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Dec 2, 2012 -- 5:19PM, professordaddy wrote:

Dec 2, 2012 -- 4:45PM, Arithezoo wrote:

I will use Fireball as an example:

"You hurl a spinning ball of fire with a pea-sized point of flame bright as the sun at its center.  The ball streaks to its target and detonates with an explosion of flame and a low roar.
Effect: Choose a point within 50 feet of you.  Each creature in a 20-foot-radius cloud centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw.  A creature takes 5d6 fire damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire ignites unattended flammable objects and damages objects in the area."

See?  Totally separate.  The first part is the flavor.  It describes how you might cast the spell, how it might look and sound.  The second part is the rules.  It tells you how to resolve the action in the context of other game rules.

Does it?  How close must I be to "attend" an object?  Is wet wood "flammable?"  Is a fireball audible and/or visible?

I see.  It is going to be one of these discussions.

Yes, the spell description tells you how to resolve the action in the context of other game rules.  It makes the assumption that the players and DM are humans (yes, a dangerous assumption, I know) with a grasp of language (and thus able to make interpretations and deductions).

Is it the most complete mechanical writeup possible?  Of course not.  But it gets the job done and takes up a minimum amount of space.  Perhaps you would prefer something like this:

Effect: Choose a point (defined as a distinct X, Y, Z coordinate within space, see Chapter 1, subsection VII) within 50 feet (American, equal to about 15.24 m) of you (meaning your character).  Each creature (defined in Chapter 2, subsection XI) in a 20-foot-radius (again, American units, equal to about 6.1 m radius) cloud (defined in Chapter 5, subsection III) centered on that point (that is, the point forms the center of the cloud) must make a Dexterity saving throw.  A creature takes 5d6 fire damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one.
The fireball involves both visual and auditory elements.  It creates light with an intensity of 1500 lumens with a duration of 1 second (see Chapter 12, subsection X).  In addition, it makes a sound with an intensity of 50 decibels for the same duration (see Chapter 12, subsection XI). 
The fire ignites unattended (defined as objects not being held or within 5 feet of a creature) flammable (defined as things with a rating of F on the European EN 13501-1 scale, see Chapter 5, subsection XXIV for a list of examples) objects and damages objects in the area.

There will always be questions like the ones you asked.  And that is why it is a good thing the game is played with a human DM who can answer them even when it isn't specifically spelled out in the book.

For example, here is what I would say:

1) You are attending an object if you are holding it or adjacent to it (that way you can quickly pat out the flames).  Certain situations would make it difficult (I'd give you a Dexterity check) or impossible.  For example, if you were in melee preventing an adjacent object from igniting would provoke an opportunity attack.
2) No, your fireball does not ignite the wet wood.
3) Your fireball is both visible and audible.  It is a big ball of fire, and most likely makes a sound not unlike the distinctive FWOMPH sound you get when you light your stovetop after releasing a bit too much gas.

Honestly, at this point I'm not sure what you are arguing.  First you brought up things that you are against that aren't happening (not sure how that relates).  Now you bring up the fact that the spell descriptions (in terms of mechanics) don't cover all possible situations and facts.  Where are you going with this?