Works?
Is there a difference between a natural tornado and Control Winds?
Also, does it work vs terrain?
I'm not sure of what you're asking. From the subject, it sounds like you *might* be asking if freedom of movement can be used to escape a tornado, but the part about terrain is really confusing. Please clarify your question.
To address the first post, here are the environment rules for a tornado:
Tornado (CR 10): All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as are sound-based Perception checks. Instead of being blown away (see Table: Wind Effects), characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage might apply). While a tornado's rotational speed can be as great as 300 mph, the funnel itself moves forward at an average of 30 mph (roughly 250 feet per round). A tornado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes similar forms of major destruction.
And, here is the spell description for Freedom of Movment:
This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. All combat maneuver checks made to grapple the target automatically fail. The subject automatically succeeds on any combat maneuver checks and Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.
The spell also allows the subject to move and attack normally while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than hurled. The freedom of movement spell does not, however, grant water breathing.
So, if the question is whether freedom of movement would allow a creature to escape a tornado, it appears to me that it *might*. The environmental rules don't call for a combat maneuver check, so I think we can agree that the "grapple" bit of freedom of movement isn't applicable. What I would say is applicable, is the bit in freedom of movment, which says "even under the influence of magic that normally impedes movement..."
This is one of those situations in which hyper analyticals are going to argue that FoM wouldn't help the creature, since the RAW don't include anything regarding to escaping environmental containment. Whereas, anyone who understands the intention behind FoM, will argue that the RAI would see FoM protecting a creature from being sucked up into a tornado.
For me, I'd adjudicate this as RAI, but with a caveat. Only if the creature was already under the effect of FoM, such as by having a ring of FoM, or having the FoM already cast on him, prior to coming into contact with the tornado, would he be prevented from being sucked up. Note that he still might be hit by any missiles already picked up by the tornado (rocks, other creatures, etc.). If the situation was where a caster was actually trying to cast a FoM spell, after being sucked up, then he'd have one hell of a concentration check, since the spell has not only verbal components, but also somatic and material. I might rule a DC 29 (extremely violent motion, plus extremely high wind, plus level 4 spell), plus the 6d6 damage, in such a case. I wouldn't even think a GM was out of line to completely disallow a concentration check for casting while in an F5 tornado.
Does the movement limitation from being underwater count as "environmental containment" ..? Because FoM works on that.
Yet another reason why freedom of movement should be re-written with greater clarity as to what it affects. It is one of the most open-ended spells in the game that makes the 9th level freedom spell seem pathetic by comparsion.
Yet another reason why freedom of movement should be re-written with greater clarity as to what it affects. It is one of the most open-ended spells in the game that makes the 9th level freedom spell seem pathetic by comparsion.
So in absence of an official developer ruling, is there an accepted community standard for how to play this spell?
Yeah FOM is always a head scratcher.
I'd rule a character could move toward and away from the tornado at normal speed while walking or flying. IF actually grabbed by the funnel cloud, a walking character would suffer the 6d6 for 1d10 rounds, but a flier could fly out after the first round after being sucked in for the 6d6 damage.
I lost track of this thread for a while. Unfortunately, the rules become vague with a tornado, and there is no RAW that covers this specific case. But yes, environmental containment is my term that I'm using to encompass both underwater movement impedence, as well as getting sucked up into a tornado (or being stuck in quicksand, etc.)
FoM is a fairly powerful spell, but then again, so is dispel magic. I believe that the RAI for FoM is that it makes you free to move, period. Per the RAW, it lets you escape ANY grapple check. So, per RAW, you can escape the grip of a non-deific 100 ft tall giant. I only point out that the character in question might take damage, due to other debris already flying around inside the funnel cloud.
If he didn't already have an FoM effect in place when he got sucked up, and he had to cast it, he'd pretty much be screwed.
Situations like this is why they invented rule zero, imo.
We Rule Zeroed it on Friday. Just wanted to fish for a better answer.
I think Fozbek's answer is probably the cleanest. Raises other questions though. Reverse Gravity?
This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. All combat maneuver checks made to grapple the target automatically fail. The subject automatically succeeds on any combat maneuver checks and Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.
The spell also allows the subject to move and attack normally while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than hurled. The freedom of movement spell does not, however, grant water breathing.
Just my way of running it but because of that even we let it work for some weird situations. IE you can shoot throught the tornado and can move on your turn if you have a way to fly nothing stops the tornado form picking you back up however.