Burning Hands 5e - D&D 5th Edition Spell Book
Burning Hands 5e Spell Effects
1st-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (15-foot cone)
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
As you hold your hands with thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shoots forth from your outstretched fingertips. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.
All information on Burning Hands 5e comes from the DnD Player's Handbook.
Classes That Can Cast Burning Hands 5e
The following classes gain access to casting Burning Hands 5e as part of their normal class spell availability, within the Player's Handbook:
- Cleric: Light Domain
- Sorcerer
- Wizard
Burning Hands Spell Effectiveness
| Damage | 1st-Level Spell | 2nd-Level Spell | 3rd-Level Spell | 4th-Level Spell | 5th-Level Spell | 6th-Level Spell | 7th-Level Spell | 8th-Level Spell | 9th-Level Spell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage Dice | 3d6 | 4d6 | 5d6 | 6d6 | 7d6 | 8d6 | 9d6 | 10d6 | 11d6 |
| Average Damage | 10.5 | 14 | 17.5 | 21 | 24.5 | 28 | 31.5 | 35 | 38.5 |
| 3-Target Damage | 31 | 42 | 52 | 63 | 73 | 84 | 94 | 105 | 115 |
| Average Fighter DPR | 11 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 30.5 | 34 | 37.5 | 41 |
DPR
DPR indicates damage per round, but in this calculation, it does not account for hit chance. The intent of this table is to provide a roughly-accurate comparison between Burning Hands 5e damage and a fighter's damage per round, to compare. It's also worth noting that since Burning Hands 5e hits a 15-foot cone, it can certainly hit more (or less) than 3-targets at a time. Again, the numbers presented here are intended simply to provide an idea of how powerful the Burning Hands 5e spell may be.
Burning Hands 5e Usefulness
I have both been on the giving and receiving end of Burning Hands, and I can certainly say that when the spell is used properly, it can be absolutely devastating.
- Obviously, Burning Hands 5e should primarily be cast on clusters of enemies. As you can see in the table above, hitting multiple targets with the spell can drastically raise the damage it deals.
- Be sure to only cast Burning Hands 5e on targets who do not have fire damage resistance or immunities (below). Furthermore, try to maximize your usage of the spell on enemies with fire vulnerabilities.
- Since Burning Hands only has an effect cast range of 15-feet, consider if you can actually kill enemies with the spell, rather than just damaging them. The reason is that if you cast on a large group, and many of them live, you probably become the main target for all of them, and being only 15-feet away, you won't have a lot of safety.
Fire Damage Resistances, Immunities, and Vulnerabilities
When using Burning Hands 5e, it's worth knowing ahead of time that in the DnD Monster Manual, there are 37 monsters with fire damage resistance, 40 monsters with fire damage immunity, and 9 monsters with fire damage vulnerability.
Surprisingly, of all damage types in the entire game, fire damage is the one that most monsters are vulnerable to, at 9. Meanwhile, there are 77 monsters in total that take reduced or no damage at all from fire, so be very cautious when casting Burning Hands. One of the worst things you can do as a spell caster in D&D is to waste a spell slot on a spell that deals reduced damage.
Combine Burning Hands with the Following Spells
Most spells in DnD 5e work even better in combination with other spells, effects, feats, and so on. Try combining Acid Splash 5e with some of these other effects.
- Acid Splash 5e: this cantrip spell isn't one that you'd use in combination with Burning Hands. However, it does deal acid damage, so it's here to remind you that if you're facing an enemy with fire resistance or immunity, switch up your damage type.
- Bane 5e: since bane reduced enemy saving throws by 1d4, it's a perfect way to make them more susceptible to your Burning Hands 5e spell.
Burning Hands 5e Counters
Hard counters to Burning Hands 5e are spells like Silence 5e, which prevent you from casting spells to begin with. If you know your enemy has silence, be very cautious around them, as you don't want to get locked out from spell casting.
There are also "soft counters" to Burning Hands, like Bless 5e and Haste 5e. Bless provides a +1d4 bonus to saving throws, while Haste provides advantage on Dexterity saving throws, making targets of these effects less likely to be hit from the full damage of Burning Hands.
Burning Hands-Type Spells in Eternity TTRPG
I created the Eternity TTRPG Game System about 15-years ago, and have been refining the game ever since. It's independently published, inspired by other great TTRPG systems, provides rules for having multiple game masters in your group, and features tactical gameplay in combat.
I've provided a spell example below that correlates pretty similarly to the Burning Hands 5e spell, if you want to see what another game like DnD looks like.
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Author - Jacob Tegtman
Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed this article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.
I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.
