You might have heard me complain about fireballs a couple of times, so I hope you'll forgive me for trying a new fix to a problem some of you might share. The fix is really simple and does not significantly nerf MUs (in fact, I'm not sure it is enough).
Usually, when an MU throws a fireball at a group of goblins, things like saves and damage rarely matter - goblins within blast radius are toast. Which is fine, but it gets weirder and weirder to me when the MU can instantly kill a group of orcs, lizard men or even bugbears.
What if we just roll damage as usual (say, 7d6 for a 7th-level MU), but that is the TOTAL damage dealt. So, against a group of goblins, a weak damage roll (say, 20 points) and a successful save would reduce the number of goblin casualties to only two or three.
The damage is distributed as the GM sees appropriate - think of the fireball like a hand grenade! Most of the damage hits the center, shrapnel spreads outward.
This logic seems to work for groups. Against a single creature, the fireball remains equally effective. If you want to change that, you can just decide that, like a grenade, the main target gets most of the damage but a part of it (say, half of the damage, round down) is spread around.
Lightning bolt could function similarly, but maybe I'd let the MU concentrate all damage into a single creature or create a "line" of damage that diminishes as each creature is hit in a straight line. This spells has not been as common in my games, however. I'm even tempted to treat dragon breath in similar way (well, as a flamethrower) and let fighters jump with their shields in front of wizards when needed.
Anyway, I like this idea because it makes a 10d6 fireball very different from a 5d6 fireball against a group of lesser foes, which gives the wizard a real sense of progression without making him overpowered in comparison to fighters. Thinking of them as grenades makes them feel more grounded and tactically interesting, giving MUs interesting choices of where to aim - and it is also reminiscent of the original Chainmail origins that treated wizards like artillery.
You know, I was initially sceptical, but that example of the fighter jumping in front of the MU is pretty convincing!
ReplyDeleteI would like there to be a firm rule for how, exactly, the damage gets distributed though. Or at least some strong guidelines. I just don't know what I'd want them to be.
It sounds more complicated than it is.
DeleteA) Against multiple targets, just roll damage. If you get, say, 17, you kill the 4 goblins nearest to the fireball.
B) Against a single "main" target, it just takes half damage, and the rest of the damage is distributed according to A, if there are other creatures nearby.
I just don't see the problem. Yes the magic user can wipe out a squadron in one round. Once. That means there's something else cool he might have otherwise done that he can't do.
ReplyDeleteThe defining feature of the magic user is that when he lobs a spell it's a significant event. Taking that away is imo falling for an illusionism of being overpowered because he did something massive in one round. Meanwhile the Fighter can swing his sword all day long.
Especially because magic users that focus on dealing damage are gimping themselves falling for the same kind of illusionism. Damage dealing issues nowhere near the most efficient use of spells.
Its been a problem in my games - if we take B/X to the letter, wilderness encounters become meaningless when MUs get fireballs, since there is one per day at most, it often ended with a single fireball.
DeleteHowever, in dungeons etc. the problem is less apparent. Or fi you are playing AD&D with material components, multiple encounters per day, etc.
I explain it in more detail here:
Deletehttps://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/my-fireball-problem.html