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So, this is an awkward bit of rules, but let's see if we can get an answer.
Can anybody perceive any kind of pattern to how much damage Swallow Whole does? It seems to me to be arbitrarily assigned, regardless of Size, CR, or HD.
Some beasts do only bludgeoning damage, while others do bludgeoning and acid.
What about a creature with multiple heads? Can it swallow multiple creatures in a single round?
In regards to attacking the inside of a creature, the rules state that the interior's AC is calculated without Dex mod. Is this simply an empty spot in the calculation, or is the interior treated as flat-footed?
If treated as flat-footed, that means that sneak attacks are possible, but there's generally ni light inside a stomach, which would grant total concealment.
Do all attacks have a 50% miss chance due to concealment, regardless of the fact that you are entirely surrounded by the interior?
What if somebody casts Rope Trick inside a creature?
What happens if a creature that has swallowed another creature uses Polymorph or other shapeshifting qualities to become much smaller?
Bloody swallowing creatures are giving me a headache.
You for got to ask about how much air is inside a stomach.
As for flat footed, I would almost say that a stomach is a vital area and a rogue would get their sneak attack inside every round.
And there really isn't any concealment, per say. Not in the traditional way.
As a general rule we never bothered with the AC of the inside, you either had lots of room to go stabby, or you were getting crushed.
As for casting, the concentration DC would be a bit difficult I would guess. You got many to pick from, and I would guess some of them would add in.
Continuous damage while casting 10 + 1/2 damage dealt + spell level
Grappled or pinned while casting 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level
Vigorous motion while casting 10 + spell level
Violent motion while casting 15 + spell level
Extremely violent motion while casting 20 + spell level
Entangled while casting 15 + spell level
Any of those or a combo. And as for going smaller, that might help you out. It would all be based on what you became. You could say become a mouse, and crawl your way back out the mouth, no more crushing or acid damage. This one would really be a talk with the GM. If you get really creative, your GM might be more incline to agree.
We had a game where our fighter was ALWAYS the guy who got eaten whole by the giant worms, dragons, or whatever. And they where always random rolls we all saw the GM toss. It was very funny.
So no ideas on how much damage being swallowed should do when designing a monster?
I would think it would be like crushing/squeeze damage, plus any acid damage.
The crushing hand spells does 2d6 + strength damage. This seems rather fair for something that can eat a medium sized player. I would also say this is an auto attack, and the monster does not need to use an action to do so. You might also say this is just damage you get as your "going down the pipe." But if your not getting crushed in the stomach, there would only be acid damage, and that might be something from 1d4 per round.
Your biggest issue is non-magical equipment damage, and suffocating.
A character who has no air to breathe can hold her breath for 2
rounds per point of Constitution. If a character takes a standard or
full-round action, the remaining duration that the character can
hold her breath is reduced by 1 round. After this period of time,
the character must make a DC 10 Constitution check in order to
continue holding her breath. The check must be repeated each
round, with the DC increasing by +1 for each previous success.
When the character fails one of these Constitution checks,
she begins to suffocate. In the first round, she falls unconscious
(0 hit points). In the following round, she drops to –1 hit points
and is dying. In the third round, she suffocates.
So no ideas on how much damage being swallowed should do when designing a monster?
Here's a list of creatures that swallow whole from the PRD.
froghemoth 2d6+10 3d6+10
eidolon bite bite+1d6
Frog, giant 1d6+2 1d4
Croc, dire 3d6+13 3d6+13
Behir 2d6+9 2d8+9
Purple Worm 4d8+12 4d8+18
T-Rex 4d6+22 2d8+11 but has powerful bite
Remorhaz 3d6+9 2d6+9
Shoggoth 3d6+15 4d6+22
Neothelid 3d6+10 2d6+10 plus 2d6 acid
Sea Serpent 4d8+22 4d8+18
Tarrasque 4d8+15 6d6+22 plus 6d6 acid
You're correct, there does not appear to a pattern. Some are equal to bite damge, some are more, and some are less.
The most common seems to be more damage with typically the same increase as if size was increased one category. i.e. 2d6 becomes 3d6, 3d6 becomes 4d6, and 4d6 becomes 6d6. Typically, swallow whole damage gets 1-1/2 times strength damage.
If I was designing a monster I would give a bump in damage and make sure it got 1-1/2 times strength modifier, unless I could come up with a good reason not to. Typically bludgeoning damage unless something was especially viscous.
Just to be clear, any progression is far from universal.
From what I remember from doing all the Summon Monster/Ally pdf's, the damage after the + is equal to the Monsters Hit Dice.
[EDIT: Having checked a number of the above creatures it appears that I don't know where I got that idea from as it doesn't seem to apply at all!]
Fun thing to add to the mix...
Take a druid who has summoned a T-Rex and casts animal growth (or a giant template T-Rex from a saurian shaman archetype)
What happens to the swallow whole damage? I'm leaning toward the normal size increase mechanic. i.e. 2d8+11 becomes 3d8+15 (extra str bonus from size)
Given the inconsistencies in swallow whole damage though I am uncertain.
Thoughts?