The winding path of the Fire Snake...Help me Jamesiwon Kenobi


Rules Questions


The descriptor of the Fire Snake Spell:

"Range 60 ft.
Area see text
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half Spell Resistance yes

You create a sinuous line of flames that you may shape as desired. The fire snake affects one 5-foot square per caster level, and each square must be adjacent to the previous square, starting with you. The fire snake may not extend beyond its maximum range. Creatures in the path of the fire snake take 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 15d6)."

Nowhere in the spell does it restrict the snake going back over squares it has already covered.

Let's say it shoots out to a target orc 10ft from a 10th level caster then goes back and forth between the empty space and back to the target, striking the square containing the poor orc a total of five times.

Now how about we make this an ogre? Now the snake can travel in a continuous circle through all 4 squares that the ogre fills , hitting it 9 times before it expires.

Is this right?


Dirty Rat wrote:

The descriptor of the Fire Snake Spell:

"Range 60 ft.
Area see text
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half Spell Resistance yes

You create a sinuous line of flames that you may shape as desired. The fire snake affects one 5-foot square per caster level, and each square must be adjacent to the previous square, starting with you. The fire snake may not extend beyond its maximum range. Creatures in the path of the fire snake take 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 15d6)."

Nowhere in the spell does it restrict the snake going back over squares it has already covered.

Let's say it shoots out to a target orc 10ft from a 10th level caster then goes back and forth between the caster and back to the target, striking the square containing the poor orc a total of five times.

Is this right?

Creatures in the path of the fire snake take a set amount of damage from the instantaneous spell. I don't see any reason the snake couldn't cross over itself, but that wouldn't change the effect on the creature in the square. It won't take the damage more than once.


No, it doesn't work like that. A creature can't be hit more than once. Basically, this is how it works:

You create an area that looks a little how you want it to (as described in the spell). All creatures within that area takes 1d6 damage/level.

That's it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Yup. Once you're in the fire snake's area of effect, you're in it. If it crosses over itself, you're not in it any more than you were before. Sending the path back over itself, in fact, is kind of wasteful, since squares that overlap, while they would count against the overall length, don't have any effect on increasing damage.


Sorry to bump an old thread. Had a question related. How does Fire Snake have a range of 60 if it has to start from your adjacent square? Does that mean it only goes 60 feet from you max once cast? So a level 15 Wizard casting this spell can create a snake that covers 15 5-foot squares, but in an area no more than 60 feet from the caster?

Grand Lodge

Eric Reitze wrote:
Sorry to bump an old thread. Had a question related. How does Fire Snake have a range of 60 if it has to start from your adjacent square? Does that mean it only goes 60 feet from you max once cast? So a level 15 Wizard casting this spell can create a snake that covers 15 5-foot squares, but in an area no more than 60 feet from the caster?
Fire Snake wrote:
The fire snake may not extend beyond its maximum range.

So yeah, it could stretch for quite a way, but wont stretch to beyond 60 feet from you. The 15th level caster has to have the snake do a U turn at 60ft.

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