I don't get the problem with barrels.
My biggest problem is, they don't really fit the setting. Faerun is a high magic setting with low technology. But it seems like explosives are everywhere. Smoke powder is rare and only developed by gnomes on a small island yet you can find tons of it in barrels. Oil does exist but with all the barrels I see, the Sword Coast must look like Texas with oil pumpjacks everywhere.
Sure you can opt not to exploit them. The mobs won't have any issue using them. It's just all the explosions ruin the immersion. We are in Faerun, not in a Michael Bay movie.
