[RPG] the interaction between mold earth and create bonfire

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If I cast create bonfire in a 5 foot unoccupied space, and then, in the next round, cast mold earth to excavate that same area creating a 5 foot pit underneath the fire — does the bonfire fall or stay at ground level?

This came up in game. The bonfire is magically created and does not need to burn fuel. So it could float. But does it? Is there a precedent?

Best Answer

The spell text just says

You create a bonfire on ground that you can see within range. Until the spell ends, the magic bonfire fills a 5-foot cube.

Duration is 1 minute, with concentration.

There are at least 4 ways to interpret this in the case ground disappears:

Bonfire floats in the air. There's nothing which says it must stay on ground, so there's no such requirement. The general concensus is that fire spells work even underwater (magic...) so why not floating in the air
Bonfire is on ground. If ground moves, bonfire moves.
Having the original ground, seen by the caster when spell was cast, is requirement for the spell to work. If ground changes, spell ends.
Instead of ending (previous option) spell could be just suppressed. If ground returns within duration, bonfire flares up again (assuming caster maintained concentration). This mechanic would be consistent eg. with anti-magic field.

It's up to the DM. 1st option is maybe most direct reading of the rule, the bonfire will just be there for a minute. 2nd option is for tables which want to allow complex shenanigans and general wackiness by using things in unexpected ways. 3rd option is safest for balance and easiest for bookkeeping, but also most boring. 4th option would be my choice as a DM, it sounds like a bit of everything.

Yes, it is.

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

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
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.)

[RPG] Can the cantrip Mold Earth create improvised cover

Not as much protection as you'd think.

Try this at home - get a shovel, and try to pile "loose earth" into the shape you've described (3ft tall, 2ft deep wall). It will immediately fall down into a pile. The angle of repose of soil is 30-45 degrees. In your configuration (2ft diameter base) the pile needs to have an angle of repose of 75 degrees. So the entire thing flops over to about half its height. The soil from the sides of the hole is also falling inwards, filling up your hole, probably reducing the amount of cover from the hole by half as well. If you're unlucky, the soil from the wall will fall backwards into your hole and reduce the depth even further. It would look more like this:

|      OO

|   OOOOOOO

XXXXXXXXXXXO      XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXOOO XXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXOXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

If you're lucky, you'll get 3 feet of cover (partial cover) out of this. There's a reason soldiers build trenches out of packed, not loose, soil.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

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

Yes, it is.

[RPG] Can the cantrip Mold Earth create improvised cover

Not as much protection as you'd think.

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