D&D 5E Burning doors with firebolt

[FormerlyHemlock]

How about Eldritch Blast as a door-opening method?

Technically, Eldritch Blast can only target creatures, so if Eldritch Blast works on a door that's proof that the mimic conspiracy is real!

(Or maybe you just have a reasonable DM who isn't a slave to the "toward a creature" clause in Eldritch Blast. Or you have a player who is such a munchkiny rules lawyer that he has managed to persuade the DM that the spell can target and damage anything, as long as there is a creature in that general direction for the beam of crackling energy to streak "toward" on its way to the target.)

 

[TallIan]

Agree with what others have said about practibility.

Who said doors are flammable? Just because it's made of wood doesn't mean it's immediately flammable, especially from any old piss-mote of flame and a paltry 1d10. Without kindling, or an already roaring campfire, that solid door is not going to burn.

I would agree with this, a sudden flash of fire isn't going to ignite a wooden door - or any solid lump of wood like a chest, ship, town gate. If wood was that flammable it would not have been used, because any fire in the house would be far too dangerous. It does take a sustained source of heat to get a proper log fire going

Also keep in mind that wood thick enough to make a door worth while is going to take hours to burn completely to ash. I would say, as least an hour to even be significantly weakened.

If my party were spending that much time to get through each door I'd have all the monsters waiting for them on the other side - or have the treasure already moved to somewhere else.

In short I think that you are being too generous with the meaning of flammable.

 

[Leatherhead]

Technically, Eldritch Blast can only target creatures, so if Eldritch Blast works on a door that's proof that the mimic conspiracy is real!

(Or maybe you just have a reasonable DM who isn't a slave to the "toward a creature" clause in Eldritch Blast. Or you have a player who is such a munchkiny rules lawyer that he has managed to persuade the DM that the spell can target and damage anything, as long as there is a creature in that general direction for the beam of crackling energy to streak "toward" on its way to the target.)

Honestly, I tend to keep the "creatures only" restriction on Eldritch Blast, if only so that Warlocks are forced to use something else every once in a while.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Okay, we've covered downsides of fire, from spell or oil or otherwise.

How about Eldritch Blast as a door-opening method?

I'd say no problem. There are LOTS of excellent fantasy stories in whicj the problem of opening doors is not a significant element. Beowulf vs. the Door, Merlin vs. the Door... it's a D&D trope but not a *necessary* trope.

Assuming that there was some other Eldritch-Blast-like that could target objects, it's still just a thin beam. As such, it is going to poke holes in the door rather than blasting the door to pieces. Admittedly, enough such holes will bring the door down, but anything nearby (and especially, on the other side of the door) will have been long been made aware of your presence.

While Mage Hand can open an unlocked door, cantrips aren't designed for bypassing secured doors. There's already a spell intended for that purpose called Knock. As I see it, using a cantrip is akin to using a hammer and chisel. Barring something truly unexpected (a heavy metal plate in the center of the door) it will eventually work but it is noisy and slow, which is not a good combination in a dungeon. You're far better off trying to pick the lock or kick it down.

 

[schnee]

Yeah, an axe blade is a kind of force attack.

A wood door takes a HELL of a lot of axe blade blows to become unstable enough to break down.

A person takes one well-placed chop.

 

[Ganymede81]

I'm going to lump "Trying to burn down a dungeon door with Firebolt" together with "trying to cut a rope with a hammer."

 

[Soul Stigma]

RAW can a fire bolt take down a door. Sure, although as noted the DM sets the stats for the door.

Game balance wise is it a problem? Nope. The ability to open a door is unremarkable.

Realism wise is it a problem? No, not really. A Firebolt can kill a healthy man in a few seconds. It takes a serious amount of fire to kill someone quickly. Thinking about it that way a firebolt spell is probably more akin to a weak SF plasma gun than a zippo lighter. (It does the same damage as a flintlock pistol. Would you rather have someone throw a lit zippo at you or shoot you with a blackpower pistol?) That said I expect killing a 1st level character with one is more along the lines of "He got burnt and dropped dead of shock." than it is "A pair of blinking eyes in a pile of ash." So yeah, rambling aside I have no problem with using a firebolt cantrip to burn down a door, but it wouldn't be quick, or clean, or quiet so I'm not sure why you would.

Wow, lots of latching to the Zippo remark, lol. Let me put it another way. Working in industrial combustion for over 20 years (including solid fuel applications), let me give a better example: I could ignite a 2MMBtu burner (with combustion air fan) for one second (longer than a flame bolt would make contact) direct-fired at a wooden door and it would be scorched. It would not be independently on fire as a result.

Now, this is a fantasy game, so who cares how many BTUs a mote of flame has compared to a fireball or even a common torch? The point was that it's an extremely impractical solution that would take more effort and time than simply bashing the thing in or picking a lock, activities that other characters in the party can perform perfectly well and can share the spotlight for. Hope that clears things up.


Edit: also for the sake of argument, the same burner pointed instead at a human would have catastrophic results, so comparing doors to people is ridiculous.

Sent from my iPhone using EN World mobile app

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Assuming that there was some other Eldritch-Blast-like that could target objects, it's still just a thin beam. As such, it is going to poke holes in the door rather than blasting the door to pieces.

Target the hinges.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Target the hinges.

The hinges are likely made of metal (even more resilient than the wood of the door). You could poke holes around where the hinges attach to the door (or around the lock), but it's going to take many shots even if your aim is true. That's why I compared it to a hammer and chisel approach farther down. It will work. Eventually.

 

[The Human Target]

I mean, Firebolt does say that it ignites flammable objects that aren't worn or carried.

I think people are glossing over that part.

It's still a goofy idea most of the time, but I get why the confusion occurred.