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Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_l3hijcNcI Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube channel, where I go over different things in the tabletop role-playing universe from the game that my husband and I cr- are creating, to D&D, to goodness knows what, right? Um, this go around, I am going to talk about common mistakes you find from new players or longtime players when you're playing D&D. Now, keep in mind, I have only played D&D once or twice. Um, I personally was not a fan of the system. However, these are just common mistakes you can find in just about any tabletop role-playing game when you're just getting started. So I thought they were kind of relevant. Um, so we're just gonna hop right in, and I may rapid-fire these. So common mistake number one is thinking that a nat 20 succeeds at absolutely everything. So this one I find really funny, actually, because you would [00:01:00] think that with the best dice roll, you could do anything, right? Um, turns out you can't. So as far as combat goes, um, a nat 20, it'll always automatically hit. You'll always do damage. There's no question about that when it comes to combat. However, when you're starting to look at, um, ability checks, and you're in these different, um, situations that don't involve combat, a nat 20 does not mean much. So it comes down to your DM and what your DM decides. For example, let's say that you are trying to persuade a king to hand over his whole kingdom, right? And you roll a nat 20, and you're thinking, "Yes, I did it. I have a kingdom now." And DM's like, "Uh, no, you don't." The king may be more likely to put you in a place of power in the kingdom, but he's not gonna hand over everything. [00:02:00] Um , so that just ... It all comes down to the DM regardless of what you're rolling. Um, so that is something to keep in mind, and don't get overexcited about your, uh, rolls. Never get excited about them, honestly, unless it's combat, so keep that in mind. Eternity TTRPG has released a card game battler which emulates combat from the tabletop role-playing genre. Sparks of Eternity Emanation is fast-paced, easy to learn, and features six classes from your favorite TTRPGs. Each class deck comes with its own set of unique abilities, which everyone plays at the same time, so there's never any downtime at your table. Each turn, everyone's characters levels up, giving players access to even more options. If you're interested in taking a look, we have our sales page live now, packed with details Other mistake that I find very interesting that happens a lot is forgetting that [00:03:00] your proficiency in different skills matters. Um, so when I go to build a character, I just build something that's fun and cool, and I don't really care about the stats, and that's probably something that I personally need to change. But I imagine that if I'm like that, I may not be the only one. Um, so whenever you're rolling in D&D combat or ability checks, you do add your proficiency bonuses, right? So it's almost never just the dice roll. Um , so you really should be paying attention to your proficiency, and if you wanna be someone that is really sneaky, for example, then you need to look at your proficiency in stealth because you can't be sneaky without a high proficiency in stealth. So definitely something to think about when you're building a character. Um, another Mistake that's pretty common is trying to maintain two concentration spells. Um, so [00:04:00] the misconception is that you can have one already running and you can cast another and you can maintain both. Um, actual rule in D&D is you can only concentrate one effect at a time. Um, that is very odd to me just because as a normal human being, we are able to multitask. I mean, maybe not well, but we can. Um, so that is one thing that I personally do like about the tabletop role-playing game that my husband and I are creating is that you can have multiple things that you're concentrating, um, as long as you have the proficiency to do so. But anyway, D&D doesn't do that, so don't do it. Um, let's see. Um, let's see. Um, other thing that comes up pretty often is that thinking your turn when you go to do any kind of combat is just for attacking. So this ... We talk about [00:05:00] combat, right? And all you think of is attacking your opponent, but it's really outdoing your opponent, outthinking them, and you can do other things like dodging, dashing, disengaging, hiding, searching, um, and helping others in your party, right? You don't just have to attack the boss. You can do more. So something to think about, right? Um, okay. This is a mistake that I find in every tabletop role-playing game, and maybe it's not even a mistake. Maybe it's just how people are. But I struggled with this extremely. I still struggle with it, is that to play a role-playing game, you think you have to be a professional, like a professional actor. Uh, truth is, you don't. You really don't. You can just use your normal voice. You can, like, have your normal personality. You can just put you on the paper. And that is what I did for multiple campaigns when I first started doing this kind of stuff [00:06:00] with any tabletop role-playing game. So keep that in mind. You don't need to be anything special. You don't even need to know anything. You don't have to know a single thing about the tabletop role-playing universe. Just write stuff down. Just write it down. Try your best. Call it good. You don't have to be perfect. Okay. So with all of that, like I said, rapid fire things, misconceptions, mistakes that we see in D&D and other tabletop role-playing universes. What is something that you thought before you started playing or even as you're playing or even that you see other people do that is a misconception or mistake when in your tabletop role-playing universes? Drop a comment below. Let me know. Also, let us know how we're doing. Like, comment, subscribe, and keep it going.
