Fireball

With a pointing gesture at the ending of the incantation, the magic user causes a massive explosion of magical fire at the target point. The fireball detonates with a low roar, causing 1d6 damage per caster level to all creatures within the area of effect. Creatures making successful saving throws suffer only half the indicated damage. When the magic user casts the spell, a bead of light streaks from his or her pointed finger to the target area, and if it strikes another object directly in its path the fireball will detonate immediately. The blast fills the entire volume of the spell radius, and if it is cast into an enclosed area smaller than the area of effect the flames will expand from this area until the spell’s full volume has been reached. The volume of a 20 ft radius sphere is approximately 33,500 cubic ft, and there are 1,000 cubic ft in a 10 x 10 x 10 ft area, so in an area with a 10 ft ceiling the fireball will fill approximately thirty-three 10 x 10 ft squares. Thus, if a fireball explodes in the middle of a corridor 10 ft wide and 10 ft high, the blast will extend a staggering 165 ft in both directions. It is quite possible, particularly in dungeoneering environments, for the magic user to be caught in the backblast of his or her own fireball spell. The flames do not create any significant change in air pressure, but the furnace-like heat causes all items in the blast to make saving throws against magical fire or ignite (or, in the case of metals, melt).