A while ago, in another blog, I ran a series of articles regarding how spells evolved through the editions of Dungeons & Dragons. I only had three editions to work with then - I have five to work with now. Let's pick up at the 1st level magic-user (wizard) spell burning hands.
AD&D 1st Edition (1978)
Burning Hands (Alteration)
Level: 1
Range: 0
Duration: 1 round
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 segment
Saving Throw: None
Explanation/Description: When the magic-user casts this spell, jets of searing flame shoot from his or her fingertips. Hands can only be held so as to send forth a fan-like sheet of flames, as the magic-user-s thumbs must touch each other and fingers must be spread. The burning hands send out flame jets of 3' length in a horizontal arc of about 120º in front of the magic-user. Any creature in the area of flames takes 1 hit point of damage for each level of experience of the spellcaster, and no saving throw is possible. Inflammable materials touched by the fire will burn, i.e. cloth, paper, parchment, thin wood, etc.
The spell is basic and straightforward. The range of 0 means that the effect begins at the spellcaster and cannot be projected at any range from the spellcaster's body other than the area of effect. The duration of 1 round means that the flame jets last the entire 1 minute (10 segment) duration of the round. However, the casting time of 1 segment indicates that the magic-user begins casting at the beginning of the round and the spell comes off at the end of the 1st segment (and will thus continue until the end of the first segment on the following round. This is not intuitive to those who are not used to using segments by the book. Effectively, the magic-user has several blow torches emanating from his fingers to a distance of 3 feet! Also, what is not evidently clear to many casters is that once your spell is cast, you are free to move wherever you like, up to the remainder of your movement for the round. Assuming that you cast this spell on a bunch of goblins immediately in your path, you can now chase them if they flee or set a nearby tapestry aflame with the jets of flame from your hands. Although many balk at the low damage done by the spell, it is assumed that most targets would remove themselves from the area of effect as soon as possible (like jerking your hands away from a fire that suddenly flares up). Thus the low damage potential of 1 point per level of the caster. This spell is much more effective at higher levels as the lack of a saving throw guarantees that non-flame resistant creatures automatically take the indicated amount of damage. The 1 segment casting time also makes it hard to disrupt this spell unless an archer has the magic-user targeted and gets a shot off at the beginning of initiative. The real danger of the spell is that it sets combustibles on fire. It does not indicate that the items get a saving throw - thus, a person in normal clothing or a rival wizard in robes is in danger of catching on fire. How much damage that fire does and how long it lasts has been a matter of debate for years! For greatest effect, lob oil on a target and then have the magic-user cast this spell - instant roast!
AD&D 2nd Edition (1989)
Burning Hands (Alteration)
Level: 1
Range: 0
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: The caster
Saving Throw: 1/2
When the wizard casts this spell, a jet of searing flame shoots from his fingertips. His hands must be held so as to send forth a fan-like sheet of flames: the wizard's thumbs must touch each other and fingers must be spread. The burning hands send out flame jets of five-foot length in a horizontal arc of about 120 degrees in front of the wizard. Any creature in the area of the flames suffers 1d3 hit points of damage, plus 2 points for each level of experience of the spellcaster, to a maximum of 1d3 + 20 points of fire damage. Those successfully saving vs. spell receive half damage. Flammable materials touched by the fire burn (e.g., cloth, paper, parchment, thin wood, etc.). Such materials can be extinguished in the next round if no other action is taken.
