease base radius, give the option to trade damage for radius. 8d6 10 radius, 6d6 with 15, 4d6 with 20. This is the most severe nerf to the big blast fireballs, because even if you upcast, the 20 radius blasts will be weaker, but while it loses raw power, it has tactical flexibility, being able to function as single target or horde breaking.
And for reference, 4) is the most severe nerf, 2) and 3) slightly less of a nerf, and 1) starts off as a strong nerf at 3 climbing up to no nerf at all at 5+. If I feel like it I'll make homebrew spells of these variant fireballs.