Fireballs into melee?

[Bagpuss]

Personally I house ruled that if an area spell hits one person in melee then it has a 50% chance of catching any character in direct melee with them (so long as they are also withing 5ft of the area of effect).

Basically it represents the melee moving back and forth as opponents thrust and sidestep. There is a chance the person might be thrusting towards the target when the fireball goes off and thus get caught.

The requirement to be within 5ft of the edge of the area effect is so the spell is still useful fighting larger monsters so you can catch the hind quarters (yes I know no facing) of a dragon while the fighter is at its business end some distance from the blast.

 

[Darklone]

I ask the players for ranged touch attacks (AC15, since there IS a lot of movement going on). And no, the fighters don't have an easy time to count squares in my games.

If the wizard does not hit with his ranged touch attack, then the spell gets shifted by 5ft into a 1d8 randomized direction.

That's enough not to hit anyone at all or friends and enemies alike IF there is something such as a clear frontline.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I have absolutely no problems with wizards counting squares. I just don't want to cripple spellcasters in my game. Since we already have a round-based game that uses a battlemat, I let them use it (and the enemies do the same, of course). I let others count squares as well. Where's the problem?

It's still possible that the battlefield is to confined to use the spell that way.

And a rule that requires a ridiculously high check (spellcraft DC 30 + spell level? That's almost impossible, especially at lower levels!) or makes the wizard hit himself is really stupid and nasty. It's like introducing a rule "if you attack an enemy in melee and miss by 5 or more you hit yourself".

 

[Vaxalon]

I don't mind precise placement of fireballs when it comes to a precision of one foot at a distance of forty feet. That doesn't bother me.

What bothers me is the precise placement of fireballs through arrow slits at a distance of four hundred feet. The ranged touch attack will have an AC of no more than 10 or so, and with no range adjustments, it's trivially easy for a wizard to hit it.

Spell ranged touch attacks should have a range increment.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Spell ranged touch attacks should have a range increment.

Completely agree here - I can't envisage how melfs acid arrow finds it as easy to hit a target at 800ft as it does at 10ft. What is it, target seeking?!?

 

[Argus Decimus Mokira]

Hey

Get yourself some pieves of string marked off every inch (about 1 foot increments should work fine) and burn your battlemat. Play with just your counters/models with a piece of paper to draw the scene on (big sketch pads are good for this, about the size of most battlemats). Now your PCs have to eye everyhting ... can I make that charge? Is the fireball far enough away? Am I within short range? You'll also want to make little templates for reach purposes - I use paper cut to be 1 inch wider than the creature its on for 5' reach creatures (scaling up as necessary).

Like Saeviomagy said, people get good at estimating distances quick, and I find this makes the game a bit more fun - the characters become more canny as they adventure.

For the record, I actually find this less time consuming, as people don't spend half an hour counting spaces during the combat.

Thanks
-Matt

 

[Someone]

I have a cardboard circle, with a diameter of 8 inches, hat the wizard player drops from a height of more or less 6 inches.

That way, the wizard really "drops" the fireball The error margin is about 5 feet.

 

[ichabod]

I'm with the spellcraft check people. I use DC 15 + spell level, +10 if they don't have center to center line of sight to the target square. The fireball misses by a number of feet equal to the ammount of failure, rounded up to the nearest 5, in a random direction. It works well. It's not a hassle, and occaisionally the fireball is slightly off.

 

[Dakkareth]

I agree, that with and int score of 16 upwards to the sky a wizard should easily be able to hit his enemies and miss his allies as long as it is possible. His intelligence is by far above human standard and he's probably practising his spells and targetting every day.

If you really want to to make some check, make it a concentration check DC 18 - a fifth level wizard has a good chance of missing, but a higher level wizard will only hit his allies, if the conditions are bad or he really screws up.

 

[Derulbaskul]

It always bothers me when DMs want to screw with the players' use of their characters' abilities so that they can boast on message boards (or when they get to school) that they're mean.

The challenge in D&D should be about overcoming various obstacles, unravelling plots etc..., not worrying about whether or not the fireball that your character is about to cast is going to incinerate the caster.

Puerile nonsense, especially when coupled with, "I'm so mean and tough and angry" comments.