I am a player and my DM uses mini's for us in combat with a small map. I am fire mage and really want help with suggestions for uses for my spells other than straight combat and for outside of combat as well. I am having trouble coming up with inventive ideas to use my spells. My DM keeps saying to me to come up with unique ideas to use the spells in ways they were not really meant for to aid in game play and role playing. I am not sure really what to do except maybe have another player lob a pint of oil into the air or onto a monster and blast him with fire blast. Please help me come up with ideas.

PLease and Thank you.

Anything having to do with heat or fire can be fun to play with, especially outside of combat or as non-damage dealing in combat. Some examples off the top of my head:

If a battle is going poorly, or your party is facing some deadly long range shooting and there is a water source nearby, a Bright Wizard could heat up the water to cause steam to fill the area, hindering sight and combat capability (unless your opponents enjoy a nice hot sauna!).

Say you need to interrogate someone to get information and nothing seems to be working. Heating up the target a bit (heating up the feet or raising the body temp a bit) could make them uncomfortable and nervous and closer to cracking and divulging that important piece of information. Just watch out for Witch Hunters, as they will not appreciate such methods!

Say the Witch Hunters do come after you. Noticing the pistols on their belts, your Bright Wizard could case the powder to prematurely ignite, perhaps shooting themselves in the leg (ala Plaxico Burress).

Or if your tea has gone cold...

As long as your Bright Wizard can manipulate heat, not just flame, there are many possibilities. I'm not sure on the fluff backing of just heat instead of flame, but as long as your DM allows it, have fun with it! Just some ideas to get the juices flowing! Also, if your companions are actively thinking of your abilities to help get them out of situations, that might help you out.

Love the idea of heating up someone you're interogating to make'em sweat! Perhaps the GM could add black dice to any attempts to lie or conceal info in such a situation?

Also, consider causing candles to flicker or a fire in a hearth to suddenly flare up or die down, creating a distraction or instensifying the dramatic impact of a story being told.

Have your wizard take up smoking from a pipe (classic wizard hobby). He could blow trick smoke rings (rings within rings, smoke in different colors or shapes etc) as a form of entertainment or another type of distraction.

Most of these can be accomplished with a Cantrip spell, your GM setting the difficulty die level.

Fire magic has effects on emotions aswell, you could say he's stoking the fire of someone's emotions, driving them into a frenzy or to take rash actions.

Fire is an incredible thing. Fire is passion, lust, rage - a burning tempest that consumes, destroys, and burns out, leaving nothing but scorched earth in it's wake. Fire is death. Fire however is also life - as the pines grow strongest and tallest after the debris is burned off and the heat opens their cones. It is love. It is the candle to guide you in the darkness. Incorporate these things into yourself, initiate. The flame is not so one dimensional as it may seem. it is, as all things are, much more complex then it may first appear.

Now, with that crap out of the way... Fire can be used in any number of inventive ways, both in combat and out.

Set fire to brush to create a distraction or help/hinder an escape. Burn off large amounts of water to create steam - hindering the enemies ability to fight one-on-one, while your gouts of flame are indiscriminant and suffer little to no such penalty. Set fire to pitch for a sticky and painful demise - or dip weapons in pitch and have your allies all sporting napalm swords/maces/arrows/rats*. Ignite gunpowder, either in weapons (as described by another post above) or perhaps to lay a trap. Heat the weapons in the enemies hands, possibly disarming or harming them. Keep our companions warm, reducing the penalty for cold weather. Become the resident cook for the party to boost morale. Keep the fire going ( maybe your character is a worshipper of Dazh?). Wrap yourself in a wreath of flame to intimidate the more savage or cowardly races.

Carry vials of oil, sacks of black powder, torches, and other fire-related things with you, using them will allow for more flexibility and creativity in the field.

*Bats were almost used during WWII to decimate cities. Consider using rats to cause similar chaos somehow. Perhaps ambush a chaos/beatman/whatever camp during the night by releasing rats and setting them ablaze. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb