One example:
In the very last second you jump behind some sort of cover, a rock or a tree, you use an enemy as human shield, or lay yourself flat on the ground to provide a smaller target or whatever. Part of you still gets hurt though.
Adding evasion you're doing alot better at it and can actually avoid it completely.
Other stuff like lightning is easier to explain you just manage to jump out of the way.
Or you can imagine that the flame burst of the fireball expands irregulary, so with a bit of ducking and weaving you can somehow avoid most of it, finding a spot where the fire is "thin" and jump through there onto the "safe side". You get still burned a bit without evasion and with you actually found a "hole" in the blast where you can get through without getting hit.
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Fireball fire isn't real-world fire, it's elemental fire. There's no actual fuel, and no oxygen is used up. It's really just a burst of heat and a flash - turning away at the right time may (and does) save your hair/skin/bacon, even when you're right in the middle of it all. Although that requires wearing something that doesn't immediately catch fire when exposed to heat.
That's my take on it anyway.
A Pathfinder fireball seems more like a flash-bang grenade that happens to look like a fireball rather than a flamethrower or a white phosphorous grenade. There's no lasting fire unless you used it on something that ignites VERY easily so if you happened to get your shield or arm up to cover your eyes, you could be (almost) unaffected.
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Its a game and the mechanics don't always make sense in a realistic way.
For example characters are also not standing still while combat is going on. You aren't literally taking turns in the world despite you doing that in the game. (would be kinda funny though "Ok now you hit me."
So your character could be doing a number of things such as jumping out of the way of the explosion. Even if your mini doesn't move.
One example:
In the very last second you jump behind some sort of cover, a rock or a tree, you use an enemy as human shield, or lay yourself flat on the ground to provide a smaller target or whatever. Part of you still gets hurt though.
Adding evasion you're doing alot better at it and can actually avoid it completely.Or you can imagine that the flame burst of the fireball expands irregulary, so with a bit of ducking and weaving you can somehow avoid most of it, finding a spot where the fire is "thin" and jump through there onto the "safe side". You get still burned a bit without evasion and with you actually found a "hole" in the blast where you can get through without getting hit.
Yes, but you don't leave your square. you duck/evade/find a flaw in the density of a magical effect (why you get better at this with rogue levels and high DEX, rather than spellcraft and INT or WIS I'm not sure), which all imply movement. But you don't leave a 5' square while doing it. It's not a wrench or dodgeball, the effect is more than 10' wide, you can't "dodge" it without moving more than 5'.
I know its not perfect, but how do you want to simulate a "Reflex" without some sort of moving? You have to actively do something in reaction to the spell or it wouldn't be a reflex.
And 5 ft squares are actually a bit larger than most people think, you can move around in it quite a bit. Also nothing says you didn't step over into the adjacent square for half a second to avoid the spell, and then went back. But no, you don't provoke for that, before you start there.It's just a fluff explanation for a game mechanic, if you come up with better ideas on how to fluff it, go ahead and use that.
Some things like lightning or avoiding a sudden hole in the ground are just easier to explain than others like a ball of fire, where you have to get creative.
I do not at all disagree with your logic, but that is not RAW.Effects that allow Reflex saves do not fill the entire square.
If a fireball filled every square completely with fire, it would just be an automatic hit, roll damage, no save.
I disagree with your interpretation here. The description of Fireball is: "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."
So while mechanically it does evolve all the squares in the 20 ft radius, it does not say it does so at the same time.
Infact it implies that it expands from that tiny pew-sized bead till it reaches the edge and then fades away. Nothing says that at any time it's more than a thin wall of flame, forming the outer edge of the sphere that's growing larger and on the inside it's past already.
But nothing says it isn't a wall either. And since you CAN evade it somehow, I'm trying to come up with a fluff way that explains how. If you got a better idea beside "description doesn't say it works like that" go ahead.
@chobe: read again my first post in this thread, I never said you teleport magically on the other side.
You can actually move forward, INTO the flamewall, jumping through it, thereby reducing the exposed time with the flame (as a normal reflex save). Maybe if you got evasion you can pick out a particularly weak spot and jump through without any damage at all, or you somehow manage to protect your face with your arms while doing so.
Yes, it all requires some suspension of disbelief, but you're talking about a magically created ball of fire here, so you should be in that mode already...
It is a abstract cinematic simulation, not realism. That is why. You don't need to have it explained logically or with with realism.
Just as HP, AC, Weapon Damage, and 6 second round. All abstract cinematic simulation.
It is like the hero in the movie that dives away from explosion without any damage, runs through a army of sub machine guns without getting shot.
Worst example I saw was a 3.5 epic game we had going. Our Ninja of the Crescent moon took a hit job by our cleric. It seems the Head cleric of her order was really a Cleric of Bane.
She paid him an inordinate about of gold. He bought 20 necklaces of fireballs. He teleports into his study where he and two 20th level clerics of bane are having a discussion.
The room is a 20 by 20 circle stone room. He throws smashes all 20 necklaces down at his feat. Boom. He takes zero. They are all toast even at half damage.
He ports back out. Job done.
Saving throws fail on a natural 1, no matter the bonus. So he should have taken some damage.
Passing 20+ saves is also very unlikely. I would have made him roll every save. Then again I would not have my 20th level bad guys so unprotected. At that level this is a very high chance that somebody does not like you.
Saving throws fail on a natural 1, no matter the bonus. So he should have taken some damage.
Passing 20+ saves is also very unlikely. I would have made him roll every save. Then again I would not have my 20th level bad guys so unprotected. At that level this is a very high chance that somebody does not like you.
Have you seen the DC on a necklace of Fireballs. DC 14. He was an epic level rogue. He only failed on a 1. He did roll saves for each and every orb. While he might have failed one or two I don't believe he did... either way the damage he took was either none or so small It wasn't worth remembering lol.