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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 9445551" data-attributes="member: 7635">The text of fireball says &quot;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.&quot; That sentence does not say what the effects of that are in the game. Imagine if the text stopped there. How much damage would fireball do? Maybe it would be up to the DM to determine the conditions (it does less damage in a damn or humid environment, more in a dry or arid. Maybe it depends on the amount of flammable material around, with reduced damage in snow and increased damage in a forest). Should the base damage be 3d6, 8d6, or 20d6? Would you be ok if the DM determined how much damage it did? And what if there was no guidance on what is appropriate damage for a 3rd level spell? That's my problem with Command. Sometimes you get an effect no better than Prestidigitation and other times it's a Dominate Monster. That's way too much variance for a level 1 spell. And believe me, the effects people are championing are the ones that should be reserved for higher level spells. Which is why, if we're not going to have a comprehensive list of commands, we need a very clear list of what kinds of effects it can produce, both to give a player what to expect and to give a DM tools to adjudicate it. Because I would hate to hear &quot;well, you're standing in a pile of dead leaves, so you take 20d6 fire damage. Save for half.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 9445551, member: 7635"] The text of fireball says "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." That sentence does not say what the effects of that are in the game. Imagine if the text stopped there. How much damage would fireball do? Maybe it would be up to the DM to determine the conditions (it does less damage in a damn or humid environment, more in a dry or arid. Maybe it depends on the amount of flammable material around, with reduced damage in snow and increased damage in a forest). Should the base damage be 3d6, 8d6, or 20d6? Would you be ok if the DM determined how much damage it did? And what if there was no guidance on what is appropriate damage for a 3rd level spell? That's my problem with Command. Sometimes you get an effect no better than Prestidigitation and other times it's a Dominate Monster. That's way too much variance for a level 1 spell. And believe me, the effects people are championing are the ones that should be reserved for higher level spells. Which is why, if we're not going to have a comprehensive list of commands, we need a very clear list of what kinds of effects it can produce, both to give a player what to expect and to give a DM tools to adjudicate it. Because I would hate to hear "well, you're standing in a pile of dead leaves, so you take 20d6 fire damage. Save for half." [/QUOTE]

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