L^: mu1	-	R#: (1/2")*	-	D^: 1r*
C^: v.s	-	CT: 1	-	S^: None
A^: 3' diameter fire	-	-	-	UW : No *

Effect: This spell enables the magic-user to cause small fires -- <revise: see fire, WSG>
from as small as a torch or lantern to as large as a normal bonfire of 3' maximum diameter --
to reduce in size and light to become matchlike
or increase in light so as to become as bright as a light spell.
Reducing the fire will cut fuel consumption to half normal,
and increasing the fire will double consumption.
Note that heat output is not altered in either case.

* can be CAST and will function within the bounds of an airy water spell.
 

Question: In the description of Affect Normal Fires, it says that fires can
be increased in size and light to become as bright as a Light
spell. However, a Light spell casts only as much light as a torch.
Which is correct?

Answer: First of all, the question doesn’t describe Affect Normal Fires
the same way the PH does. The spell causes
fires to “reduce in size and light” or to “increase in light.” A fire
can not “be increased in size and light,” according to the spell
description. This literally means that, while you could reduce a
bonfire 3 feet in diameter to a smaller flame (with a correspond-
ing reduction in light output), you could not make a small flame
into a fire of greater size by the “increase” application of the
spell. The small flame would become as bright (i.e., throw off as
much light) as a larger fire, up to the brightness of a Light spell,
but would not take up any more physical space than it did
before.
    It is true that a Light spell casts as much light as a torch. But
there are lots of types of “normal fires” (able to be affected by
the spell in question) that aren’t as bright as a torch to begin
with. According to page 102 of the PH, a lantern
is by definition not as bright as a torch (30-foot radius of illumi-
nation compared to 40 for the latter), and naturally that would
be true of any other type of flame of comparable size. Any
source of flame or fire brighter than a torch (such as the afore-
mentioned bonfire) would, presumably, actually be diminished
in size and illumination by the use of the “increase” application
of the spell.
 

WSG: If the group does not contain a character
with fire-building proficiency, or if characters are impatient and a
magic-user has this spell to burn, it’s an easy way to get a campfire
or a cookfire blazing quickly after the first few pieces of kindling
have been ignited. The effect of the spell won’t last long, but
by the time the magic expires the larger pieces of fuel will have
been ignited and the fire will burn well on its own from then on.