Two questions:
1) Can a creature (player, monster, npc, whatever) that is, or can become incorporeal move through walls, objects, etc whilst it is incorporeal?
As per the PRD:
Incorporeal: Creatures with the incorporeal condition do not have a physical body. Incorporeal creatures are immune to all nonmagical attack forms. Incorporeal creatures take half damage (50%) from magic weapons, spells, spell-like effects, and supernatural effects. Incorporeal creatures take full damage from other incorporeal creatures and effects, as well as all force effects.
2) If incorporeal can't do this is their another "de-solid" or "insubstantial" type ability that will allow the types of movements I've described?
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Yes but there are a few limitations.
1. When moving through walls or objects an incorporeal creature cannot pass through anything that occupies a bigger space then they do.
2. Moving through a living creature will provoke an AoO since you are moving through a threatened square. (A successful acrobatics check can prevent the AoO however).
The only other method I know of on doing this is the blink spell or going ethereal but those are a bit more complicated and risky to use.
Ok, then my next question is, can you "drop" down through a solid floor if you are incorporeal?
Let's say the bad guy is trying to make his escape, he turns incorporeal and simply passes through the floor to his secret escape tunnel he built under his lair.
Again, as long as the floor isn't thicker than the creature. Basically the creature must be able to touch "outside" at all times. It can pass through walls or floors simply by passing a limb through, then once some of itself is on the other side, finishing the task. So a floor is simple. A multi-level cavern system... maybe not so much. Passing through a wall is easy... a mountainside not so much.
He can, provided the floor isn't "thicker" than he is.
That is, a medium-sized incorporeal creature can go through a floor of up to medium thickness (one square), so a typical "floor" of a house, for example, would be fine - floating through 10 feet of soil or rock to the hidden hidden tunnel below the house would NOT be doable.
If your villain wanted to escape into, say, a subterranean space *more* than 5ft below, he would need earthglide or a burrow speed of some sort.
(Of course a clever villain might have several *layers* of open space between the room and the tunnel, with 5 foot or less think flooring between each, so that he can "hop" spaces leading into a deeply-recessed tunnel!)
I've got a related question:
Can a incorporeal create "submerge" itself in the floor, pass under the feet of the party's frontliners and "resurface" next to the squishy arcane casters ?
I assume it's possible, but Im not quite sure.
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I've got a related question:
Can a incorporeal create "submerge" itself in the floor, pass under the feet of the party's frontliners and "resurface" next to the squishy arcane casters ?I assume it's possible, but Im not quite sure.
Yes.
Here is the text from the Bestiary:
An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid objects, but must remain adjacent to the object's exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. It can sense the presence of creatures or objects within a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment (50% miss chance) from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. In order to see beyond the object it is in and attack normally, the incorporeal creature must emerge. An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks. An incorporeal creature cannot pass through a force effect.
While they cannot pass entirely through the item, they can pass through as long as they remain adjacent to the object's exterior. So, sinking into the floor, moving just below the parties feet, and emerging in another location is okay. They can even attack the squishy from hiding, but would take a 50% miss rate.
Thanks for the answers. Clears a lot up!
But now I am going to ask some more questions:
1) Do normal movement rates apply to an incorporeal creature moving down through a floor and can you simply turn on incorporeal to negate terrain movement penalites by passing through stuff?
2) What happens if you pass through a floor and the ceiling you wind up on is 80 feet above the surface? Do you fall? Make a fly check? Would you just keep falling if the floor 80 feet below could be passed through?
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1) Do normal movement rates apply to an incorporeal creature moving down through a floor and can you simply turn on incorporeal to negate terrain movement penalites by passing through stuff?
2) What happens if you pass through a floor and the ceiling you wind up on is 80 feet above the surface? Do you fall? Make a fly check? Would you just keep falling if the floor 80 feet below could be passed through?
Read this: Incorporeal Monster Rules
1) You move at your full speed doing what you describe. You move at your full speed even if you cannot see as incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction.
2) Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage so you would likely just jump down to the surface below if you chose to do so. Think movie ghost physics, if you really need a model to work from.
The incorporeal creatures that I'm familiar with from the bestiary also had fly speed and perfect maneuverability so this would never be a problem for a Shadow, for example. If you were to become incorporeal because you had the ghost template applied to you, the template grants you fly speed.
This and many other questions are answered at the "Bestiary" link in Happler's post above. Short answer:
"Incorporeal creatures cannot fall or take falling damage."
Thanks for the answers. Clears a lot up!
2) What happens if you pass through a floor and the ceiling you wind up on is 80 feet above the surface? Do you fall? Make a fly check? Would you just keep falling if the floor 80 feet below could be passed through?
Thanks again. For the answers and pointing me in the right direction.
I was mostly interested in the ability as it relates to Undead Sorcerers who get that ability at level 15. I wasn't sure what would or would not apply.
Thanks!