Deep Dive - Fireball Spell

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Do you know what’s a blast? That first time you get to launch that orb of angry fire at a horde of kobolds and laugh maniacally at the face your GM makes when he informs you that they are all dead.

The Fireball is one of the most incredible spells ever crafted to ensure people would have a bad day on the Material Plane. But just how did it get its start? And how has it changed through the many editions of D&D? In AD&D, the Fireball is a 3rd level spell that can pack a massive punch at later levels. . . not so much when you first get it, though, plus you never wanted to cast it when there was a treasure to be found. 

The history of the Fireball in tabletop gaming reaches back to 1970 when the first incarnation can be found in a war game created by Leonard Patt (a good, albeit quick, background on Patt’s Fireball can be found here). We aren’t going to get into the debate about how Gygax stole the Fireball and many, many other things from Patt’s game. We believe tabletop gaming was, and still is, like Linux. People were provided with a base operating system, used what they needed, and created what they wanted, and it just kept growing and improving.

With the advent of D&D and its complex set of rules, the Fireball was “born” within the context of gameplay. Magic-Users were typically fragile early-level characters in OD&D (A d4 hit points per level will do that to you). Mostly seen as a support class, magic users stood in the back and had some basic buff spells and spells more tailored to roleplaying outside combat. The only attack spell of any consequence was the magic missile (1d6+1). In OD&D, at the 5th level, the magic user starts their transition into an offensive character, beginning with the Fireball.  

Fireball - OD&D

Spell Level 3
Duration 1 turn
Range 24"
Explanation/Description: A missile which springs from the finger of the Magic-User. It explodes with a burst radius of 2". In a confined space, the Fire Ball will generally conform to the shape of the space (elongate or whatever). The damage caused by the missile will be in proportion to the level of its user. A 6th level Magic-User throws a 6-die missile, a 7th a 7-die missile, and so on. (Note that Fire Balls from Scrolls (see Volume II) and Wand are 6-die missiles, and those from Staves are 8-die missiles. Duration: 1 turn. Range: 24" [OD&D Vol-1, p. 25]

At first glance, the range of the Fireball looks ridiculous. 24” would have you casting a fireball that could travel a maximum of 2 feet. Suicide by Fireball seems like a pretty painful way to go. Distance is clarified in the text as 1”, equaling 10 feet indoors and 10 yards outdoors. AOE is always calculated using indoor distance. So we go from what looks like a really small distance to a vast distance. Being able to cast a fireball the length of two football fields when you are outdoors is quite extreme. I don’t see many opportunities to cast a fireball 240 feet indoors, but the wizard can do so if needed. A 20-foot radius has not changed since this original version.

Fireball - 1e

Range: 100 feet+1 foot per level
Duration: Instantaneous
AOE: 20-foot radius sphere
Components: V, M (Sulphur & Guano)
Casting time: 3 segments
Saving Throw: 1/2
Explanation/Description: A fireball is an explosive burst of flame, which detonates with a low roar, and delivers damage proportionate to the level of the magic-user who cast it, i.e., 1 six-sided die (d6) for each level of experience of the spell caster. Exception: Magic fireball wands deliver 6 die fireballs (6d6), magic staves with this capability deliver 8 die fireballs, and scroll spells of this type deliver a fireball of from 5 to 10 dice (d6 + 4) of damage. The burst of the fireball does not expend a considerable amount of pressure. The burst will generally conform to the shape of the area in which it occurs, thus covering an area equal to its normal spherical volume. [The area which is covered by the fireball is a total volume of roughly 33,000 cubic feet (or yards)]. Besides causing damage to creatures, the fireball ignites all combustible materials within its burst radius, and the heat of the fireball will melt soft metals such as gold, copper, silver, etc. Items exposed to the spell's effects must be rolled to determine if they are affected. Items with a creature that makes its saving throw is considered as unaffected. The magic-user points his or her finger and speaks the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A streak flashes from the pointing digit and, unless it impacts upon a material body prior to attaining the prescribed range, flowers into the fireball. If creatures fail their saving throws, they all take full hit point damage from the blast. Those who make saving throws manage to dodge, fall flat, or roll aside, taking ½ the full hit point damage - each and everyone within the blast area. The material component of this spell is a tiny ball composed of bat guano and sulfur. [1E PHB, p. 73]
For clarification purposes, distance is calculated based on indoor ranges.

