1600 feet is 200 feet beyond Fireball's max range at 20th level anyway. Why does it matter?
An Enlarged Fireball can reach 1600 feet at 10th level.
Not like it really matters, as spotting your target at that distance has the Perception DC increased by +160.
Assuming they extended the range somehow or other- Fireball doesn't require a to-hit roll. The caster says where it drops and it drops.
The only reason someone casting Fireball ever has to make an attack roll is to squeeze the bead through a small opening.
Point, Cast, Boom.
Gotta love Fireball in ship to ship combat.
Fireball Text:
Fireball
School evocation [fire]; Level sorcerer/wizard 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a ball of bat guano and sulfur)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half; Spell Resistance yes
A fireball spell generates a searing explosion of flame that detonates with a low roar and deals 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 10d6) to every creature within the area. Unattended objects also take this damage. The explosion creates almost no pressure.
You point your finger and determine the range (distance and height) at which the fireball is to burst. A glowing, pea-sized bead streaks from the pointing digit and, unless it impacts upon a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the prescribed range, blossoms into the fireball at that point. An early impact results in an early detonation. If you attempt to send the bead through a narrow passage, such as through an arrow slit, you must “hit” the opening with a ranged touch attack, or else the bead strikes the barrier and detonates prematurely.
The fireball sets fire to combustibles and damages objects in the area. It can melt metals with low melting points, such as lead, gold, copper, silver, and bronze. If the damage caused to an interposing barrier shatters or breaks through it, the fireball may continue beyond the barrier if the area permits; otherwise it stops at the barrier just as any other spell effect does.
-S
I've always held to the notion that if the spell doesn't require an attack roll, the "aiming" is simply part of the magic itself. With a fireball, if you can visually identify the spot you want it to detonate (and don't need it to pass through any small openings) then the magic of the spell will handle the rest.
Say the ship is 50' long. At 1600' it subtends 1/32 radians = 1.8 degrees, about 3 x the width of the full moon, or about an inch long at arm's length. So you can see the ship easily enough, but you won't be able to pick out any detail unless a) you have good eyesight, b) you and the target are reasonably stable and c) it's not misty.
While fireball may not require an attack roll, the GM might make it to where you may be required to make a perception from that distance. Also current weather conditions may hinder your sight. Another thing to consider is that the GM may make you do a concentration check if you are on a boat yourself, as the swaying of the ship can possibly disrupt a spellcaster's train of thought from vigorous motion, violent motion, or extremely violent motion as per concentration table.
|
I'm pretty sure you can designate the target square without any perception checks or anything if you have line of sight to the square. just enlarge, point, and boom. burning metamagic might be funny here. try to get your dm to go along with starting a fire in every effected square.
In other news, if I were a wizard on a boat, I would want to prepare some fog cloud and image spells to prevent this by denying line of sight so opposing casters don't know where the ship is.
cloud spells dont move with ships. Illusion's could work, but not a bunch of ships going to have use of. This is for my skull and shackles game. Trying to get ahead of my PC's. That and plan to use it but try not to kill them. they just need to learn that they aint the biggest and baddest.
|
|
Say the ship is 50' long. At 1600' it subtends 1/32 radians = 1.8 degrees, about 3 x the width of the full moon, or about an inch long at arm's length. So you can see the ship easily enough, but you won't be able to pick out any detail unless a) you have good eyesight, b) you and the target are reasonably stable and c) it's not misty.
head spinning. sounds good though. Hoped someone could science it all up incase I get one of those.
|
Someone I play with on a semi regular basis has a running joke that, RAW, wizards can cast fireballs 600ft away and still place it carefully enough so that they just miss their friends, so certain other similar tricks work as well.
What you're asking is is there some sort of rule on this or is it just always GM fiat - the answer is that it's the latter. The long-range rules just assume those sorts of spells can be targeted that way.