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtIN1OHjTZQ Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG channel, um, where we talk about different happenings in the TTRPG universe as well as what's going on with our game, um, with the Sparks of Eternity universe. So I'm gonna try and keep this one short, sweet, to the point 'cause I have a lot of stuff I gotta get done. Um, so this weekend we are gonna be attending our first convention where we, like, have the official product to sell. Um, we have done conventions in the past. Um, I've been a part of two of those conventions. I know my husband has done a few more than that. And at those conventions, it was all about, like, just trying to keep the tabletop role-playing universe alive and explain what, um, we're trying to bring to the table with it, um, explain more about the world of Eternity and all that kind of stuff. Um, this go around, as I said, it's gonna be the first time [00:01:00] that we actually have a product. Um, and I know I've talked about it before. If you're new here, that's gonna be Sparks of Eternity Emanation, and it is a... We're still figuring out the wording of this, so if you've played it and have a better idea, let me know. But it is a tabletop role-playing combat party card game. Okay? So go ahead and, you know, think of your tabletop role-playing. You're gonna have dice rolls, you're gonna have different classes, and you know your classic stuff like the druid is a shapeshifter, assassin is, you know, assassinating and that kind of stuff, right? Well, now you take that, you put all their abilities into a deck and you start at level zero, you work your way up to level 10 and you just try to take out your opponents or survive the longest. You're... I mean, good luck to you either way, right? Um, [00:02:00] so that is what we're gonna be showing off at the convention this weekend. And with this convention there has been a lot of planning and it's just been like a labor of love trying to get everything ready for it, honestly. Because we have to travel for the weekend, you know, stay in the hotel, pack the car, make sure the dog's taken care of, all that kind of stuff, right? Um, but then we also have to think of the booth itself and, well, what do we want the table to look like? Do we need a tablecloth? What should the tablecloth look like? What about a background banner? And all this different stuff, right? And we didn't know we would be doing this convention until about two months ago. So it's been about a two-month scramble getting everything ready for it, all for this three-day weekend. And over this three-day weekend, we have eight hours on Friday, 12 hours on Saturday, and another six hours on Sunday. So [00:03:00] that's 26 hours over the weekend that we're gonna be vending, um, and hoping to do our best with it, right? Um, so one thing that I do wanna show you guys that I am very excited about is we went ahead and worked with an artist. Um, it is our new artist for, um, the Sparks of Eternity franchise, and he created our banner artwork, which I really-- I am so excited with what he created, um, for us to show off what the world of Eternity really is, right? Um, so here it is. And with this, you know, banner, we're trying to show, like, basically you as the player reaching out for all these different ideas, all these different sparks, while also giving itself to the lore of Eternity where you have The Stag and, um, Saint Ranroth on the other side, um, and just their storyline. Now, of course, you guys [00:04:00] don't know all the lore and everything behind all of this. We do and we cannot wait to reveal it all in due time, you know? 'Cause we have these plans that we're setting in motion, and this convention is just another part of that plan. So, as I said, I have a lot of stuff to get done leading up to this convention for the weekend, so we're gonna post this, you know, do all the work with that, and then continue getting ready. Um, we will be at the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo this weekend, and that is what we'll be doing. So if you happen to watch the channel and see us there, say hi. Um, if not, definitely keep following along with our journey and make sure you check out our website for the game that we're selling. Um, wish us the best of luck, and as always, like, comment, subscribe. Let us know how we're doing. Let us know what you wanna hear. Thanks, y'all.
