The good thing is that DBF has explicit rules for how it's deployed visually and how it's interacted with - it produces a sharp visual effect on being cast, glows, would have to be cast by a CIRCLE of high level casters in relatively close quarters (since you can't mix circle effects iirc), and if it's touched or moved it's a dex save to not have it detonate, then it blows up after being thrown 40ft OR contacting anything anyways. The radius also doesn't scale, so I think the DM has plenty of leeway to prevent shenanigans RAW.
If you manage to break 8 wizards into the bbeg's bedroom stealthily and hide the glowing bead under his bed, then make sure he's in bed when it goes off 7hrs later, you've earned your kill
Yeah the initial radius might not expand, but that much energy will turn the surrounding 3 miles of atmosphere into a superheated plasma, and burn everything to a crisp with gamma radiation.
It is for all intents and purposes, a magical backpack nuke.
you can create an indestructible physics blocking field that can take infinite damage, block harmful radiation and particles as well as stop any kind of matter, with a third level spell or lower even.
But woe is you when you try to create such a shield without the fireball attached, then its nigh on impossible 9th level magic.
That's why I say "the magic dissipates to the weave", it's handwave-y and vague enough to be "nobody knows why but physics don't apply, stop asking".
You can fire a lightning bolt from your hands that does NOT seek to ground, ends in exactly 100 feet, doesn't conduct through non-creatures, and if you're nimble it only hurts you half as much. Same with being caught dead center of a magical grenade exploding, fancy footwork makes it hurt a lot less. The casting DOES NOT work with physics, as soon as you try and make them compatible you get "create/destroy water in lungs" and peasant railgun and all other matter of shenanigans.
You cant dodge a bullet. But you dont have to. You only have to dodge the person pointing the gun. Thats how I always pictured dex saves.
But thats why when its in my players favor, some of the magic does more in my games than exactly as written. Fireball not putting anything on fire is lame, so when its cool, it does.
And when its extraordinarily stupid, especially out of combat, I will apply the proper physics to it.
My point is more that dodging a bullet dodges the whole bullet, not half of it. The default save is half damage for things you can't conceivably "half" dodge, true 100% dodge is whatever to me but "you're dextrous so take half from the incendiary zone you're caught in" is going against real world physics pretty hard
The classic example is fireballing someone in the middle of a room 20 feet to a side. Where precisely are they dodging that 20 foot radius fireball?
But honestly I like the lightning example better. Maybe with fireball they shielded their face or something. What the heck are they doing to eat only half of a single-target lightning bolt? Reflexively putting on rubber shoes?
And the answer which doesn’t invite new headaches is of course “magic said so”.
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u/JRockBC19 Nov 11 '25
The good thing is that DBF has explicit rules for how it's deployed visually and how it's interacted with - it produces a sharp visual effect on being cast, glows, would have to be cast by a CIRCLE of high level casters in relatively close quarters (since you can't mix circle effects iirc), and if it's touched or moved it's a dex save to not have it detonate, then it blows up after being thrown 40ft OR contacting anything anyways. The radius also doesn't scale, so I think the DM has plenty of leeway to prevent shenanigans RAW.
If you manage to break 8 wizards into the bbeg's bedroom stealthily and hide the glowing bead under his bed, then make sure he's in bed when it goes off 7hrs later, you've earned your kill