Pathfinder 1E What catches fire with Burning Hands?

[DMBrendon]

In the Burning Hands description it says "Flammable materials burn if the flames touch them. . A character can extinguish burning items as a full-round action." Does this include creatures? My initial thought was that this only applied to unattended items. My players have interpreted this as "If they fail the save, then they are on fire." This turns the spell into an ongoing-damage spell which is significantly more powerful for a 1st level spell.

How do you play the "Flammable materials burn" part?

 

[Empirate]

Generally, creatures are not affected by secondary effects of spells unless this is specifically spelled out. Some spell descriptions (like this one) spell out that the spell can set creatures alight and cause ongoing damage. Burning Hands doesn't do this. So it's generally safe to assume that creatures take damage from Burning Hands, but are not subject to secondary effects. On a roll of a natural 1, check for item damage, as usual, but not on just a failed save.

However, a DM would be within his rights to say there IS ongoing fire damage if Burning Hands is cast in a cornfield, for example (which can easily be set ablaze), or in a woodworker's shop, or an alchemists lab (might lead to other 'interesting' effects, too) etc.

 

[DMBrendon]

Thanks for the clarification and the example.