Magus Coeruleus
Explorer
Enlarge spell (PHB 82) doubles a spell's range, which affects the area of effect if its area of effect "is determined by its range (such as bless or a cone spell)." It costs +1 spell level to metamagick.
Widen Spell (T&B 42) increases the area of a burst, emanation or spread by one half. It costs +3 levels to metamagick.
Burning Hands is both a burst and a spell whose area of effect is determined by its range (Range: 10 ft; Area: Semicircular burst of flames 10ft long, centered on your hands).
Can you use Enlarge on Burning Hands, or do you need Widen Spell to get a bigger Area of Effect?
If BH were listed as Range 0' then it would clearly require Widen. But listing its Range as 10' makes it look like Bless (Range: 50'; Area: All allies within 50'), which only needs Enlarge.
On the other hand, +1 spell level to get a 20' semicircular burst may seem a bit powerful, and we are talking about a burst, not a cone. Might the designers have intended BH not to be Enlargeable, but not considered that when listing the Range as 10'?
What do you think? For that matter, can you think of other spells that might be ambiguous with respect to whether Enlarge affects them?
Widen Spell (T&B 42) increases the area of a burst, emanation or spread by one half. It costs +3 levels to metamagick.
Burning Hands is both a burst and a spell whose area of effect is determined by its range (Range: 10 ft; Area: Semicircular burst of flames 10ft long, centered on your hands).
Can you use Enlarge on Burning Hands, or do you need Widen Spell to get a bigger Area of Effect?
If BH were listed as Range 0' then it would clearly require Widen. But listing its Range as 10' makes it look like Bless (Range: 50'; Area: All allies within 50'), which only needs Enlarge.
On the other hand, +1 spell level to get a 20' semicircular burst may seem a bit powerful, and we are talking about a burst, not a cone. Might the designers have intended BH not to be Enlargeable, but not considered that when listing the Range as 10'?
What do you think? For that matter, can you think of other spells that might be ambiguous with respect to whether Enlarge affects them?
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