Fireball is a anti-climatic spell ?

[praetorian]

Fireball is the most over rated spell ever. Why? because if you read it, it is a seed of fire the exploded at the given range, so you still need an unobstructed line of sight just like lightningbolt(except not 5 feet, but still a hurt). Also, it si THE greatest spell at killing your own party members. Fireball is virtually without use in any dungeon unless there are large open areas where the mage can get on the front line. Fireball however is a great spell for wide open combat, but that is it. It is not versitile, but it is very good at its one useful area.

 

[reapersaurus]

/me not getting into this thread....

 

[Left-handed Hummingbird]

Also, it si THE greatest spell at killing your own party members.

Huh? You make it sound as if it something bad? That is exactly why the Fireball is a great spell.

No, I'll tell you what made the Fireball less climatic(?) than before: It doesn't explode, it just burns!?! When I chuck Fireballs, I want Hollywood-style bangs for my bucks. I don't want a spherical, instantanious wall of fire. I want things to be blown away, not slowly burned. If I toss a fireball in an enclosed corridor, I want the blast to have the same area of effect - and thus longer radius than if I threw it in an open space.

I WANT those "uh-oh" moments, where you've suddenly toasted the party - both with fireballs and with bouncing lightning bolts.

 

[kenjib]

Speaking of Hollywood style explosions, I think it would be cool to have a fireball variant spell that includes a knockback effect. Targets still save for half damage, but regardless of their save they get pushed to the nearest square outside of the blast radius. If the target failed its save it is also knocked prone. If the square is occupied, both the target and the occupant are knocked prone in the same square, regardless of save. If multiple squares are the same distance away, the player chooses which square to land in.

What level of spell do you think that this would this be? 4th? 5th? I see it as having that very dramatic "leaping from the explosion in the nick of time" effect.

 

[Carnifex]

A quickened fireball can be quite nasty, especially if you rake an area with a delayed blast them immdediately hit them with another one (via haste) then hit them with the quickened one! 50d6 damage, yay!

I did this to my players once when they'd got to high level. The bloody rogue avoided it all! But then, it took a round of 6 cornugons raking the party with lightning bolts and fireballs before he failed any reflex saves...

Anyway, I still like fireball, since I don't usually run dungeon-crawl based campaigns - I sometimes run things that are very similar but in different locals - storming fortresses etc - where it isn't usually quite so cramped, or they fight battles in open areas most of the time.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I think it's because the fireballs are still the same as 2nd edition, but monsters now have way more HPs (CON bonuses...)

Personally, I like it. It's 3rd level after all, not 9th. It wipes out a horde of orcs. No need for it to wipe out a horde of giants as well.

Bingo.

In 1e, 2 weak Fireballs could kill outright most denizens the MM.

A lot of standard creatures in 3e have ~twice the HPs their counterparts did in 1e. And DMs are encouraged to level up monsters when the PC get to higher levels.

 

[Carnifex]

And DMs are encouraged to level up monsters when the PC get to higher levels.

Yep. I certainly do - eighteen levels of wizard makes even a red abishai a challenge Fireball that Thing is, they ahve other spells to deal with lone powerful individual monsters like him, and I still used gangs of lower level monsters (that were actually vulnerable to fire) fairly regularly, so fireballs retained a use.

 

[KnowTheToe]

Fireball over rated??? It is many peoples fav because of its effects and visual stimulation. It may not always be dependable, but it is always fun to cast. Who doesn't like fire. Even against a group of toughies, you can at least wound several at once and weaken them for your fighters.

 

[Sir Hawkeye]

Fireball is the most over rated spell ever. Why? because if you read it, it is a seed of fire the exploded at the given range, so you still need an unobstructed line of sight just like lightningbolt(except not 5 feet, but still a hurt). Also, it si THE greatest spell at killing your own party members. Fireball is virtually without use in any dungeon unless there are large open areas where the mage can get on the front line. Fireball however is a great spell for wide open combat, but that is it. It is not versitile, but it is very good at its one useful area.

Actually, the greatest spell for killing your own party members is the 2e version of chain lightning.

Player:"Wait, you mean it ALWAYS arcs to the nearest target?"
DM:"Yep. (Turns to other players) Everyone save for half. Tim, you take 38 points of damage and you're dead."

 

[Henry@home]

Think about this: a 5d6 fireball will deal on average 18 damage. If the opponent saves for half, that's 9 damage. Yes, that will seem kind of puny against CR5 creatures.

However, think about this: it would take a 5th level fighter anywhere from 4 to 10 times the amount of time to deal this much damage to that many creatures. You have just made the party melee fighters' jobs twice as easy. Against a single creature, it just isn't worth the effort.

Better to have an empowered magic missile against a single creature - you will likely do 15 to 18 damage that way, with no save!