[RPG] cast a spell on the other side of wall of fire

dnd-5espellstargeting

If there is a wall of fire up, is it considered an obstruction? Can a wizard cast fireball by choosing his point within range on the other side of the wall, or does the wall block his line of sight?

Best Answer

The Fireball would travel through, but with a caveat

Fireball:

"A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range..." PHB 241

The text for Fireball says nothing about LoS. It only specifies "a point you choose within range."

Wall of Fire:

"A creature takes the same damage when it enters the wall for the first time on a turn..." PHB 285

From this we can infer that creature and objects can pass through the wall. Therefore, the "bright streak" of Fireball would not encounter any physical obstruction and would easily pass through the Wall of Fire.

However...

The description for Wall of Fire states:

"The wall is opaque..." PHB 185

meaning that no light can pass through it. In this situation, I would treat any target beyond or within the wall of fire as an unseen target and apply the rules for such:

"When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll." PHB 194

Though Fireball has no specific target but rather an area and does not require an attack roll, I believe it would be appropriate to give the targets advantage on the dexterity saving throw to achieve the same effect.

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