AOEs and Large Creatures

[NeoSeraphi]

Never really thought about this until now (for some reason), but what happens if you use an AOE spell on a creature who takes up more than 1 5' square of the area?

For instance, say you cast fireball and your spell deals 10d6 damage in its usual spread. There is a huge creature in the area of effect, (20x20 space), so it gets hit in 4-8 different squares (depending on its position).

Does it take the 10d6 damage multiple times? And if not, why not? After all, that fire is hot enough to deal 10d6 damage to the same creature if it only got hit in one square, so it seems like a larger exposure would deal much more damage.

Is there a RAW ruling on this somewhere?

[Jasdoif]

For instance, say you cast fireball and your spell deals 10d6 damage in its usual spread. There is a huge creature in the area of effect, (20x20 space), so it gets hit in 4-8 different squares (depending on its position).

Does it take the 10d6 damage multiple times? And if not, why not? After all, that fire is hot enough to deal 10d6 damage to the same creature if it only got hit in one square, so it seems like a larger exposure would deal much more damage.He takes 10d6 damage.


A fireball spell is an explosion of flame that detonates with a low roar and deals 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 10d6) to every creature within the area.Emphasis mine. It deals the listed damage to every creature, not every square.


I don't see a general rule on the subject, though, so I can't discount the possibility of a spell written to deal damage per square.

[CTrees]

A fireball spell is an explosion of flame that detonates with a low roar and deals 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 10d6) to every creature within the area.

Most (all?) other AOE spells have similar language. The spell says each creature in the area takes 1d6 damage per caster level, so each creature takes the listed damage. There's no language about creatures taking up several squares taking damage from each square, so they don't.

Trying to balance it otherwise would be nightmarish ("so, the size-huge giant takes up twenty-seven five-foot cubes, and thus should take 270d6 damage from my fireball...)

EDIT: Swordsaged...

[Elric VIII]

I recall reading somewhere that mundane fire deals damage on a per-square basis. So a field of 16 squares of fire would deal more damage to a huge creature than a single square.

Although it may have been that moving through multiple squares triggers this.

[Cruiser1]

Trying to balance it otherwise would be nightmarish ("so, the size-huge giant takes up twenty-seven five-foot cubes, and thus should take 270d6 damage from my fireball...)
And it gets more complicated than that! A creature that takes up a 3x3x3 cube of five-foot cubes indeed takes up 27 cubes total. However the middle cube (representing its innards) doesn't have line of effect or any path to the fireball, so really the giant should only take 260d6 damage. And if it's a Huge ooze covering the ground (instead of a giant standing on two legs) the bottom middle square is also blocked, so a Huge ooze should only take 250d6. :smallwink:

Interestingly, by RAW a Huge giant who has the Fireball go off right in front of his face and is completely surrounded by fire, takes the same damage as another giant who is only partially in the area of effect, and only overlaps one square or cube of it.

[CTrees]

And it gets more complicated than that! A creature that takes up a 3x3x3 cube of five-foot cubes indeed takes up 27 cubes total. However the middle cube (representing its innards) doesn't have line of effect or any path to the fireball, so really the giant should only take 260d6 damage. And if it's a Huge ooze covering the ground (instead of a giant standing on two legs) the bottom middle square is also blocked, so a Huge ooze should only take 250d6. :smallwink:

It gets even worse if that huge ooze is slightly removed from the center of the spell, so part of its mass it outside the upper edge of the hemisphere. Counting off affected squares/cubes could be quite the task!


Interestingly, by RAW a Huge giant who has the Fireball go off right in front of his face and is completely surrounded by fire, takes the same damage as another giant who is only partially in the area of effect, and only overlaps one square or cube of it.

The weak point of any giant is the toes. Thus, why a tiny rogue can sneak attack a cloud giant, and why the same giant, with just one foot in a square hit by a fireball, can still wind up taking full damage.