Difficult Terrain -- Ideas?

[d0su]

Hello all!

I have the opportunity to roll a Cleric with the Travel and Earth Domains and use the "Earth" variant channeling rule. I can make a large section of the battlefield count as difficult terrain, and then turn around and ignore the movement penalties that would normally be incurred.

What are some good tactical uses for this? I could use some help brainstorming.

- Reduce movement speed
- Prevent charge attacks
- Prevent 5-foot steps

What else? Any creative in-combat or out-of-combat applications for creating difficult terrain? What kind of Cleric build would be best suited for messing with the battlefield and creating pits in the ground?

Some backstory:

One of my friends is starting another PF campaign I was asked to join. The exact makeup of the party changes from week to week, but in general they need an off-healer and some battlefield control so I decided to go Cleric for overall utility and support.

Character creation rules are very generous. Stats are fairly high all around and I get to start at Level 2. I have access to whichever domains and feats I want as long as they aren't 3rd party.

I played DnD 1.0 very briefly and messed around in Savage Worlds for a while, but for the most part I am new to the tabletop roleplaying scene, particularly the complexities of Pathfinder.

Thank you for any help you can provide! :)

[blackbloodtroll]

Grab the Caves Subdomain.

[d0su]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Grab the Caves Subdomain.

That fits perfectly, thanks! I could literally create pits in the ground. The 8th level bonus would also let me ignore difficult terrain by scampering up onto the ceiling. If I go this route, I have some questions:

1. If I channel energy while crawling on cave walls, does it affect the terrain on the walls/ceiling, or just the ground in a radius beneath me?

2. Does difficult terrain interact with the Create Pit spell in any way?

[d0su]

So here is what I have come up with so far:

- Reducing movement speed and stopping charge attacks will help protect the squishies and ranged guys on the back line.

- With the Caves subdomain, I can also disable opposing ranged attackers, or try to "push" people into the difficult area even if they make their save.

- With the Travel domain, I can five foot step while my opponents cannot. I can play a Reach build and get twice as many attacks against an opponent because they cannot avoid my AoO.

- In a chase, I can help the party escape by running in the back and channeling to slow down the attackers.

- When I get the Fly spell, it will be a good buff for my party members to let them avoid the giant mudhole.

What else can I do with these tools? Any advice is appreciated!

[Claxon]

d0su wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Grab the Caves Subdomain.

That fits perfectly, thanks! I could literally create pits in the ground. The 8th level bonus would also let me ignore difficult terrain by scampering up onto the ceiling. If I go this route, I have some questions:

1. If I channel energy while crawling on cave walls, does it affect the terrain on the walls/ceiling, or just the ground in a radius beneath me?

2. Does difficult terrain interact with the Create Pit spell in any way?

1) It affects a 30ft radius. Since no other information is given, then general assumption would be that all terrain within a sphere of a 30ft radius is affected. When standing on the ground this usually works out to a 30ft circle. ONce you start moving into 3 dimensions it becomes a sphere. However, actually figure out which squares are affected can become difficult.

2) Nope. You cast create pit and you basically put an extradimensional space on top of the ground that is there. It just happens to open up into a pit.

That said, putting them in a pit surrounded by difficult terrain is really going to slow their getting out (of both) and back into combat.

[RuyanVe]

Make sure you communicate your attempt at battlefield control in advance with your average fighter/barb/pal/cav as it will hinder their charge/pounce attacks the same way as your enemies.

Ruyan.

[Errant Mercenary]

I would suggest changing the shape of your Channel. 30 ft radius is good, but perhaps if you could change it to cones or lines it could be a more versatile option.

For example, be an Aasimar and invest into the Channel Force feats.

Channel Force:

Your channel is bolstered by your faith, allowing you to move and damage your foes.

Prerequisites: Aasimar, channel energy 2d6.

Benefit: When you channel energy to deal damage, you may choose to affect only a single target within 30 feet. In addition to dealing damage, if that single target fails its saving throw, you may pull or push (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 303) the target up to 5 feet for every 2d6 points of channel energy damage you are capable of dealing.

