I haven't been to these boards for a while but I'm shocked at the lack of discussion! I used to visit quite often and enjoyed reading the posts even though I didn't participate in many. Maybe this will get some people talking for a bit.
Lately my group has been discussing the fireball spell. According to the spell description it fills 33 10x10x10 cubes (or a 20' radius sphere), which roughly translates to 33 squares on a map when the scale is 10' per square, or 132 squares when the scale is 5' per square. In the last dungeon or two, we've been on the 5' scale which makes casting a fireball a really bad idea because a typical room is maybe 15'x20' (about 3500 cubic feet if my math is right).
So what I'm wondering is if anyone has scaled back the size of fireballs to make them practical in a dungeon setting or do most people reserve them for large rooms and outdoors?
Fireball spell
Moderators: Thorn Blackstone, Halaster Blackcloak
That is precisely the reason why Lightning Bolt is the preferred spell underground, you have to be pretty high level to be able to throw a Fireball and not get caught in your own spell! Lightning Bolt has it's own risks, but it's easier to get around than Fireball is.
Mira (Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity)
Mira (Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity)
I haven't changed the Fireball spell. Fireballs are what they are, and they expand to the dimensions they expand to every time. I could see a smaller scale spell being developed, however. A Firebolt or similar spell, if one hasn't already been written up in the Spell Compendiums.
Tired of clone MMOs? So are we!
http://trialsofascension.com/
http://trialsofascension.com/
Thanks for the replies! I think our problems are stemming more from our (mis)remembered youth where we would blast off fireballs at will and they would only hit the enemies, even in a 5x5 room. For most of us this is our first serious foray back into D&D after many years so we're re-learning a lot of things.
Just to expand a little more, back in May I put together a group of strangers using a meetup website here in Edmonton, and it's been so successful that we'll have our 30th session on Friday. We meet twice a week most weeks and have managed to draw in a few people who had never tried 2nd edition or who had "moved on" to 3.5 and 4. Currently there are six players and me, the DM. The PCs are in the level 7-9 range and the players are thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Just to expand a little more, back in May I put together a group of strangers using a meetup website here in Edmonton, and it's been so successful that we'll have our 30th session on Friday. We meet twice a week most weeks and have managed to draw in a few people who had never tried 2nd edition or who had "moved on" to 3.5 and 4. Currently there are six players and me, the DM. The PCs are in the level 7-9 range and the players are thoroughly enjoying themselves.
I've putzed around with fireball in my time. I had basically two answers to the "blowing up the entire dungeon" side-effect, both involving changes to the spell as written:
1) Instead of a sphere, it only explodes in a hemisphere. (This is my preferred way to imagine a fireball anyway! Only half a globe of flames, not a full globe. If it were a full globe, only the ground in the centre would be scorched; the ground out by the edges would be up to 20 feet below the actual flames.) As a hemisphere, its volume is half that described in the PH. If this version is cast in mid-air, it does form a sphere, but with a volume only half that of a 40-foot-diameter sphere, that makes its recalculated diameter only 31.75 feet (31 feet 9 inches) -- but what the heck, let's just call it an even 30 feet!
2) It only fills the area of the spell effect, and doesn't expand as an explosion. (This is the way they chose for it to work in 3rd edition.) This reduces any need to think about such physics problems as the effects of pressure, concussion, ear damage, etc.
I've used both versions, even in the same campaign.
1) Instead of a sphere, it only explodes in a hemisphere. (This is my preferred way to imagine a fireball anyway! Only half a globe of flames, not a full globe. If it were a full globe, only the ground in the centre would be scorched; the ground out by the edges would be up to 20 feet below the actual flames.) As a hemisphere, its volume is half that described in the PH. If this version is cast in mid-air, it does form a sphere, but with a volume only half that of a 40-foot-diameter sphere, that makes its recalculated diameter only 31.75 feet (31 feet 9 inches) -- but what the heck, let's just call it an even 30 feet!
2) It only fills the area of the spell effect, and doesn't expand as an explosion. (This is the way they chose for it to work in 3rd edition.) This reduces any need to think about such physics problems as the effects of pressure, concussion, ear damage, etc.
I've used both versions, even in the same campaign.