Scenario:
Dire Bat (wild shaped druid) is 10' off the ground. Wizard casts Black Tentacles and grapples him. Challenge is thrown that BT only effects creatures on the ground. Challenge is countered by RAW in which it states that a spread is like a burst, and that the default shape for a burst is a sphere. Which would be inline with other spread spells like Fireball (always assumed to be spherical in my mind) but in conflict with Entangle, which has not. Thoughts?
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The last line of Black Tentacles says that the area of effect is considered difficult terrain. In the combat section, it states that flying creatures are not hampered by difficult terrain. This is an argument in favor of the druid's interpretation.
Further, one would think a field of ten foot or longer tentacles would cause some sort of cover for individuals behind the spread. Black Tentacles does not provide cover, which suggests the tentacles do not reach much higher than the knees of a medium-sized creature.
On the other hand, the spell simply states that anything entering the area is attacked, and regardless of how high he's flying, his mini (assuming you use minis) has entered the spell's area on the battlemat (assuming you use battlemats).
Black tentacles in 3.5 were 10 feet long. In Pathfinder they are described as a field of tentacles burrowing up from the floor. IMO if the Druid was flying at 10 feet (i.e. the 3rd square above the ground) he would be just out of the reach of the tentacles.
--Vrocky Road
yeah, I would be forced to agree IF that text had carried over. But it didn't so....
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yeah, I would be forced to agree IF that text had carried over. But it didn't so....Black tentacles in 3.5 were 10 feet long. In Pathfinder they are described as a field of tentacles burrowing up from the floor. IMO if the Druid was flying at 10 feet (i.e. the 3rd square above the ground) he would be just out of the reach of the tentacles.
--Vrocky Road
You're right, it might have been simplified to be a hemisphere. But where was the druid in relation to the spells point of origin? If he was within 20ft you got him, but if he was 20ft away...
--Vrockumentary
Top dead center, 10' off the ground :)
Scenario:
Dire Bat (wild shaped druid) is 10' off the ground. Wizard casts Black Tentacles and grapples him. Challenge is thrown that BT only effects creatures on the ground. Challenge is countered by RAW in which it states that a spread is like a burst, and that the default shape for a burst is a sphere. Which would be inline with other spread spells like Fireball (always assumed to be spherical in my mind) but in conflict with Entangle, which has not. Thoughts?
Hello Fellahs,
I am said unfortnate Druid (I was a Common Bat, not Dire), anyways my contention was I assumed since the spell was a spread that it would act outwards horizontally and not like a burst after reading this description of Spread Spells "A spread spell extends out like a burst but can turn corners.". I never even imagined Black Tentacles would be treated as a sphere and as a result was caught off guard. I still feel that my original interpretation of spread spells in this case was more accurate, but it can really go either way. You can take the description of burst and strip the context of spread and come to the conclusion that all spreads act like bursts(aside from hugging corners), or judge based on the context given in the spread description itself. Really I can see it going both ways, I was just surprised by Black Tentacles being a spherical effect.