D&D 5E Lightning Bolt should be better.

[Ralif Redhammer]

One thing that should be mentioned is that when lightning bolt and fireball were first created, dungeons were the main adventuring environment. If you got into a fight in a corridor or bottlenecked at a door, lightning bolt was going to be very, very useful. With dungeons being less prominent now, you get more scattershot groupings of foes, thus making fireball more useful.

Edited to Add: In 1e, interestingly both risk damaging treasure and will set things on fire. And both run the risk of backfiring - a lightning bolt that doesn't reach its full distance rebounds towards the caster, whereas a fireball fills an area by volume.

If your DM likes dungeons with long corridors and lots of low level monsters as opposed to big rooms and a couple beefy monsters, you'll have different experiences.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

In my games I always rule that line spells are 10 ft wide and only 3/4 their normal length. Much easier to hit 2-3 targets.

RE Witch Bolt: add a Grapple condition to the target, escapable with a Athletic or Acrobatic check against the spell's DC. And increase both damage instances when upcasted.

 

[Dausuul]

Perhaps a variant, more like Chain Lightning (Arc Lightning?)? Start at the caster, select a target in range. From that target, select another target until the chain is 120 feet long - so the bolt can zigzag around the battlefield, hitting targets - but it’s only one bolt. Can’t hit the same target more than once.

That would be a little too good IMO. At that point it is basically fireball with a better damage type and zero risk of hitting your allies.

I think "allow reduced length for double width" is the simplest solution, and strikes a good balance between precision and raw blasting power.

 

[houser2112]

And both run the risk of backfiring - a lightning bolt that doesn't reach its full distance rebounds towards the caster, whereas a fireball fills an area by volume.

Not in 5E, they don't (which is what the thread is tagged with). Not these spells in particular, nor lines and spheres in general.

 

[billd91]

Being a line makes it a heck of a lot more practical then the celebrated fireball. There are so many more situations you can use it to hit opponents and miss allies then a radius spell. Radius effects like fireball are often completely impractical to use without hitting allies as well.

You have this one 180 degrees backwards. It sounds like you are arguing something different than practicality.

That may have been more true in AD&D than in editions since 3e. When fireballs stopped being measured by volume and stopped filling up that volume, they became a lot easier to lob safely and effectively. I think it may edge lightning bolt on this now, particular now that lightning bolts start at the caster (which pretty much also started with 3e) rather than at range as it did in AD&D.

 

[jgsugden]

Two points will make up a line. You can always get at least two foes...

1. Solo encounters.
2. Monsters filling alcoves that are opposite each other.
3. The party is between the monsters. Here, you can get them, but there is a cost that exceeds the benefit.
4. The monsters are airborne (and you are not) and are not in a line to the ground.
5. The monsters are spaced by more than 100 feet.
6. The line you need to get two of them requires you to move more than your speed to set up.
7. I can go on.

The utility of each of these spells is HIGHLY dependent upon DM style and encounter design.

 

[Voadam]

Your group's fighter and barbarian are fighting a guy on the battlefield. 80 feet away, and in the air, a Dragon is closing in.

Using Lightning Bolt, you can stand right next to the guy on the battlefield and draw a line to the flying dragon without hitting any of your party members. A Fireball can hit either that one dude or the dragon.

If you can line up without hitting the squares of either of your two allies engaged with the guy, and there is not too steep of an angle to make the you to guy to dragon line, and neither of your two allies are in the specific one square you need to be in to make it work, sure.

I think corridors are a more common situation.

Here's another one: You're on a battlefield scenario. There's a messload of orcs and goblins and allies all kind of in a big checkerboard scrum on the field of battle. You could use your fireball on the edge of battle and get maybe 2-3 goblins or orcs without hitting your allies.

Or you could do a nice line through the middle of the scrum, picking the line that avoids hitting your allies, and hit 5-12 dudes based on the specific layout of the battle.

I can't picture that lightning bolt scenario at all. If there are only 2-3 on the edge of the battle I can't imagine having that many in the checkerboard lined up in a way that I can get that many and not my allies.

In my experience it is really tough to maneuver so that you don't get your allies and you get more than 2-3 bad guys in a line.

Or spider-climb up the wall to stand on the ceiling in the square above your fighter's square and lightning bolt down the hallway in front of the fighter.

Yeah, Flying up high you can get past your front line without hitting them, but then the angle reduces how many squares you can hit before your straight line hits the ground and ends like it is hitting a wall.

 

[Flamestrike]

When you dont want to kill the meat shield and glass cannon in the front lines, lightning bolt is quite useful.

 

[Steampunkette]

If you can line up without hitting the squares of either of your two allies engaged with the guy, and there is not too steep of an angle to make the you to guy to dragon line, and neither of your two allies are in the specific one square you need to be in to make it work, sure.

I think corridors are a more common situation.


I can't picture that lightning bolt scenario at all. If there are only 2-3 on the edge of the battle I can't imagine having that many in the checkerboard lined up in a way that I can get that many and not my allies.

In my experience it is really tough to maneuver so that you don't get your allies and you get more than 2-3 bad guys in a line.

Yeah, Flying up high you can get past your front line without hitting them, but then the angle reduces how many squares you can hit before your straight line hits the ground and ends like it is hitting a wall.

OH! OH! Move into your ally's square, falling prone, then cast lightning bolt from the square you're in!

Epic knee-slide into lightning bolt!

 

[Stormonu]

That would be a little too good IMO. At that point it is basically fireball with a better damage type and zero risk of hitting your allies.

I think "allow reduced length for double width" is the simplest solution, and strikes a good balance between precision and raw blasting power.

For the most part that is true with the zigzag, but there will be times friendlies will be in the way between targets, so either you have to be willing to zap a friend or end the bolt prematurely. I could see it being argued that a Arc Lightning spell might be 4th level, though.