Now things get exciting. In AD&D, the Fireball is the first “big” damage spell the magic user gets. Before the Fireball, the only spells that cause any decent damage are the magic missile (d4+1 per level, at 5th level the magic-user gets 2 missiles, for possible max damage of 12 hp) and shocking grasp (1d8+1 per level, at 5th level max possible damage of 13 hp). Fireball at the 5th level has a maximum of 20 damage. It is not the biggest jump in damage output at the 3rd level, but with one additional d6 damage per level, it grows in strength pretty quickly.

AD&D fireball came with some severe drawbacks. We get a big “Fuck You” as now all coins and a wide variety of magic items have to make a save or else be destroyed in some fashion, which is a significant headache for not just the players but also the GM. Do you roll one save for all the items? Or is it one save for each type of item in the room, i.e., a save for all coins, a save for potions, a save for scrolls, etc.? And that’s not to mention that I can’t think of anything a player hates more than seeing their treasure destroyed. To make matters even worse, the Fireball now will “generally conform to the shape of the area in which it occurs, thus covering an area equal to its normal spherical volume.” Casting a fireball now became very hazardous to everyone’s health when cast in a dungeon. A fireball cast in a small corridor will cause blowback and probably hit the front-line PCs if they are engaged in battle. If I were the front-line fighter at the 5th level, I would have a maximum of 50 hp. So if one of my own party members hit me for almost 1/2 of my hp, I’d be pretty pissed. Not only do you have the chance of causing some pretty good damage to your party members, but you’ll melt all the coins and burn up all those scrolls you’ve been looking for. To top it all off, there is a lot of math regarding cubic feet and room dimensions, and everyone knows that D&D is better when you add in vast amounts of math. Ok, not really...actually, not at all.

Fireball - 2e

Range: 10 yds + 10 yds/level
Componmts: V, S, M
Duration: instantaneous
Casting Time: 3
Area of Effect: 20-fool radius
Saving Throw: 1/2

A fireball is an explosive burst of flame, which detonates with a low roar and delivers damage proportional to the level of the wizard who cast it - 1d6 points of damage for each level of experience of the spellcaster (up to a maximum of 10d6). The burst of the fireball creates little pressure and generally conforms to the shape of the area in which it occurs. The fireball fills an area equal to its normal spherical volume (roughly 33,000 cubic feet-thirty three 10' x 10' x 10' cubes). Besides causing damage to creatures, the fireball ignites all combustible materials within its burst radius, and the heat of the fireball melts soft metals such as gold, copper, silver, etc. Exposed items require saving throws vs. magical fire to determine if they are affected, but items in the possession of a creature that rolls a successful saving throw are unaffected by the fireball. The wizard points his finger and speaks the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A streak flashes from the pointing digit and, unless it impacts upon a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the prescribed range, blossoms into the fireball (an early impact results in an early detonation). Creatures failing their saving throws each suffers full damage from the blast. Those who roll successful saving throws manage to dodge, fall flat, or roll aside, each receiving half damage (the DM rolls the damage, and each affected creature suffers either full damage or half damage (round down fractions), depending on whether the creature saved or not). The material component of the spell is a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur. (Player’s Handbook 1989, pg. 149)

Not a whole heck of a lot of changes from the 1st edition to the 2nd edition. The spell is nerfed, as the maximum damage output a fireball can now do is 10d6. Sorry, all you 20th-level wizards who are hoping to incinerate everything in their path. Also, the explanation of the blowback wording is removed. This does not mean that a fireball cannot hurt the party as it did previously. It just means that the explanation is covered when it talks about filling the spherical volume area.

Beyond that, which we will admit is substantial, nothing changes.