This version of the spell is somewhat modified from the 1st edition version. The range and components of the spell are the same, but the duration now makes it more of a flash-effect lasting like a second or so. Casting times in 2nd edition are added to the initiative die roll to see when in the round the spell comes off, so it may happen very quickly if the initiative roll was a 1, or very slowly if the initiative roll was a 10 (initiative rolled on d10 in this edition). So getting the spell off is not a guarantee in this version. The area of effect is defined by the spell description - it is listed as "The Caster" in the stats sections which I find interesting. In essence, you are altering your own body to become a flame-thrower, but from your own fingers. Interesting.... The damage caused by the spell is much more than in 1st edition - but the duration and damage don't really match. If they had kept the 1 round duration it would have made more sense. A flash of flame is hardly that damaging (as anyone who has had flashover from a pan or grill know) and will hardly cause the indicated damage in a second (other than singing off your eyebrows). But it makes it a more viable 1st level spell. The maximum damage occurs at 10th level where a wizard can cause 21-23 points of damage (half if saved against). Not bad for a 1st level spell. Although it also allows combustible materials to be set afire, it still doesn't tell you exactly the ramifications of being set on fire, especially since it can be extinguished in a round (for the cost of losing your action). Does it do more damage? Is the item consumed by the fire? Still no indication on what the consequences are of being set on fire.
D&D 3rd Edition (2000)
Burning Hands
Transmutation [Fire]
Level: Fire 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 10 ft.
Area: Semicircular burst of flames 10 ft. long, centered on your hands
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex half
Spell Resistance: Yes
A thin sheet of searing flame shoots from your outspread fingertips. You must hold your hands with your thumbs touching and your fingers spread. The sheet of flame is about as thick as your thumbs. Any creature in the area of the flames takes 1d4 points of fire damage per your caster level (maximum 5d4). Flammable materials such as cloth, paper, parchment, and thin wood burn if the flames touch them. A character can extinguish burning items as a full-round action.
By this edition, the spell changed quite a bit. The Alteration school becomes Transmutation with a fire sub-type to interact with other creatures that are vulnerable to fire spells (or resistant). Clerics gain access to the spell through the fire domain, so it is not just a spell for wizards! The visual act of casting remains identical - apparently this is the "cool factor" of the spell that carried over from the origins of AD&D. The casting time had to change to reflect the new way that combat occurs. An action occurs on your turn and cannot be interrupted unless an action is readied against your casting. Otherwise it simply happens on your turn with or without a move before or after the casting. The duration remains instantaneous so it occurs on your turn and then goes away. The saving throw is still used, although here it is tied to Dexterity in a Reflex save, allowing fast-reflex opponents to avoid the brunt of the spell. The area of effect keeps enlarging - the AD&D 1E version only went 3 feet; the 2nd edition version went 5 feet, and this version goes 10 feet! With the enlarged area, more targets can be affected. But can they? Remember that distances in 1E were measured at 1" = 10 feet scale on a map. So long as two opponents were within 10' of each other they were considered to be in melee range. At most, a burning hands in 1E would affect 1 or 2 targets directly in front of you. In 2E the distance was measured straight in feet without the wargaming conversion. But at 5' range, the spell was not going to affect more than 1 to 3 close opponents. D&D 3E uses 5' squares on a map grid with their own rules for who is and is not considered in the area of effect. Refer to the diagram below to see what I mean:
As you can see, those targets fully within the spell's area are affected. Those partially outside of the spell's area are not. The area of effect thus is limited by the square grid to affect up to 6 targets maximum: 4 in the front of the wizard and 2 behind the central part of the back line. Casting on a diagonal makes it even harder to figure this out. Basically, the math is constrained by the need to use the grid. Still, 6 targets is much more than 1 or 2 targets, so the increased area benefits the wizard greatly! The major alteration to the spell was the damage caused - 1d4 per caster level up to 5th level. Thus a 1st level caster could, in essence, match the damage done by a 1st level caster in AD&D 1E! However, the damage would go up higher as the wizard achieved higher levels. Damage at 5th level is 5-20 points of damage, compared to 5 points in 1E and 7-9 in 2E. However, the damage continues to increase in 1E and 2E. A 20th level archmage in 1E does 20 points of damage with no save! A 20th level wizard in 2E does 21-23 points of damage with a save for half. A 20th level wizard in 3E does 5-20 with a save for half. So although the damage increased for the lower level casters, the higher level casters would not bother with such as spell given the better saves of higher level creatures (ans spell resistance). So far, the spell is increasing damage potential for low-level spell casters and not much else.