Improved Channel Force:

You move your enemies within a beam of righteous energy.

Prerequisites: Channel Force, aasimar, channel energy 4d6.

Benefit: When using Channel Force, you can affect all creatures in a 60-foot line or a 30-foot cone-shaped burst. You must choose to either push or pull all creatures within the affected area that fail their saves.

Greater Channel Force:

Your eruptions of divine power move your enemies.

Prerequisites: Channel Force, Improved Channel Force, aasimar, channel energy 6d6.

Benefit: When using Improved Channel Force, you can affect all creatures in a 30-foot-radius burst.

This would also allow you push or keep them in your difficult terrain. Or into pits. Greater Channel force is not that key in this case, Improved being the true gem.
Improved Force Channel allows you to disrupt the terrain ahead of you but not where your party is, allowing for better reactions from your team. Force Channels are also magnificent ways to deny enemies hitting your squishies, or at least full round attacking, if you push them 10 ft away.

[d0su]

Claxon wrote:

1) It affects a 30ft radius. Since no other information is given, then general assumption would be that all terrain within a sphere of a 30ft radius is affected. When standing on the ground this usually works out to a 30ft circle. ONce you start moving into 3 dimensions it becomes a sphere. However, actually figure out which squares are affected can become difficult.

2) Nope. You cast create pit and you basically put an extradimensional space on top of the ground that is there. It just happens to open up into a pit.

That said, putting them in a pit surrounded by difficult terrain is really going to slow their getting out (of both) and back into combat.

Thanks, that clears up a lot. I was thinking about a 30ft circle superimposed on the surrounding environment; a simple sphere just makes more sense.

RuyanVe wrote:

Make sure you communicate your attempt at battlefield control in advance with your average fighter/barb/pal/cav as it will hinder their charge/pounce attacks the same way as your enemies.

I definitely want to be a team player here. No putting pits between the barbarian and his next meal.

Errant Mercenary wrote:

would suggest changing the shape of your Channel. 30 ft radius is good, but perhaps if you could change it to cones or lines it could be a more versatile option.

For example, be an Aasimar and invest into the Channel Force feats.

This would also allow you push or keep them in your difficult terrain. Or into pits. Greater Channel force is not that key in this case, Improved being the true gem.
Improved Force Channel allows you to disrupt the terrain ahead of you but not where your party is, allowing for better reactions from your team. Force Channels are also magnificent ways to deny enemies hitting your squishies, or at least full round attacking, if you push them 10 ft away.

I really like this idea. Let me make sure my DM is okay with advanced races and this sounds like a clear winner, though I might be a little feat-starved.

Do you think Quick Channeling is worth it, even if I don't go Aasimar?

[Errant Mercenary]

Quick Channel is an absolute must. You can throw out a spell and a channel on the same round, controlling the battlefield a lot more. Definately a must!

Also, have to thank you for the idea of Earth Variant channel, had not put things together until this thread.

[Magda Luckbender]

I played around with this approach. It works. It seems like you know what this tactic gets you:

1. Increase your AoOs, like you said.

2. Never have to take a full attack. This doesn't matter vs. e.g. a spider (which gets only 1 attack) but is huge vs. e.g. a ghoul (which gets 3 attacks).

Quick channeling is totally worth it for any channel-specialist. Get it at 5th level. Quick channel lets you do this to an adjacent foe:

5' step to 10', use your Standard Action to either attack or cast a spell, use you move action to lockdown the foe. You are guaranteed an AoO, and your foe can't full attack you.

************************

Like people said, definitely work this out in advance with your party. It's a powerful ability, and can be really helpful, but can also be very not helpful. You'll want to remain very fast, so you can move to the right place before channeling. Talk it over with your group, so as to use this to the group's best favor. This tactic works super-well with allies who use spells, missile weapons, and reach, but not so well for allies who like to charge.