Is the Grease Created by the 5E Spell Flammable?
Anyone that has ever experienced a kitchen fire in real life can tell you that grease is highly flammable. Given the devastation that these fires can create, it should come as no surprise that many enterprising players have considered the prospect of using the grease created by the grease spell as an offensive weapon. But is this grease flammable? Let’s take a look at our Grease 5E Flammable Guide.
What Does the Grease Spell Say?
The most important way to get to the bottom of this is to look at the language of the spell itself. Remember: we’re here to play the rules as written. While it is a reasonable assumption that grease should catch fire in the world of D&D, it is still an assumption. Here’s the language of the spell:
When the grease appears, each creature standing in its area must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there must also succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
Let’s take a look at the language carefully. The grease spell covers 10 square feet of ground with thick grease. This grease is thick enough to be considered difficult terrain. The grease also requires characters entering or ending their turn in the substance to make dexterity saving throws or fall prone.
For our purposes, it is more important to note what isn’t included in the language of the spell. The spell says nothing about the grease that is created being flammable. This is important, since the grease would only be flammable if the language of the spell said so.
We’re not just speculating here, either. On Twitter, Jeremy Crawford weighed in to clear this question up. Any spell that either creates a flammable substance or causes an object to catch fire would mention it in the text of the spell.
But Wouldn’t Flammable Grease Be Cool?
Oh yea, it would be cool. Jeremy Crawford came to the same conclusion in the Twitter thread mentioned above, too. In your home game, DMs should always be open to allowing the Rule of Cool to outweigh the rules as written. If you’re the DM and your player has an idea that would turn the grease into a fireball moment your party will never forget, maybe now is the time to be a little flexible.
Wrapping Up Our Guide
The long and short of it is that grease from the grease spell is not flammable, at least according to the rules as written. However, don’t let the rules get in the way of a good time. Let us know how things went for you in the comment section below! Need more 5E goodness? Be sure to check out ritual spells 5E guide!