Fireball - 3e

Evocation [Fire]
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex half
Spell Resistance: Yes
A fireball spell is a burst of flame that detonates with a low roar and deals 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 10d6) to all creatures within the area. Unattended objects also take this damage. The explosion creates almost no pressure. 
The character determines the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A glowing, pea-sized bead streaks from the character and, unless it impacts upon a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the prescribed range, blossoms into the fireball at that point (an early impact results in an early detonation). If the character attempts to send the bead through a narrow passage, such as through an arrow slit, the character must "hit" the opening with a ranged touch attack, or else the bead strikes the barrier and detonates prematurely.
The fireball sets fire to combustibles and damages objects in the area. It can melt metals with a low melting point, such as lead, gold, copper, silver, or bronze. If the damage caused to an interposing barrier shatters or breaks through it, the fireball may continue beyond the barrier if the area permits; otherwise, it stops at the barrier just as any other spell effect does. [3E SRD]

3rd Edition fireball finds itself a great way of dishing out some damage, with the same "Fuck You" trap in the earlier edition with low melting point metals melting away. At this point, we're confident the game creators don't like fun. Especially when you realize that this casting of the spell caps out at 10d6 as it did in the previous edition

Range scaling stays the same - 100'+10'/level underground, multiplying that by a factor of 4. While we assumed this would get nerfed, the Fireball kept its massive range of the spell. There is also clarification on what happens if there's a chance the Fireball would hit something on the way to its intended target. A ranged touch attack must now be made. Definitions from the 3e PHB are as follows.

Ranged touch attack: A touch attack made at range, as opposed to a melee touch attack. See touch attack.
Touch attack: An attack in which the attacker must connect with an opponent but does not need to penetrate armor. Touch attacks may be either melee or ranged. The target’s armor bonus, shield bonus, and natural armor bonus (including any enhancement bonuses to those values) do not apply to AC against a touch attack.

How one would determine the AC of an arrow slit, I’m not quite sure.  The spell specifically states that the player must “hit the opening,” not the intended target behind the arrow slit. So, the GM will need to figure out what the AC is of the arrow slit (have fun with that, Stephen), and on a successful attack roll, the player’s fireball would pass through the slit and hit that poor kobold.

Now let’s say that kobold is standing in a small 10X10 room.  Does that mean the effects of the fireball will shoot out of the arrow slit?  It sure will, curling out the arrow slit along the wall and into the room for an additional 10 feet in all directions.  So once again, we hope no one is standing too close to the arrow slit. 

Fireball - 4e

Wizard Attack 5
A globe of orange flame coalesces in your hand. You hurl it at your enemies, and it explodes on impact. Daily ✦ Arcane, Fire, Implement
Standard Action
Area burst 3 within 20 squares
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 3d6 + Intelligence modifier fire damage.
Miss: Half damage.

Whew… That's a lot of new words and not much to go off of. We are going to start right below the brief description with Daily. In this edition of D&D, there are spells you can cast once per day, Fireball being one of those. That's pretty easy. Now, let's jump into something a little more complex, like Burst! 

Sidebar: 4e is a different style of D&D that many people talk down on; We're not one of those people. 4e has a unique style that really lets players feel like super bad-ass heroes and one of the ways it does that is by describing everything as if you are on a battle mat with a 1" square grid. 

Burst is a new mechanic in D&D, but it's actually not. All Burst means is that when the spell goes off, the point of origin square plus the surrounding squares on all sides of the origin square will be affected. This is up to a certain number (like 3). Following Burst is "within 20 squares," which tells you how far away you can cast the spell away from you. So when a spell says: Burst 3 within 20; the spell's area of effect is 7 squares(35') by 7 squares, and you can cast it up to 100' away from you. 

The rest of the fireball descriptor is self-explanatory, and there isn't much left to discuss except for that damage. And boy, that 3d6 + Int. modifier is lacking when it comes to damage, especially for a daily spell. At least they didn't rub salt in the wound and make all that gold melt away.

Fireball - 5e

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 150 feet
Components: V S M (A tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard
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 to 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.

There's lots of talk about the Fireball in 5e on the web. One of the best articles on the Fireball can be found at D & D Beyond. Yes, the Fireball is overpowered, but it is done so on purpose. It is the most iconic spell in D&D and has always been overpowered in some fashion, either in damage or distance. But that's what makes the Fireball.

We won't begrudge the wizard the Fireball and its massive damage. The poor wizard has been hiding in the background until this point, buffing the other heroes and casting their magic missiles. Now, at the 5th level, they have this spell that can immediately turn the tide of the battle. 

It should also be noted that it specifically stated that all flammable objects lying around would burn. So let's hope those spell scrolls aren't in plain sight, or the wizard just screwed himself over.

So the Fireball has been around forever and has always been and shall always be a potent spell. That's how it should be. Enjoy it, embrace it, and tweak it as you see fit. Finally, make sure the wizard has somewhere safe to put all that bat shit they have to carry around.