Fire Damage 5e - Rules & Tools to Manage DnD Fire
Fire Damage 5e
Fire damage 5e rules aren’t fully fleshed out in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
But as a DM, you’ve probably had your players set fire to something, sending you scrambling.
Fire will inevitably appear in your game, so we’ve fleshed out the rules for DnD fire and created a hot new tool to make your flames feel so real your players will be sweating!
Fire Damage 5e Index
Fire is a damage type in Dungeons & Dragons and is dealt with in various ways.
Some fire attacks deal single instances of fire damage, while others deal multiple instances of fire damage over time. It’s confusing at worst and ambiguous at best.
The amount of fire damage that is dealt is determined by the attack or ability that is used to deal the damage.
An action that involves fire outside a spell, such as lighting a fire, takes 1 minute if you don’t have oil or a starter. Otherwise, lighting a torch or fire takes one action.
However, there are no official rules for burning within D&D. That’s where our Enhanced Fire Damage 5e Rules and Wildfire Fire Terrain come in!
Introducing: Wildfire Enhanced Fire Damage 5e Rules
Turn up the heat on your 5e fire with our FREE immersive Wildfire Fire Terrain and rules add-on! Click here to download.
If you aren't using a Wildfire deck, you can also use a placeholder to mark your fire, such as red yarn or dry-erase marker.
Step 1
Fire has an element of randomness, as do our fire terrain deck and rules.
First, roll on the direction table to see how the flames could spread.
| Result | Direction |
|---|---|
| 1 | North |
| 2 | Northeast |
| 3 | East |
| 4 | Southeast |
| 5 | South |
| 6 | Southwest |
| 7 | West |
| 8 | Northwest |
Step 2
Next, draw a card from the Wildfire Deck if you’ve purchased the physical copy, or apply the digital asset as a layer in your virtual tabletop of choice. Here’s our tutorial on using custom decks in Roll20.
Use them as a guide to create your next fire shape, or make something up if you aren’t using Wildfire cards.
Step 3
Place the flame card or other marker adjacent to each other or the source of the flame based on the direction.
The Wildfire cards can be flipped and rotated as needed. If your map doesn’t include cardinal directions, assume your seat is facing North for the purposes of the Direction Table.
Step 4
Last, apply damage to any creature on a square engulfed in flames. Use the Wildfire Damage Table below to match the amount of fire damage dealt to your desired encounter difficulty.
For a bigger challenge, you may also choose to rule that squares adjacent to fire terrain take Setback damage, representing the choking smoke and heat surrounding them.
| Level | Setback | Dangerous | Deadly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - 4 | 1d10 | 2d10 | 4d10 |
| 5 - 10 | 2d10 | 4d10 | 10d10 |
| 11 - 14 | 4d10 | 10d10 | 18d10 |
| 17 - 20 | 10d10 | 18d10 | 24d10 |
How Fast Does Fire Spread in D&D?
Give your fire a turn on initiative. The fire spreads to at least one new square every turn. At this rate, fire spreading in D&D could cover a lot of ground quickly.
A raging fire might burn from 5 to 150 square feet within one round of combat, or a mere 6 seconds! That means a wildfire in Dungeons and Dragons could burn around 25 feet every second in normal circumstances.
You can add more flames depending on the size of the blaze, of course. Or rule that certain portions burn out naturally to ease the challenge for your party.
Different Ways to Deal Fire Damage
Fire is a useful damage type in DnD, and there are various ways to deal fire damage in D&D 5e.
Some of the most common ways to deal fire damage include:
Spells
There are a number of spells and cantrips that deal fire damage, such as Fire Bolt, Burning Hands, and Fireball.
Rules as written, these spells can also be used to light flammable objects. This can be useful for igniting combustibles, creating light, or stating a wildfire!
Weapons
There are a few weapons that deal fire damage, such as the Flametongue sword. You can also use a torch as an improvised weapon to deal fire damage.
To resolve these rules as written (RAW), roll 1d20+STR for melee attacks or DEX for thrown attacks. Only add your proficiency modifier to the attack roll if your character is proficient in improvised weapons.
Deal 1 fire damage on a successful hit, according to the Player’s Handbook section on Adventuring Gear. A burning torch is brittle, so using the Common Sense rule means you would not apply the 1d4 improvisational damage because an exception exists (see above).
Abilities
Some classes and races have abilities that allow them to deal fire damage, such as the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer's Draconic Breath ability and the fire genasi's Fire Form ability.
It’s important to note that some enemies, like demons, resist or are immune to fire. In these cases, you can try casting a spell to make the target susceptible to damage or use another spell.
Other enemies, like vampires and plant-based monsters, are vulnerable to fire. This means they take twice as much damage from fire-based attacks.
Taking advantage of this weakness to fire will help parties overcome encounters with these challenging foes.
Remember, you can always make an insight, survival, or similar check to gain information about a situation before deploying fire damage in your game.
How to Resist or Avoid Fire Damage in DnD
There are a variety of ways to resist or avoid fire damage in D&D 5e.
Some of the most common ways to resist or avoid fire damage include:
Equipment
Some items, such as fire resistance armor, provide resistance or immunity to fire damage. These items are essential for tackling powerful fire-based enemies, like Ancient Red Dragons.
Spells
There are a number of spells that provide resistance or immunity to fire damage, such as Protection from Energy and Fire Shield spells.
Abilities
Some classes and races have abilities that provide resistance or immunity to fire damage, such as the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer's Draconic Resilience ability and the Fire Genasi's resistance to fire damage.
Use Wildfire to Heat Up Your Next Game
Setting things ablaze in Dungeons & Dragons is so commonplace it’s meme-worthy.
Instead of brushing it off as a nuisance or ignoring it altogether, try raising the temperature on your players with Wildfire Fire Terrain and 5e fire rules!