AD&D 4th Edition (2008)
Burning Hands (Wizard Attack 1)
A fierce burst of flame erupts from your hands and scorches nearby foes.
Encounter * Arcane, Fire, Implement
Standard Action Close blast 5
Target: Each creature in blast
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d6 + Intelligence modifier fire damage
I find it humorous that there is no descriptive text for spells in this edition other than a short blurb. You have to know all the nuances of the power descriptions in order to figure out what it all means. Wizards in this version have a number of encounter power uses that they can make each encounter. Once those are all used up, you can't use encounter powers again until you have had a short rest. So if you have the burning hands spell prepared for the day and you are fresh for an encounter, you can use 1 encounter power. OK, so the spell must be used in an encounter. It is considered an arcane spell, with a fire subtype, and lists an implement (orb, wand, or staff). This is different from previous versions of the spell in that they had no material component to cast the spell. You can still cast it without the implement, but using an implement apparently adds bonuses to the casting of the spell. You have to actually attack the targets in the blast area which is an area of adjacent squares up to the specified number of squares per side. Thus, the blast 5 area is an area 5 squares by 5 squares immediately adjacent to the caster. The Close range means that there must be line of effect from the origin point of your square to all other targets in the area of effect. In essence, we're looking at a 25' x 25' area of effect! Now each target creature in the area of effect has an Intelligence attack made on it by the wizard. Attack rolls are made by rolling d20 and adding the wizard's Intelligence modifier, base attack bonus, and any bonuses and penalties affecting the caster. This is compared against the Reflex save of the targets. The attack roll actually allows spells to score Critical Hits (which could not have occurred in the past systems)! If the attack succeeds, the damage caused is 2d6 + Intelligence modifier. This means that smarter wizards do more damage than not-so-smart wizards - also something that has never come into play before. Thus, ability scores are much more important to wizards in this version of the game. However, you're not likely to get more than one casting of this spell for a couple of levels, and by that time the Reflex saves have increased on your targets as well, preventing a hit and thus causing NO damage (as opposed to halving the damage) if you miss.
D&D 5th Edition (2014)
BURNING HANDS
1st-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (15-foot cone)
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
As you hold your hands with thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shoots forth from your outstretched fingertips. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.
This final version of the spell seems to be the most beneficial to a low-level wizard. It causes the most damage (3-18 points) and can increase in damage for each spell slot level above 1st (thus a 5th level wizard who uses a 3rd level spell slot can cause 5-30 (3d6 + 1d6 + 1d6) points of damage). Moreover, the spell once prepared, can be used as often as desired so long as spell slots are available for use! This is much better for a wizard than the 4th edition version, although probably not as good as scoring a critical hit. We're back to the saving throw paradigm though, so no more critical hits on spells. (Note that some spells DO need to make an attack roll to hit in this version). The spell unfortunately no longer sets targets aflame, but will allow an attack on an untended item to set it on fire (however useful this may seem). A Dexterity saving throw allows the damage to be halved for any target of the spell. Note that we are now up to a 15' cone for area of effect, but the width of the effect is thus 3 squares at the terminus of the cone, much more limiting for the number of targets affected. At most I would think that 5 targets could be affected if they are in an enclosed area, more likely though only about 2-3 targets if more spaced out. Much less than 4th edition, but more than 1E, 2E, and about on par with 3E. The type of magic was finally changed to what I believe it should have been all the time - Evocation!
