Fireball
3rd Level Evocation
- Casting Time: 1 action
- School: Evocation
- Damage/Effect: Fire
- Range: 150 feet (20-foot cube)
- Class: Sorcerer, Wizard
- Attack/Save: Dexterity
- Duration: Instantaneous
- Level: 3
- Components: Verbal, Somatic, Material
- Class Levels: Sorcerer (3), Wizard (3), Bard (10, Magical Secrets), Eldritch Knight (13), Arcane Trickster (13)
- Materials Required: A tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur
- Number of Targets: Any within a 20-foot cube
- Die Type: d6
- Number of Dice: 8 (increased by 1 for every spell slot level used above 3rd)
- Damage Type: Fire
- Save: Dexterity
- Damage On Successful Save: Half
- Affected By Cover: Yes
Fireball Spell Description:
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame.
Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.
Fireball Damage Table
Black Citadel creators have calculated the minimum, average and maximum damage that Fireball can achieve at every level:
| 3rd level | 5th level | 7th level | 9th level | |
| Damage Dice | 8d6 | 10d6 | 12d6 | 14d6 |
| Minimum Damage | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 |
| Average Damage | 24.5 | 30.5 | 36.5 | 44.5 |
| Maximum Damage | 48 | 60 | 72 | 88 |
How to Use Fireball in Game
Fireball is, perhaps, the most well-known spell in all of Dungeons & Dragons history.
The spell is an Area of Effect, not a single targeted cast, so the caster will have to be mindful of their allies in the range of the spell, not just the enemies.
Sorcerers, Wizards are the only classes with Fireball on their spell list. Bards can take the spell with their Magical Secrets feature, available to all Bards by the 10th level.
Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters will have to wait until the 13th level when they first get 3rd level spell slots.
How Players Typically Use Fireball
Instead of discussing how to use Fireball, it’s better to address times where using Fireball would be wrong.
It’s critical to remember that Fireball, unlike Fire Bolt, deals area of effect damage. So it damages not just the target(s) but also the target’s surroundings.
Using Fireball in an open field or forest and starting a giant wildfire would be bad and perhaps even deadly to you and your allies. Similarly, using a Fireball inside of a wooden building would also set the building on fire.
Though you might be able to get out of a burning house, a large watchtower or other large building could spell the end of your party, should you set it ablaze.
Fireball doesn’t function at full capacity underwater. The fire is magical and will still happen normally.Â
However, all creatures submerged in water have resistance to fire damage. So they will all take half damage, quarter damage if they make the save.
When I’m not writing about RPGs, I’m playing Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, X-Wing miniatures, and many other lovingly-crafted tabletop games with the people I love.
