Real Life Equivalents to Dice Roll Results

[Cygnia]

OK, weird question of the day...

...about how big would an 8d6 fireball be in real life approximately?

[NestorDRod]

I know this is not the answer you're looking for, but... as large as you need it to be.

No, seriously, we're dealing with "genre realism" here, not "real life realism." Define a benchmark that fits what you want, then work from that.

As long as you're consistent within the framework you create, you are free to define it any way you want.

That's my $.02.

[ghost-angel]

4.5 Units.

the real question is 8D6 WHAT?

Normal? Killing? DnD Units? RIFTS Megadamage? Need Units, and then we set a baseline of what 1D6 Means within the context of that unit. Then we do math.

[Cygnia]

Well, the source I'm working off of is a D&D/d20 equivalent. I'm well aware that Warner Bros. Physics will be used anyway (it's one of those "No one could survive that!" situations), but I'm trying to figure out how big the earth shattering kaboom should be for the observers without blowing up the entire damn tiny island they're all on.

[ghost-angel]

You're on your own... I'm pretty sure DnD Units are completely arbitrary.

Make it as big as the plot needs it to be.

[archermoo]

Well, the source I'm working off of is a D&D/d20 equivalent. I'm well aware that Warner Bros. Physics will be used anyway (it's one of those "No one could survive that!" situations), but I'm trying to figure out how big the earth shattering kaboom should be for the observers without blowing up the entire damn tiny island they're all on.

Well, assuming 8d6RKA if you do it as an explosion some damage will be done out to 24 hexes (so 48 meters) from ground 0. If you do it as an AE radius, it would cover a 12" radius. And that is just baseline.

[Cygnia]

Well, assuming 8d6RKA if you do it as an explosion some damage will be done out to 24 hexes (so 48 meters) from ground 0. If you do it as an AE radius, it would cover a 12" radius. And that is just baseline.

Actually, that's a damn good way to visualize it. Thanks! Now, I just need to dig out the ol' hex map...

[CourtFool]

You're on your own... I'm pretty sure DnD Units are completely arbitrary.

They are even arbitrarily arbitrary.

"…but Hit Points are not just how much damage you can absorb, but ducking and weaving to avoid getting hit."

"Why do you get a CON bonus instead of a DEX bonus then?"

[Celt]

They are even arbitrarily arbitrary.

"…but Hit Points are not just how much damage you can absorb, but ducking and weaving to avoid getting hit."

"Why do you get a CON bonus instead of a DEX bonus then?"

"Silence, heretic!"

[Narf the Mouse]

Personally, I think Musashi must have had a CV of 10.

[Pattern Ghost]

I wouldn't think a D20 Fireball would be 8 dice Killing. More like 8 Dice EB. That's not really a huge Fireball in DnD terms. We're only talking about a level 8 Mage here...

Also, according to the SRD, it's a 20 foot radius spread on a Fireball. (DnD 3.5) It doesn't seem to increase radius by level or anything.

Linkage: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/spellsFtoG.html#fireball

[Narf the Mouse]

8d6 can kill your average 1st-level character even with minimum damage.

[megaplayboy]

A 20 foot radius is about 1200+ square feet, plotted 2 dimensionally, and about 30,000+ cubic feet plotted 3 dimensionally. That's more than enough fireball to frag my modest 2 story + basement, 1500 sq foot home.
Pretty sure that would cover 4 lanes of road traffic and catch up to 8 cars in it if you threw it in the middle of congestion. Assuming the kill radius is the full 20 feet, that makes it slightly better than a grenade, maybe on par with a 50 or 60mm mortar round.