Part of an ongoing series of 5e Rules notes.

In the most recent campaign I ran, this spell was a go-to for our Druid all the way up the level progression. It damages, it illumines (maybe), it pretty much does it all.

Let’s talk about Bonfire

Create Bonfire is a pretty straightforward spell, so much so that it can be easily overlooked, even as it’s accessible by Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, or Artificer players.

Here’s what it does:

You create a bonfire on ground that you can see within range. Until the spell ends, the magic bonfire fills a 5-foot cube.

The bonfire ignites flammable objects in its area that aren’t being worn or carried.

The Bonfire does 1d8 damage to start with, scaling up by character level (not class level). The save for fire damage is a DEXterity roll, which is often easily made by enemies (resulting in no damage, as Cantrips usually do), but not always. Overall, damage is not amazing, but not for nothing.

The Movable Bonfire

Wait, you might say — a Bonfire can’t be moved.

True. Unlike, say, Moonbeam, there are no rules for Create Bonfire.

But they aren’t needed. This is a Cantrip. You can cast it every single turn. It’s a Concentration spell, but that doesn’t matter here. If your Bonfire is burning there, you can easily simply recast it on your turn to be there.

When does the damage occur?

Here’s the tricky part that makes Create Bonfire interesting.

Any creature in the bonfire’s space when you cast the spell must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 fire damage.

A creature must also make the saving throw when it moves into the bonfire’s space for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.

So the check for damage takes place in three situations:

1. If the target is in the square where the Bonfire is cast.
2. If the target moves (or is moved) into the Bonfire square on a given turn.
3. If the target ends its turn in the Bonfire square.

This gives the spell a scosh more flexibility than, say,  Moonbeam. It immediately attacks when cast.

Also, as noted, a target can be moved into the Bonfire and immediately have to check for damage. This could be with a Shove attack, a Thorn Whip, or some other means. This can actually be done to a target multiple times per round (the restriction is only once per given turn).

It burns!

While the damage done by the Bonfire is not tremendous, as a DM, I’d also factor in the psychological aspect — stepping into/through fire, or standing in fire, even if the damage being done isn’t overwhelming, is still not easy to do. I’d suggest that that most mooks will run around the Bonfire, or will try to step out of it if they can, rather than take the 1d8 each turn.

It’s a floor polish and a dessert topping!

While we tend to think of most spells in terms of combat effect, Create Bonfire can also do something as simple as it says outside of combat, too, as it will set any flammable material on fire. And, as a cantrip, there’s no effective cost to starting the party’s campfire each evening once someone has gathered some wood.

Looking at an alternate use, interestingly enough, there is some intense debate out there whether the Bonfire, which clearly emits heat, actually emits light. In the campaign I ran, the Druid often used the spell to illumine dark rooms for the darkvisionally challenged.

Why it might not create light: The spell itself does not list it as an effect, as some other fire-based spells do. Compare the text above for Create Bonfire to this for Flaming Sphere:

The sphere ignites flammable objects not being worn or carried, and it sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet.

Why it clearly creates light: It is a Conjuration of a bonfire, and that seems to be fairly clear in intent.

I leave it to the DM to make this particular ruling, though I find the idea of a non-light-emitting bonfire, even if magical, to be baffling.