Review of Fire Manipulation Cantrips

[odigity]

Note: I'm interested in reviewing the non-damage aspects of fire-related cantrips because there seems to be a lot of overlap.

Create Bonfire (action, 60', VS, 1 min Con) - Fill 5' cube. (Should probably be dropped from this list, since it doesn't say the fire persists once the spell ends, so it's just a pure damage spell.)

Control Flames (action, 60', S, Ins or 1 hr) - Given a small fire: (a) expand it 5' in one direction (b) extinguish (c) enlarge (2x) / reduce (1/2) and colorize illumination (d) make shapes (up to 3 simultaneously).

Druidcraft (action, 30', VS, Ins) - Light / snuff a candle / torch / small campfire.

Fire Bolt (action, 120', VS, Ins) - Ranged spell attack, xd10 fire, ignites if unworn & uncarried object.

Prestidigitation (action, 10', VS, 1 hr) - Light / snuff a candle / torch / small campfire.

Produce Flame (action, 30', VS, 10 min) - 10' bright + 10' dim, action to dismiss, ranged spell attack, xd8 fire.

Thaumaturgy (action, 30', V, 1 min) - Cause flames to flicker, brighten, dim, or change color (no illumination range change indicated).

Control Flames has the unique benefit of letting you control the illumination of a torch, which could be useful. But if it's light you care about, the Light spell is probably more flexible. (I like the idea of casting it on a tongue piercing so the recipient can control the illumination by opening or closing their mouth.) Prestidigitation can also extinguish, as well as create fire, which Control Flames can't do.

Fire Bolt can light something on fire at great range, which is a unique benefit. Obviously, Prestidigitation can do lots of other stuff, so if you don't care for more than simple lighting/extinguishing, it's a better pick.

Both Prestidigitation and Fire Bolt need a fuel source to light, so none of these will create fire from nothing.

Really still not sure which ones I want...

Update: Added Druidcraft, Produce Flame, Thaumaturgy.

[Innocent_bystan]

Druidcraft can also snuff small fires.
Produce Flame doubles as a light source.
Thaumaturgy can change a flame's illumination and color.

[odigity]

Druidcraft can also snuff small fires.

Checked the spell, and that part of the text is identical to Prestidigitation's, so that's legit. I'll add it to the OP.


Produce Flame doubles as a light source.

I originally skipped it because I thought of it as a damage spell, but you're right, it does produce illumination with a stated range.

Of course, If I include spells based on their illumination benefits alone, there's an argument for including Light and Dancing Lights... :(


Thaumaturgy can change a flame's illumination and color.

It's a very minor effect compared to all the other spells on the list, but it technically does interact with a fire, so I'll add it.

I hope a few people chime in with some commentary comparing and contrasting these options... else it'll be a pretty boring niche resource, quickly forgotten. :)

[Innocent_bystan]

About changing the color and intensity of illumination. This should let you create a (nearly) invisible flame.
This might be interesting to lure enemies into said fire.
Or to smuggle a live fire with you.
Or to quickly shroud a room in darkness and then totally screw up people's night vision with maximum brightness, while you close your eyes.

[Caskwell]

This reminds me of a recent situation involving the party wanting to use cantrips to snuff out a big (~10x20ft) bonfire.

I ruled that two of them working in tandem could do it, but would have to make several Con saves each (DC 10, max 4 saves - but they didn't actually go that route) to avoid taking level(s) of exhaustion. Reasoning being that while the cantrips could snuff parts of the fire, it was big and hot enough that it would relight unless they cast them rapidly enough, hence the chance of exhaustion.

Probably a tangent, but repeated use (i.e. >10x) of cantrips to solve otherwise interesting encounters always irks me! (Relatedly, I may have made a list of spells that RAW can target objects vs only specifying creatures)

[Millstone85]

Create Bonfire (action, 60', VS, 1 min Con) - Fill 5' cube. (Should probably be dropped from this list, since it doesn't say the fire persists once the spell ends, so it's just a pure damage spell.)It really bothers me how there is this "bonfire", that lasts for a whole minute and covers the area a medium character would control, yet there is no mention of illumination!

I should probably take the spell anyway. In a previous campaign, I learned the hard way that magically burning the übertermites while leaving the wooden framework of the house intact is just not going to happen, even if the spell says it only targets creatures. By that logic, there ought to be light too.

What do you think would be a proper bright/dim light radius for create bonfire?