D&D 5E Can a fireball melt ice?

[Leatherhead]

The idea that it ALWAYS melts ice is broken, because then you open the door for Fireball to "sculpt" the environment in other, possibly unintended, ways: "if it can melt ice it must be able to burn away wood; we should easily be able to burn ourselves through that wooden castle gate"

I don't know about the rest of everyone, but that's kind of the reason I play D&D instead of just a video game: lateral problem solving.

 

[pemerton]

Sorry but your poll is way WAY too inflexible.

You need to have at least a third option "it depends" or "sometimes".

The verb used is can, not does.

So if you think the answer is "sometimes", then you think that a fireball can melt ice. (Which is not to say that it always melts all ice everywhere.)

 

[CapnZapp]

You know, if you meant your poll to have the options "never" and "sometimes" those two words would have been much more clear than yes/no

 

[thalmin]

Too binary.

If the ice is like an iced-over lake or an ice wall, the effect wouldn't be more than the effect of the Zamboni at a hockey game.
It would probably temporarily remove the frost from the mug of beer in your hand (and maybe also reduce "head").
If the ice was formed into a thin sheet like a small window pane, maybe the pane would shatter or fall out.
If the ice was formed into a delicate champagne glass, the "glass" would probably be destroyed (though just pouring the champagne into the glass would probably destroy it as well).
A light dusting of snow too light to measure would evaporate.
A loose ice cube in the table would probably have a little puddle around it.
Whatever I as DM decide.

 

[Unwise]

I've used a blowtorch on a solid block of dry ice before. In the short term, ice just shrugs if off to a surprising degree. I have also made a camp fire on a frozen lake while fishing (beer make me think good) and it took a surprisingly long time to become a deathtrap of idiocy. So no, a flash fire won't do much to ice.

On the other hand, if this is another of those "is gravity house rule" or whatever threads, then meh, I don't care.

 

[thalmin]

And for the start of the next overly long and unnecessary argument, fireball also creates a flash of not-too-bright light. ​In my campaign.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

I am less concerned with melting and more concerned with the explosion shattering my ice glass and spilling my iced chai latte. If I saw the magic user casting, I would grab the glass and hope that the DM ruled a certain way regarding unattended vs attended items. What? I like my iced chai latte.

 

[Oofta]

I say it would not melt a significant amount of ice. A fireball is only in existence for a moment which will vaporize the top layer of the ice providing temporary insulation.

Ice, in general, takes quite a while to melt to any significant degree. Maybe this would be a good question for Mythbusters ... oh wait ...

 

[Plaguescarred]

I'd say a fireball can melt ice, but being a very brief yet intense heat source, the quantity of ice that could melt would have to be small/thin.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Ugh. Are you honestly interested in how people rule, or are you just trying to nitpick on the RAW spell description by trying to argue that only creatures and flammable objects are affected?

A Fireball is certainly capable of damaging a Wall of Ice for example. I would rule that this is due to the heat melting it rather than the force of the fireball smashing it. So yes. A Fireball can melt ice.