Oh no! Fireball in a 10ft. hallway!

[Krelios]

Nevermind...

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

If a fireball is cast in a hallway that is smaller than the spell's radius, do the flames shoot down the hallway, or does the radius stay the same, with the walls taking damage?

The radius "stays the same". You need to read the PH chapter on Magic again (assuming you actually read it the first time). Particularly the sections describing spell targets, effects, areas, and line of effect. [pp. 175-176 in the 3.5 PH.] You probably ought to also re-read the spell itself which fairly clearly notes that the effect does not expand beyond its stated area of effect, though if it can burn through confining barriers it will do so and expand UP TO that area limit. But the area limit is still just 20' radius.

That also brought our group to another question: how is the magical fire of a fireball spell different from normal fire? Does it consume air as fuel, creating gusts of wind? How is it possible for a rogue to evade the middle of a large explosion with a successful reflex save?

it is different in the points of damage it does but is not described as having any different effects. Being fire it does logically consume fuel but the rules simply don't go into the deeper physics of how much solid fuel or oxygen is consumed and thus how much wind is created with an initial "blast" or the subsequent rush to fill the created void. Generally fiery spell effects aren't going to be massive enough anyway to need to think about associated air movement and doing so is mostly just complication that the game flows much better without. Damage to the environment within the area of effect is otherwise in the rules and easy to determine. It is possible for a rogue to "evade the middle" of an explosion with a reflex save just as it is possible to save versus many area-effect spells. If spell stats state otherwise then it's implying otherwise, but at least as far as magic is concerned it's less important to know WHY spell effects can be at least partially saved against than to simply know that they CAN be saved against. If you need an explanation, well then the clear, unspoken, default assumption is that the effects ARE at least partially avoidable if a character can move so apparantly a "fireball" is not a solid ball of fire

Our group is divided not only on whether the properties of magical and real fire are different, but also on what those specific properties are. Thanks in advance!

I'm sort of guessing that you may be holding over notions from 1E/2E, which for example gave items different saving throws for normal versus magical fire and specifically stated that magical fire was greatly higher in temperature. That might have been alright were it not for the fact that it leads to confusion, creates needless complication, and leads to questions like yours. 3E draws no special distinction based on origins. Fire is fire and has the same effects unless it's stated otherwise, generally that it does more/less damage and how the effects can be saved against.

 

[Delemental]

I look at the cover illustration of Heroes of Battle for an image of what a fireball looks like (sorry, don't have a link to that piece, so for most this won't be a very helpful post). The fireball in the picture isn't a solid block of fire; it's a globe shape filled with streaks and bursts of fire. I could easily see how a rogue or monk could avoid the damage by simply avoiding the flames.

 

[tennyson]

The fireball in the picture isn't a solid block of fire; it's a globe shape filled with streaks and bursts of fire. I could easily see how a rogue or monk could avoid the damage by simply avoiding the flames.

That's what I had thought a fireball spell was like, although I couldn't remember where i had heard that. Thanks for confirming it.

 

[Delemental]

That's what I had thought a fireball spell was like, although I couldn't remember where i had heard that. Thanks for confirming it.

Well, I wouldn't go so far as 'confirmed' - it's cover art, and the term 'creative license' comes to mind. Nevertheless, I think the imagery presented is good enough to help visualize the spell's effect (and how one might avoid them).

 

[Octal40]

And yes, the walls do take damage. Odds are not much, since the most a fireball can do is 10d6 (10-60, average 35), masonry walls have hardness 8, 90 HP, and fire damage is halved to objects. At most, you are looking at 22 points of damage to the wall, enough to blast through about two inches of material. Doors, on the other hand, have 5 hardness and 10-20 hp, meaning on average you could blow through most wooden doors, with the fireball area expanding to fill the space previously blocked by the door.

Speaking of, does this also apply to items worn/held by people caught in the area of effect? If they take damage, do you start applying damage to all of their equipment?

I've never played in a game where we did this. I'm just wondering if others do.

 

[kenobi65]

Speaking of, does this also apply to items worn/held by people caught in the area of effect? If they take damage, do you start applying damage to all of their equipment?

I've never played in a game where we did this. I'm just wondering if others do.

In 3E, held / carried equipment only starts taking damage from something like that if the character rolls a natural 1 on his saving throw. Check the rules entitled "Items Surviving After a Saving Throw" (I believe it's in the "Magic" chapter of the PHB) for details of how to resolve it.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Nope; items that people are carrying only take damage on a roll of 1 on the save, and even then not every item will take damage.

If, however, the character carrying them were to die and *then* get hit by a fireball, the items would take damage normally.

 

[kenobi65]

Nope; items that people are carrying only take damage on a roll of 1 on the save, and even then not every item will take damage.

Yup...essentially, one item will take damage. There's a chart that ranks "exposed" items in order of how likely they are to get affected (#1 is shield, #2 is armor, etc.); the DM figures out which of up to 4 possible items could get affected, then rolls randomly to see which one does.

 

[jgsugden]

STOP THINKING!

Magic doesn't make sense. If you try to apply logic, it'll bite you in the butt.

Why does a a creature take the same damage from a fireball, regarless of how much of it is exposed to the spell? Who does the elder titan take the same damage when the fireball hits it in the face or hits it in the toe?

Follow the rules. When people ask why it works that way, spell out the word magic for them and leave it at that.

As for how it works under the rules: Fireballs areapreads. They will never extend beyond their stated radius (20' for a normal fireball), regardless of containment, but they will spread around the edges of walls. Thus, a creature with total cover from the source of the fireball may still be hit by it if they are close enough to the center of the effect.

The spell normally damages all creatures and unattended objects within the spell. As fire does half damage against objects, a 10d6 fireball (average 35 damage) will usually have trouble destroying anything but a thin wall ... wood has hardness 5 and 10 hp/inch and stone has 8 hp and 15 hp/inch. A strong fireball can take out a wall that is about 1 inch thick. In today's world of drywall and thin glass, partitions, a fireball would do some damage. In the fictional days's of thick stone walls, stacked log walls, thick clay walls, etc ... the fireball will do little damage. However, do note that some things that might hold a wall together, such as rope holding the log walls of a fort together, may be easily destroyed by a bruning hands or fireball spell.