Fire

A great number of spells employ fire as a weapon. Fires create smoke, foul contained atmospheres, and may spread to nearby flammables.

Visibility: Flames don’t produce smoke—burning objects or creatures do. A fireball thrown in an unfurnished room of bare stone against a creature that won’t burn well (say, an ice elemental) will leave very little in the way of heavy smoke. On the other hand, a fireball thrown in a sod house or a wooden building cluttered with greasy old furs and shoddy furniture will create a number of smoky residual fires and quickly cloud up the surroundings. Generally, a fire spell creates a cloud of smoke in its area of effect that persists for 2d4 rounds. This obscures vision, forcing all characters and monsters to suffer a –2 penalty on missile attacks through the smoke. The stink of burning objects may also hinder creatures that rely on scent to detect their enemies.

Environmental Effects: Fire spells naturally cause fires. See Item Saving Throws on page 58 of the DMG . In addition to the affected characters, the DM can roll an item saving throw for the surrounding area; for example, if a stone room is furnished with tapestries and wooden benches, the DM can use the row for cloth and thin wood.

If an item (or a victim’s clothing, for example!) fails its saving throw, it may be on fire. People who catch fire suffer 1d4 points of damage in the following round and an additional die of damage in each subsequent round—for example 2d4 in the second round, 3d4 in the third round, and so on—until they extinguish the flames. The victim must pass a saving throw vs. death magic in order to extinguish the flames and may gain a +2 to +8 bonus (DM’s discretion) if he uses a sensible method for doing so.

Large fires in confined areas (for example, dungeon rooms) can be especially dangerous since they deplete the oxygen in the air, making it unfit for breathing. If a fire fills more than 50% of an enclosed room or space, it fouls the air. Air-breathing creatures inside the room are affected as if the entire chamber had been targeted with a stinking cloud spell. After 1d6 rounds of ventilation (or 1d6 hours in an unventilated area), the atmosphere returns to normal.

One more thing about big fires: they make things hot. Imagine a character’s surprise when he goes to open the castle gates just after the wizard’s fireball goes off! In fact, the DM may rule that metal and stone objects retain enough heat to be affected as if they were struck with a heat metal spell, although under most circumstances they will only be heated to the minimal damage level of the spell.

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