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMFP7UHtWEU Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG, where we go over different happenings in the TTRPG universe, as well as talk about the game that we have been creating. Um, this go around, I think all of the hype is around, um, D&D World of Warcraft. Um, the Dungeon Masters, like, YouTube channel decided to go ahead and start a new campaign all around the World of Warcraft stuff, um, using all of those materials, even though it doesn't release until, like, mid-November. Um, so there's a lot of talk about everything that they're doing and what's going on. So I thought I'd give a little rundown of what to expect with the World of Warcraft expan- or excuse me, World of Warcraft, like, collaboration that's going on, right? So there was a lot of speculation when this first came out what it would be over. Like, is it gonna be one of the classic expansions like Burning [00:01:00] Crusade or Pandaria and just pull from one of those? Do we get any of the classic dungeons like Deadmines or Deepfathom? Um, and also what classes are they gonna bring to the table? What about subclasses and all of that kind of stuff? So I'm just gonna go over what we kind of know, um, and I think that's all that's been revealed. So with that in mind, you have, um- 13 World of Warcraft classes, um, along with they are featuring nine new and revised subclasses, and there's over 40 different specializations. So classic, um, classes that you're gonna be seeing from World of Warcraft is gonna be like Death Knight, Demon Hunter, your Druid, Mage, Priest, Monk, Warrior, Paladin. Um, they are doing the Evoker, which I think is relatively new compared to where the setting is of the, um, [00:02:00] guidebook that they're coming out with. Um, the book itself that they're coming out with, of course, has-- It does have your classic dungeons like Deadmines, and Deepfathom, and, um, Scarlet Monastery, uh, along with like Dire Maul and Shadowfang Keep. Um, so I think that's really neat that they're actually gonna do some of those, um, instances which I have fond memories of Deadmines especially 'cause, you know, that was just-- it was a classic. And they ended up coming back and remaking it for higher level which was really neat too to get more of the storyline there. Um, and then along with all of this there is like 50 monsters and 30 dungeon bosses that they give stats for in the guidebook which I think is neat because you're not gonna run out of monsters really easily with that. Um, I just hope that they reign true to like the [00:03:00] monsters that you would face and the different characters you would face in World of Warcraft like I think of the kobolds, um, in Elwynn Forest and how if you didn't, you know, prepare correctly you were gone pretty quick, right? Um, so I thought that was really neat. Um, I also think that they're reigning true to a lot of the professions and spells and magic items, um, such as Moonfire which I remember fondly from druids. Um, and then of course you have stuff like mounts and companion creatures that I think they're gonna bring into play as well, 'cause I of course remember like, oh gosh, you know, the classic horses that you see for any human. Um, and I specifically remember paladins riding them, so that was just in my mind. Um- Let's see what else we have. Oh, so subclasses that I found was gonna be like the Swashbuckler Rogue, the [00:04:00] Path of the Spiritual Guardian, and the Warrior of Mystic Brews. Which, why did that become the joke with your pandas in World of Warcraft? Why did they become the drunks? I never understood that. I still think it was a really cool touch, but now when I think of like pandas, and even Kung Fu Panda, for crying out loud, I just think of Po as like this drunk panda. Um, so I... Why did that become the thing? Yeah, um, with that all... Let's see. As far as what you can get, like D&D has this ultimate bundle going on where you get the whole like guidebook with all of the, you know, monsters, instances, potions, all that stuff. They also have like a map pack for the Icecrown Citadel, which you actually find in Northrend. [00:05:00] Um, so I think that's kind of neat. Um, and then they of course have the dungeon master screen. They have k- they have, um, the digital stuff to go all with it. Then they're doing like a promo with murloc minis. Which those murlocs, you know they're gonna have those as monsters, and you know they're gonna be mean and annoying, and they're gonna end up, you know, taking over your party pretty easily, 'cause that's what they did in the original World of Warcraft. And I had many bad experiences with murlocs, so when I hear that noise, I just, I, ew, you know, don't like it. Let's see. You know, it's just... When we think about this, right, I am so happy to see, like, us doing some world crossovers, uh, Dungeons and Dragons wanting to pull in more people. And when I [00:06:00] think of tabletop role play, my first thought actually does go to World of Warcraft, because that was like my first experience with playing a different character and having magical powers and having these different things to face and fight. So it's very nostalgic for me and, you know, in a way I kinda just want to get it for the nostalgia. Um, but the other side of this is like, is Dungeons and Dragons running out of ideas because they have to pull from existing universes? Or are they just doing what we already do when we make a campaign? You know, as a campaign, I think we pull f- As a dungeon master, campaign writer, all that kind of stuff, I feel like we pull from different things that we already see in the world around us. Um, for example, there was an anime, I'm trying to remember the name of [00:07:00] it. Um, but basically they got stuck in this video game, and you had to complete one level after another, and once you reached like level 100, you could finally leave the video game. Um, so I think we went ahead and pulled an idea of that, and like we would keep going back to this location. Every time we went to this location, it would be a different like level in it that we would ascend to. Um, sadly, that campaign never finished, but it's just another example of like we pull from the things that we enjoy, right? So if I enjoy from World of Warcraft, I'm gonna already pull ideas from that without needing the Dungeon Master Guide or needing D&D to do any kind of crossover. Um, but you know, they're bringing in two different names, um, for themselves between Dun- Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft, bringing in two different audiences and, you know, bringing in new revenue for them, right? So, you know, I, I don't know. I think it's gonna be neat. I really like that they [00:08:00] wanted to do this kind of thing. But I mean, we already do that as people that make their campaigns as dungeon masters. So at what point are we really doing something new? I don't know. Leave your thoughts down below. Comment, like, subscribe, do all the stuff, and we'll catch y'all next time.