If you want to REALLY be evil and punish the players, remember that a really loud explosion sound in a tightly compact area can easily blow one's ear drums out and make them deaf
iirc, the 2nd edition said that the fireball was not a forceful explosion, merely expanding to fill all the available space until there was no more space or the maximum cubic volume was reached.
I also do not remember any noteworthy sound associated with it in the spell description.
It has been awhile so my memory could be wrong.
Now, the lightning bolt also did not mention sound, but it made sense that it sounded like thunder. Good way to tell the dungeon that adventurers were meddling somewhere nearby.
I remember back in old AD&D, when fireballs expanded to fill a 33,000 cubic foot area, we regularly saw magic users miscalculate the volume of rooms, so we would see the fireball going say 60 feet down a 10' X 10' hallway, incinerating most of the party.
Pretty quickly, whenever a fireball was needed everybody would break out their slide rules and Texas Instruments calculators. A fireball declaration could stop the game for a good 45 minutes.
After Losing my home to a fire. I have a hard time dealing with it. Deep down I know the my fear is irrational but it still scares me to this day. I have been in ozzy's position before its not funny at all.
Losing your home to a fire and being in that kind of situation sounds really or extremely bitter and stressful. I hope that you are doing well now, and that you did not lose anyone in the fire.
I must admit that I don't get the part regarding the irrational fear. Fire IS dangerous, so fearing it at least some makes a lot of sense. It's more about having a healthy fear of it rather than an unhealthy fear, and use that fear to more easily avoid danger in the future and knowing when to be extra careful, take precautions or avoid certain actions in the first place. A fear of heights can likewise help one avoid dangerous falls, and a fear of spiders is useful regarding being aware of and avoiding venomous spiders. A lot of fears can be good and very helpful survival heuristics and instincts regarding potential dangers, especially if used well. I also wonder if that is why many people sometimes get fears from horrible experiences - being able to get such fears might help them (and others around them indirectly) survive considerably better. But maybe that is what you mean by irrational - an unhealthy fear that hinders more than it helps. If so, I hope that you can use it and change it into something that helps more and is not as stressful. But it is really easy for me to write about stuff that I have little experience with myself. I hope I am not stressing you or similar; if I am, I apologize.
It has been some time since it happened (13+ years). So I don't feel so bad about it. All things considered it worked out well. Just not those first couple of weeks. PTSD is a real mental disorder and not just one soldiers get. The first waking Hallucination you have will be very scary. Also, being homeless sucks. I was driving back from dinner and I turned my blinker on to turn to home. My mom asked where I was going. I told her after realizing what I had done "nowhere" and turned off the blinker. One very good piece of advice for everyone is Make sure you can walk out of your house completely blind. Turn off your lights close your eyes and go to the outside do it until you can do that in your sleep.
Not his actual position but having to leave out of a burning structure that is in the process of burning down. By the look of the where ozzy is he may not be able to see much more then a black/gray smoke fog. That fire is moving really fast in the panel. My position was I was woken from a nap by the fire alarm to a pitch black room and had to rapidly get out of the house. It was about noon and I could not see my hand in front of my face as I crawled out of the house on my hands and knees. I made it out with nothing more then some smoke inhalation and the smokey clothes on my back.
Regarding training getting out of one's home while blind, I was not really conscious of that issue, thank you. Visibility could be gone due to electricity dying, smoke, or both. It reminds me of a fire escape plan I saw on a door in a hostel recently. When it became dark, the plan lit up through phosphorescence, requiring no electricity. I think that is a very nice concept, though it might not work well if the smoke is too thick.
Not a nice situation Ozzy is in. At least he knew what he signed up for going into Marblegate. I do think he is going to have some very choice words with certain people if he makes it out of there.
Very rough location to find one's self trapped within the clutches. The grating could be salvation but my money would be on death trap. Such a place would be excellent for ventilation in the larger chamber with the lower entry and grating feeding air in then rushing out through that vent. The flames in the final panel seem to indicate air pressure towards the grating as well.
Alas while the wall is stone and flame is physically unlikely to make it there, dangerously hot air akin to a flue would be a problem if one tried that. On the other hand, the upwards pull of the air could buy him a few seconds to take advantage of the insulating properties of his gambeson/coat to make a mad dash along the yet to collapse woodwork. On the other hand if the flue leads to another chamber entirely one could get away from the dangerous location. Neither is a gamble I'd ever like to take and have roughly the same odds of survival of a running jump towards the party--all of which terrible choices. Hopefully Ozzi will be more clever than I.
My wild speculation is that Ozzy will come out of this incident scarred and will ditch this dysfunctional party and join up with Colleen & Drunk Dwarf.
Tough choice.
Plus, who knows what will show up to feast on all the corpses. Maybe it will be Dire Alligators...
However, they only fire balled once in a small room. Fireball teaches really really well. I think everyone survived, but they were not happy!
I also do not remember any noteworthy sound associated with it in the spell description.
It has been awhile so my memory could be wrong.
Now, the lightning bolt also did not mention sound, but it made sense that it sounded like thunder. Good way to tell the dungeon that adventurers were meddling somewhere nearby.
Pretty quickly, whenever a fireball was needed everybody would break out their slide rules and Texas Instruments calculators. A fireball declaration could stop the game for a good 45 minutes.
I must admit that I don't get the part regarding the irrational fear. Fire IS dangerous, so fearing it at least some makes a lot of sense. It's more about having a healthy fear of it rather than an unhealthy fear, and use that fear to more easily avoid danger in the future and knowing when to be extra careful, take precautions or avoid certain actions in the first place. A fear of heights can likewise help one avoid dangerous falls, and a fear of spiders is useful regarding being aware of and avoiding venomous spiders. A lot of fears can be good and very helpful survival heuristics and instincts regarding potential dangers, especially if used well. I also wonder if that is why many people sometimes get fears from horrible experiences - being able to get such fears might help them (and others around them indirectly) survive considerably better. But maybe that is what you mean by irrational - an unhealthy fear that hinders more than it helps. If so, I hope that you can use it and change it into something that helps more and is not as stressful. But it is really easy for me to write about stuff that I have little experience with myself. I hope I am not stressing you or similar; if I am, I apologize.
Also thanks all for the kind words.
Not a nice situation Ozzy is in. At least he knew what he signed up for going into Marblegate. I do think he is going to have some very choice words with certain people if he makes it out of there.
(famous last words ;-))
I think Colleen and Randolph had more loot in hand at this point.
Alas while the wall is stone and flame is physically unlikely to make it there, dangerously hot air akin to a flue would be a problem if one tried that. On the other hand, the upwards pull of the air could buy him a few seconds to take advantage of the insulating properties of his gambeson/coat to make a mad dash along the yet to collapse woodwork. On the other hand if the flue leads to another chamber entirely one could get away from the dangerous location. Neither is a gamble I'd ever like to take and have roughly the same odds of survival of a running jump towards the party--all of which terrible choices. Hopefully Ozzi will be more clever than I.
Ozzi: Solo-ing a Dungeon. NOT how I thought I would spend this afternoon.
-Cast Feather Fall
-Cast Resistance to Fire
-Cast Fireball at the ground you're standing on
-Wheee!