The Stonelord Dwarven Racial Paladin Archetype gets an earth elemental companion instead of a holy bond weapon or horse. Cool!
Earth Elementals can use earthglide and tremor sense to determine where creatures are in relation to the ground. Cool!
Earthglide 'treats earth and stone like water'. Several points need to be clarified via rules jargon in order to specify EXACTLY what these terms mean in order to unbreak my game, please.
Does an earth elemental earth-gliding 'chest deep' allow attacks with improved cover out of the earth, as per attacks from land into water? Do Earth Elementals then suffer a -2 to hit and a half-damage penalty on their bludgeoning attacks?
Do water elementals suffer a -2 penalty to hit and half-damage penalty on their slam attacks while under water?
Do two earth elementals fighting underground treat each other as blind but aware of each other's spaces?
If a water elemental fights near a volcanic vent does it take fire damage from the boiling water?
Does Earthglide allow 'interring'? IE: Can an Earth Elemental bull-rush or reposition an enemy 'down into the ground', or a grappling earth elemental 'move', using the 'move' option of grapple, an enemy into the earth and leave them to suffocate?
Speaking of which... can a Fire Elemental make just 'melee touch attacks' in order to deal only fire damage, burning their opponent?
Say, a Goblin Druid in Elemental Body with Weapon Finesse: Melee Touch Attack?
Does Earthglide allow 'interring'? IE: Can an Earth Elemental bull-rush or reposition an enemy 'down into the ground', or a grappling earth elemental 'move', using the 'move' option of grapple, an enemy into the earth and leave them to suffocate?
I would say no. Just because the earth elemental treats earth as water doesn't mean his target does.
I would say no as well, because that's a horrifying tactic to one-shot enemies, but we don't have an official ruling on this yet, and apparently -some people do it-. It also goes to this question:
Can an earth-gliding creature carrying objects and/or creatures with it?
If it cannot carry objects, can it wear equipment, such as magic belts or rings or necklaces?
WHAT magic item slots does an earth elemental have?
Earthglide 'treats earth and stone like water'.
Where is this stated? I don't recall seeing it before. Earthglide is simply burrowing, except you don't leave a tunnel or any other signs of your presence (such as displaced material).
I personally believe you can forcefully earthglide someone into the earth (perhaps with something as simple as a grapple check made to move the grapple), but many would disagree.
An earth elemental or similar creature partially in/out of a wall/floor would indeed get cover.
I hope that helps.
I would say a creature with earthglide would have to engulf or swallow whole a creature to carry it into the ground. As a near-equivalent, a gaseous creature might be able to slip through a net but couldn't carry a solid creature through the net.
As for objects, I would say yes for the sake of in-game convenience but with the caveat that metal items cannot be earth glided through, so presumably cannot be earthglided either. Also, as the creature cannot see through solid earth, hiding something underground could easily be lost. Imagine trying to find something suspended in a swimming pool whilst blindfolded - now imagine that swimming pool is several hundred feet deep and it is somewhere mid-water. I would rule that to be an extremely high Perception DC to recover.
Yar!
Where is this stated?
It is strongly implied by every description of Earth Glide except for the one gained by Earth School Wizards.
Earth Glide (Ex): At 15th level, you can glide through any sort of natural earth or stone as easily as a fish swims through water, with a burrow speed equal to half your normal speed. You do not leave a tunnel or trace of your passage. You can use this ability for 1 minute per sorcerer level each day. The duration need not be continuous, but it must be used in 1-minute increments.
Earth Glide (Su): You can pass through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except worked stone and metal as easily as a fish swims through water. If protected against fire damage, you can even glide through lava. You glide at your base land speed. While gliding, you breathe stone as if it were air (you do not need to hold your breath). Your burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or sign of your presence. A move earth spell cast on an area where you are flings you back 30 feet, stunning you for 1 round unless you succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save. Activating this ability is a free action. You can glide for 1 minute per day per oracle level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. You must be at least 7th level to select this revelation. You can bring other creatures with you when you glide, but each passenger costs an additional minute per minute of travel.
Earth Glide (Ex) When the creature burrows, it can pass through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. If protected against fire damage, it can even glide through lava. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other sign of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing the burrowing creature flings it back 30 feet, stunning it for 1 round unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save.
Format: earth glide; Location: Speed.
Earth Glide (Su): At 8th level, you gain the ability to move through earth, dirt, and stone for a number of rounds per day equal to your wizard level. You cannot move through worked earth or stone; only natural substances can be traversed. If your total duration expires before you exit the earth, you are flung back to the point where you entered the stone, take 4d6 points of damage, and are stunned for 1 round. Your burrowing does not leave a hole, nor does it give any sign of your presence (although you can be detected by creatures with tremorsense). These rounds do not need to be consecutive.
Most other ways to gain Earth Glide reference the Universal Monster text, so the nature of travel through earth via Earth Glide is apparently analogous to a fish swimming through water. Hence the comment of "treats earth and stone like water".
This could then be another thing that differentiates Earth Glide from Burrow.
Also, you'll note that only the Oracle mentions bringing other creatures into the earth with you. *shrugs*
~P
An earth elemental or similar creature partially in/out of a wall/floor would indeed get cover.
This means that all Earth Elementals summoned into an area with a stone or earth floor (ie: most) have +8 ac to what is listed in the text. 24 AC on a small earth elemental is pretty ridiculous, especially since NO penalties exist for those critters.
Doesn't cover work both ways more often than not, Purplefixer?
No. Also the rules about attacking INTO water state cover, not out of.
Still hoping for a Dev comment on this thread. These are some common core-effect issues.
Can you ready a partial charge?