The text of Icy Prison says that "You trap the target in solid ice 1 inch thick per caster level. If the creature fails its save, it is helpless, but can still breathe..."
Helpless describes a number of conditions that make the target Helpless, but beyond that the only thing the condition really does is allow the target to be hit by a Coup De Grace attack, grants a +4 to melee attacks against the target and treats the target as if it has 0 dexterity.
Note that the target doesn't actually have 0 dexterity (thus they don't become paralyzed). It is just treated as if it has 0 dexterity. This means a helpless target, in the absence of other modifiers that prevent it from taking actions, can still do everything a non-helpless target can do. It can attack, cast spells, speak, move, and otherwise function as normal except as specifically noted in the helpless condition, and barring any circumstances of its environment (being tied up, or in this case, being trapped in ice).
My question is, does anything in Icy prison prevent the target from just attacking the ice surrounding it to break itself free? Does anything prevent the target from casting Dimension Door to basically ignore the spell? The target is "Trapped in solid ice 1 inch thick per caster level" but does that mean it is in a skin-tight "ice suit" or is it in a cocoon of ice that allows it to move relatively freely within those confines and do whatever it wants (perform Spell Triggers or make attacks, etc...)?
It seems the intent is for the target to have to make the strength check to break itself free, and for other creatures to be able to attack the ice, but I cannot find anything that prevents it from just making attacks itself or casting spells to get out. Is there any errata anywhere that defines this, or is it just one of those things left up to GM interpretation?
Honestly I don't really like it either way. If it's skin-tight it's nearly impossible for anyone but a very strong character to break out and a failed reflex save means in the absence of cold resistance they will take 1,000+ points of damage before the spell expires. On the other hand if it's a cocoon of ice it's basically negligible except against the weakest of enemies with no spellcasting abilities (Rogues).
Bump
For the TL;DR people - Does Icy Prison do anything to prevent the trapped creature from taking actions such at making attacks or casting spells? Does the ice surround the persons body as a "skin tight" ice block or is it more like a cocoon allowing movement within?
You trap the target in solid ice 1 inch thick per caster level. If the creature fails its save, it is helpless, but can still breathe (the ice blocks line of effect to the target). If the target makes its save, it gains the entangled condition but can otherwise act normally. Whether or not the target saves, it takes 1 point of cold damage per caster level each round it is helpless or entangled in the ice. The ice has hardness 0 and 3 hit points per inch of thickness; if broken, the creature is freed. A creature can break the ice as a full-round action with a successful Strength check (DC 15 + your caster level).
A helpless character is paralyzed, held, bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent's mercy. A helpless target is treated as having a Dexterity of 0 (–5 modifier). Melee attacks against a helpless target get a +4 bonus (equivalent to attacking a prone target). Ranged attacks get no special bonus against helpless targets. Rogues can sneak attack helpless targets.
As a full-round action, an enemy can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless foe. An enemy can also use a bow or crossbow, provided he is adjacent to the target. The attacker automatically hits and scores a critical hit. (A rogue also gets his sneak attack damage bonus against a helpless foe when delivering a coup de grace.) If the defender survives, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die. Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity.
Creatures that are immune to critical hits do not take critical damage, nor do they need to make Fortitude saves to avoid being killed by a coup de grace.
Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. This ability is the most important one for rogues, but it's also useful for characters who wear light or medium armor or no armor at all. This ability is vital for characters seeking to excel with ranged weapons, such as the bow or sling. A character with a Dexterity score of 0 is incapable of moving and is effectively immobile (but not unconscious).
My interpretation is that being treated as having a dexterity of 0 is effectively the same as having a score of 0. The only difference in this case is that the character is allowed to make a str check to no longer be helpless.
Frankly, nobody knows. I try not to speculate on RAI, but that would seem to be the intent, that it's a superhero-ice-block-trap kind of thing. The RAW, however, doesn't support that, since I can't find any text that Helpless actually stops you from taking actions; typically, it's another condition, like Unconscious, that limits your actions and then adds 'you are helpless'.
This has been asked and FAQs requested, but I don't think it's ever been responded to.
And DrDew realizes something I hadn't.
A character with a Dexterity score of 0 is incapable of moving and is effectively immobile (but not unconscious).
I should add that a character in this situation could take purely mental actions, so if a Sorcerer had the Still Spell feat it might be able to cast a spell.
I should add that a character in this situation could take purely mental actions so if a Sorcerer had the Still Spell feat, it might be able to cast a spell.
They'd also need the Silent Spell feat, since verbal components need to move your mouth (anyone who's ever had to have their mouth numbed knows how hard it is to talk!)
Ah yeah so a silent, still, burning hands (3rd level spell) could probably get you out of this.
You trap the target in solid ice 1 inch thick per caster level. If the creature fails its save, it is helpless, but can still breathe (the ice blocks line of effect to the target). If the target makes its save, it gains the entangled condition but can otherwise act normally. Whether or not the target saves, it takes 1 point of cold damage per caster level each round it is helpless or entangled in the ice. The ice has hardness 0 and 3 hit points per inch of thickness; if broken, the creature is freed. A creature can break the ice as a full-round action with a successful Strength check (DC 15 + your caster level).A helpless character is paralyzed, held, bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent's mercy. A helpless target is treated as having a Dexterity of 0 (–5 modifier). Melee attacks against a helpless target get a +4 bonus (equivalent to attacking a prone target). Ranged attacks get no special bonus against helpless targets. Rogues can sneak attack helpless targets.
