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If I summon a Flaming Sphere on top of someone, does that count as 'entering their space' and thus they save or take damage?
As I understand the spell, the sphere rolls and jumps - it does not fly, so you cannot summon it in mid-air on top of a creature.
The description, however, poses no restriction on summoning it on a space already occupied by a creature.
IE, does flaming sphere deal damage immediately upon appearing? If not, can I spend a move action after I finish casting to move it into a creature?
I'd allow either behaviour. As a GM, I'd count summoning the sphere as "entering a space with a creature".
Second, if a spell (like Flaming Sphere) has a duration in rounds, does the spell disappear at the beginning or end of my turn when it runs out? IE, if I cast Flaming Sphere at 3rd level and it lasts 3 rounds, do I get to attack with it 3 times or 4 times?
IIRC, spells go out an infinitesimal amount of time before your initiative tick.
e.g. if you roll a 16 on initiative, a 3-round-duration spell cast in round 1 will last until initiative tick 16.0001 on round 3. (Remember, initiative ticks go down in number as time passes).
e.g. a wall of fire spell cast by a 10th level wiz (without maintaining any concentration will last 10 rounds - from the initiative tick the wiz acts on round 1, until just before that initiative tick on round 11. Creatures with greater initiative than the wiz can be roasted (by crossing the wall) thru rounds 2-11, and creatures with initiative lower (or equal) than the wiz can get roasted during rounds 1-10. In any case, the wall can only interact a maximum of 10 times with any given creature.
You can also see it this way: your flaming sphere must spend 6 seconds next to a target in order to deal damage.
Also, note that a flaming sphere deals damage when it moves. Theoretically, a munchkin GM would let creatures pass through the space occupied by the sphere without them taking any damage at all.
TL;DR: N rounds means N attacks, not N+1 attacks.
Same topic, new question: Invisibly, I cast flaming sphere on an empty space. If I move it in my next round, and it hits an enemy, does that end invisibility?
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Same topic, new question: Invisibly, I cast flaming sphere on an empty space. If I move it in my next round, and it hits an enemy, does that end invisibility?
I don't think redirecting a flaming sphere counts as an attack, so IMHO it doesn't end invisibility.
I think of this as if the sphere were a summoned creature: It deals damage, but not directly.
Moving a sphere of fire into an enemy is an attack in my games at least, and would DEFINATELY end invisibility. If an opponent moved into the sphere though, I'd be inclined to let invisibility stay. I don't see why moving fire onto your enemies with your mind is less of an attack than doing it with your hands (throwing alchemist flask).
A summoned creature is another things, since there's an intermediary creature.
But it's a matter of interpretation and thus up to the DM to decide.
As I understand the spell, the sphere rolls and jumps - it does not fly, so you cannot summon it in mid-air on top of a creature.
We ruled recently that if a flying creature was in range, the sphere could be summoned on them and they would have to save to avoid damage, but it immediately began to fall to the earth after being summoned (because it doesn't fly- but there's nothing to prevent the caster from summoning it in the air). But the spell doesn't address this issue specifically so I imagine each table makes their own ruling if needed.