[RPG] Is a creature that stands in a bonfire from Create Bonfire potentially affected twice in one round

dnd-5espells

The description of create bonfire says, in part:

Any creature in the bonfire’s space when you cast the spell must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 fire damage. A creature must also make the saving throw when it enters the bonfire’s space for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.

Say a caster casts the create bonfire cantrip and creates a bonfire in the square a creature is occupying, and the creature either chooses to stay in a square occupied by the bonfire or is forced to stay in that square. Is the creature forced to making the saving throw twice in one round – once when the bonfire is created, and once when the creature ends its turn there?

If so, then this cantrip looks like it would be more powerful than other damage cantrips, particularly if the caster's companions have some way to restrict movement. Is that correct?

Best Answer

Yes, it is.

You've actually answered your own question in the quoted spell description. The key parts of this are as follows:

  1. When the fire is first created, if it's in the creatures space they make a DEX save to avoid the damage or take 1d8 (depending on spell level) fire damage

  2. When the creature enters the bonfire's space for the first time on a turn, or ends its turn there.....

So it's very specific. If you cast the spell, the creature would take damage if it failed its save. Then, if it didn't move out of the square when it came to its turn, then yes, it would take additional damage if it failed its save because it ended its turn in the affected square. Don't forget about the ongoing saving throws for damage.

I wouldn't worry about whether or not this is overpowered. The damage is directly comparable to normal weapons, so it's not like this could be overtly abused. At best, you'll only see the double hit in a single round when you initially cast the spell before the creauture's turn, and then have somebody lock the target in place in the same round (for example with a feat like Sentinel.)

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