As a full-round action, an enemy can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless foe. An enemy can also use a bow or crossbow, provided he is adjacent to the target. The attacker automatically hits and scores a critical hit. (A rogue also gets his sneak attack damage bonus against a helpless foe when delivering a coup de grace.) If the defender survives, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die. Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity.
Creatures that are immune to critical hits do not take critical damage, nor do they need to make Fortitude saves to avoid being killed by a coup de grace.
...
Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. This ability is the most important one for rogues, but it's also useful for characters who wear light or medium armor or no armor at all. This ability is vital for characters seeking to excel with ranged weapons, such as
The problem with this is that if a character that is TREATED as having 0 dexterity ACTUALLY has 0 dexterity and is paralyzed, then anything that makes a person helpless is a death sentence. A character could not make attempts to break a grapple against an opponent that is pinning them, because they are helpless and therefore paralyzed. A character could not make escape artist attempts to free themselves from being tied up because they are helpless and therefore paralyzed.
Many conditions make a character helpless, and most of them incapacitate a character and give them specific ways of being able to overcome being incapacitated. Usually these are skill checks or combat maneuvers of some kind. Icy Prison seems to imply this by allowing a strength check to burst the bonds of the ice, but it doesn't explicitly state that the character is incapacitated.
After I trapped a Linnorm in a block of ice during our last session of Kingmaker, my DM decided that since Icy Prison does not state that a character is incapable of making actions, and helpless doesn't either, the Linnorm could simply attack the ice and break free rather than having to contend with a DC 27 strength check to break it.
Personally I think the intent is pretty clear. The target is trapped in ice and unable to take actions except as noted in the spell (strength check), or via feats that allow them to make actions without moving (still/silent spell as someone mentioned). That said, I do feel that interpretation is too powerful. It's one level higher than Hold Monster but it does damage that is basically unavoidable for anyone but high strength creatures, or creatures with Regeneration (see the Linnorm). On the flip side, if you rule that you can just take whatever actions you want, it's basically useless. Hold Monster becomes much better for a lower spell slot.
I don't like it either way. Hold Monster would let you CDG the target while he stands there helpless, but Icy Prison does stupid amounts of damage over the duration of the spell without requiring any action on the casters part.
The problem with this is that if a character that is TREATED as having 0 dexterity ACTUALLY has 0 dexterity and is paralyzed, then anything that makes a person helpless is a death sentence.
Uh, yeah?
...otherwise completely at an opponent's mercy.
I think that's the point.
Let's also examine the fact that Icy Prison also makes the character immune to targetable spells and protects them from any kind of melee attack?
Well it's not exactly a ton of protection considering they are taking 9-20 points of damage per round for 9-20 minutes. If they never escape they will take between 810 and 4,000 damage from a 5th level spell. Considering the DC of the strength check is very high, it's a pretty powerful spell. Basically a fight ender against any single target.
At 5th level there are a lot of other nasty spells. For example, Suffocation, Baleful Polymorph, or good ol' Hold Monster will pretty much lead to the death of anyone who fails the Fort saves and Feeblemind will permanently shatter most non-divine casters.
At 5th level there are a lot of other nasty spells. For example, Suffocation, Baleful Polymorph, or good ol' Hold Monster will pretty much lead to the death of anyone who fails the Fort saves and Feeblemind will permanently shatter most non-divine casters.
Hold Monster allows a save every round against the original DC. Baleful Polymorph is a Two-Save spell against different saves for partial effect, and Suffocation requires three consecutive failures to be fatal.
Also Hold Monster is Mind Affecting and outright useless against anything that is immune to those effects, Baleful Polymorph is counteracted by literally any other Polymorph effect being activated on the target, and Suffocation is useless against Constructs and Undead.
Icy Prison on the other hand is a death sentence against anything that isn't a Golem or immune to cold, or anything that can bypass a DC 15+Caster Level Strength Check. At 10th level that's a DC25 and a creature would need a Strength of 34 just to have a 50% chance to pass it. Anyone with a strength less than 20 would be incapable of passing the check and would die from the cold damage in short order unless broken out by outside influence. I'd say that's a bit too powerful for the level.
By my DM's interpretation on the other hand, the spell is relatively weak. Anyone trapped by it can cast spells to teleport out or hit it with their weapon to break out. Only Rogues or low strength fighter types with no spellcasting ability fear this.
Feeblemind is just a D**k move.
Well it's not exactly a ton of protection considering they are taking 9-20 points of damage per round for 9-20 minutes. If they never escape they will take between 810 and 4,000 damage from a 5th level spell. Considering the DC of the strength check is very high, it's a pretty powerful spell. Basically a fight ender against any single target.
For better or ill, that's what spellcasters do, from 1st level on up.