FINAL THOUGHTS
As you can see, the spell has ramped up in damage potential for a 1st level caster from a lowly 1 point of damage without a save, to 3d6 save for half. The area of effect has increased from a 3' fan of flames, to a 25' x 25' square area, back down to a 15'-long cone. Damage potentials for maximum-level of casting (assume 20th, although no such limit occurs in 1E) are 20 points no save in AD&D1E to 11d6 with a save for half in D&D5E (minimum 11, Maximum 66). Saving throws for this spell developed to offset the increase in damage potential beginning with AD&D2E. Removal of setting items on fire happened after D&D3E - the mechanic was never fully explained and simply caused arguments at the game table. It's great to set your opponents on fire; it's not so fun when it's done to your PC. The results of being set on fire could be determined with an item saving throw in 1E and 2E, with a failure meaning the item was destroyed by the fire, and a success meaning that it was only singed but still usable (or partially damaged). But there is no mechanic described for what happens to the person in burning clothing or when engulfed in flames. In all versions of the game this is a 1st level spell (or power), with the ability to increase in damage potential with increasing level. The lower hit points of AD&D1E makes more sense to use a low-damaging spell, especially since you were supposed to roll your hit points. It made less sense when you started with max hit points at 1st level with D&D3E and beyond. The minute-long blow-torch version of burning hands is eliminated early on to be replaced by the flash-in-the-pan burst of flames of AD&D2E and beyond.
All in all, this is a poor spell for a 1st-level magic-user to have in AD&D1E. Unless you need to start a camp fire, the 1 point of damage (automatic or not) is not going to help with your character's survival when you have to be within 3' of the target (and will most likely be hit by them next round). It makes a great deterrent against creatures afraid of fire (charging horses, giant rats, giant insects, etc.), but after that initial round you better have an alternative or you'll be in danger of death! This spell is just fine for any 1st level character of AD&D2E through D&D5E, but I'm skeptical regarding its use in D&D4E. After all, against unarmored targets with good Dexterity scores it seems to suffer an inability to hit. All other versions of the spell allow at least half-damage on a saving throw and AD&D1E doesn't even allow a save, so it's guaranteed damage (no matter how small).
My only complaint about the spell is the lack of information regarding being set on fire. In the past we have used a house rule in AD&D1E that states that if the fire is not extinguished immediately, the fire burns for 1d6 damage each round thereafter. A person who has taken damage equal to their hit points is essentially dead at 0 hit points and will continue to burn until the body is reduced to ash (no hope for raise dead; requires resurrection). Anyone who extinguishes the fire with a blanket or other smothering implement with their own bare hands faces possible burns as well. Burns that caused at least half the character's hit points in damage require a System Shock roll or the character goes into shock and collapses from the pain. If this occurs and the flames are not extinguished, they continue to burn until the character is dead. Extinguishing flames can be done by dropping and rolling in dirt or snow, or jumping into water, or by smothering in sand. Others can smother flames, but as stated before they face burns unless they are wearing gloves or other flame protection (half damage at most for one round). In any case, only magical healing can prevent the disfiguring scars of being set aflame - otherwise the character suffers a permanent reduction in Charisma and Constitution as a result of the burns (and this penalty should be commensurate with the amount of time burning - 1 point per round of burning minimum). So if an unfortunate fighter wearing heavy furs and oiled leather armor in a dungeon is set aflame by a wizard casting burning hands and suffers 3 rounds of burning before he can be extinguished (and lives through the experience), he will permanently lose 3 points of Charisma and Constitution from his horrific burns and scars unless healed by magic (potion or spell). This penalty ONLY applies if the healing is done naturally. If using 2nd edition, this version of the house rule can apply without alteration. If using D&D3E, have the burning victim make a Fortitude save DC 15 in place of a System Shock roll once they reach half their hit points to avoid shock. Have the Constitution and Charisma loss be permanent as well, but restorable by magic. There may be rules for being set on fire in D&D3E that I've forgotten over the years, so this might not be the correct solution (but definitely a grittier one). There are no rules necessary for this in D&D4E or 5E as there is no chance of setting a person (or monster) on fire with this spell (although I would argue that oil could still be used to set someone on fire; just use the rules for burning oil in this case).
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