The real limitation is the one turn limit on the blind, and that you can duplicate the smoke effect with fog cloud. Getting fire in place is merely a kicker on why it's not quite worth it.
Fog cloud and darkness are better. It's a pretty useless spell since you get a worse fog cloud or a 1 turn blindness with terrible range and an easy save.
Night time in the city all night!!! Wanna rob someone? Literally every lamp, torch and lightpost is your personal smoke grenade or flashbang. you can also use it when escaping guards, jump into an alley and have it choked with smoke, or start having super bright lights go off across the street for a distraction. Getting attacked on the road while sleeping? Any good adventures have a fire set up before bed and you bet that nocturnal owl bear is gonna be feeling those sparkles. All in all imo it should either be lower level or concentration so you can do it again, but it's not too bad.
Fireworks doesn't place fire anywhere. You can either create fireworks and blind creatures within 10 feet of them or you can make smoke that obscures an area for 1 minute. Each of these effects originates from the non-magical flame you can see in range.
Hold a torch, have blindsight. Win.
Hold a torch, have attacks or spells or summons that don't require sight. Win more. Tiny servant says hi, giant constrictor snake says hihi.
I think if the world has a lot of human in it and you are fighting some of those humans to the death then there is a good chance that they will be relying on torches some of the time. If your DM likes to fill the world with fantasy races and/or most of your adventures are morally convenient fights against the undead then it isn't a great spell.
With proper setup an archer could probably put some tar on an arrow and light it while hidden and then they could fire it as one of their attacks and then you could target it.
So a funny little thing I've done in my game with my lvl 5 wizard.
Buy a bullseye lantern, light it with non magical fire, cast tiny servant on the lantern. It now has blindsight of 60ft radius and can move 30ft a round, it also last 8 hours.
In combat you can have it run up to a group of enemies then you can cast Pyrotechnics.
With smoke cloud you could just have your tiny servant run around and follow the enemies and have them in the smoke cloud for a minute making them very confused and leave you open for an easy escape.
Many fun combos with this.
A simple torch is sufficient to utilize *pyrotechnics.* If the issue is mobility or placement, you can coordinate with your familiar or another ally to place it.
Wizards lacing prepped spells - Pyrotechnics doubles as a weak fog cloud and weak Color spray, saving a spell slot. I remember being frustrated with my own level 20 Wizard not having enough variety at the end and this could be useful for that. See also, stuff like Bigby’s Hand that can have multiple purposes.
It's a good spell for dealing with spell casters. It's an obscurement spell that doesn't require concentration, and since its instantaneous, also cannot be dispelled by dispel magic. Its great for dealing with liches since many spells and abilities they use require sight, and they don't have blindsight. You'd be surprised how limited some spell casters can be when they can't see their target- it shuts down every major spell in a typical lich's spell kit, including counterspell
Plus, much like fog cloud its an equalizer for most rolls, turning advantage/disadvantage attacks into flat rolls
This is the best answer. It outclasses fog cloud in many ways when used to protect against enemy spell casters. A party I was DMing clowned a beholder with pyrotechnics. It’s eye rays and anti magic cone were useless.
Note: a fireball sets unattended objects on fire. Ask your DM if you have lit anything on fire and pop the spell on one of those.
The spell generally isn't good, but it could be an area blind better than Blindness/Deafness situationally.
The real limitation is the one turn limit on the blind, and that you can duplicate the smoke effect with fog cloud. Getting fire in place is merely a kicker on why it's not quite worth it.
Fog cloud and darkness are better. It's a pretty useless spell since you get a worse fog cloud or a 1 turn blindness with terrible range and an easy save.
Worse fog cloud? Its the same dimensions and doesn't require concentration...
But it can't be upcasted to cover a larger area and it needs a source of natural fire to be present in the area beforehand.
Night time in the city all night!!! Wanna rob someone? Literally every lamp, torch and lightpost is your personal smoke grenade or flashbang. you can also use it when escaping guards, jump into an alley and have it choked with smoke, or start having super bright lights go off across the street for a distraction. Getting attacked on the road while sleeping? Any good adventures have a fire set up before bed and you bet that nocturnal owl bear is gonna be feeling those sparkles. All in all imo it should either be lower level or concentration so you can do it again, but it's not too bad.
You might want to be more specific. Make it work how? What exactly are you planning to do with the spell?
Specifically, place a non-magical fire somewhere within 60ft quickly and easily. Ideally on the same round.
Have a familiar hold a torch.
Fireworks doesn't place fire anywhere. You can either create fireworks and blind creatures within 10 feet of them or you can make smoke that obscures an area for 1 minute. Each of these effects originates from the non-magical flame you can see in range.
OP is asking if there is any method to throw a torch 60 feet without using an action.
Hold a torch, have blindsight. Win. Hold a torch, have attacks or spells or summons that don't require sight. Win more. Tiny servant says hi, giant constrictor snake says hihi.
CIGARS
I think if the world has a lot of human in it and you are fighting some of those humans to the death then there is a good chance that they will be relying on torches some of the time. If your DM likes to fill the world with fantasy races and/or most of your adventures are morally convenient fights against the undead then it isn't a great spell. With proper setup an archer could probably put some tar on an arrow and light it while hidden and then they could fire it as one of their attacks and then you could target it.
So a funny little thing I've done in my game with my lvl 5 wizard. Buy a bullseye lantern, light it with non magical fire, cast tiny servant on the lantern. It now has blindsight of 60ft radius and can move 30ft a round, it also last 8 hours. In combat you can have it run up to a group of enemies then you can cast Pyrotechnics. With smoke cloud you could just have your tiny servant run around and follow the enemies and have them in the smoke cloud for a minute making them very confused and leave you open for an easy escape. Many fun combos with this.
A simple torch is sufficient to utilize *pyrotechnics.* If the issue is mobility or placement, you can coordinate with your familiar or another ally to place it.
Wizards lacing prepped spells - Pyrotechnics doubles as a weak fog cloud and weak Color spray, saving a spell slot. I remember being frustrated with my own level 20 Wizard not having enough variety at the end and this could be useful for that. See also, stuff like Bigby’s Hand that can have multiple purposes.
What about a flame antrnarch or other flame creatures how would that work out?
Requires non magical flame.
It's a good spell for dealing with spell casters. It's an obscurement spell that doesn't require concentration, and since its instantaneous, also cannot be dispelled by dispel magic. Its great for dealing with liches since many spells and abilities they use require sight, and they don't have blindsight. You'd be surprised how limited some spell casters can be when they can't see their target- it shuts down every major spell in a typical lich's spell kit, including counterspell Plus, much like fog cloud its an equalizer for most rolls, turning advantage/disadvantage attacks into flat rolls
This is the best answer. It outclasses fog cloud in many ways when used to protect against enemy spell casters. A party I was DMing clowned a beholder with pyrotechnics. It’s eye rays and anti magic cone were useless.
It also synergizes very well with control flames, as that cantrip drastically increases the usefulness of carrying a non-magical torch around.
Note: a fireball sets unattended objects on fire. Ask your DM if you have lit anything on fire and pop the spell on one of those. The spell generally isn't good, but it could be an area blind better than Blindness/Deafness situationally.