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| 2 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Assuming that we take our tactical 5' square grid and turn it into a tactical 5' cube grid, for the purposes of combat in 3D, and look at the case where you are on the ground and your opponent is in the 5' cube in the ground directly below you.
These questions may depend on whether it is:
a) burrowing
b) earth gliding
1) Can it hit you?
2) Can you hit it?
If yes to either:
3) Do either of you get cover?
If no:
4) Can either of you AoO?
If any of the above is possible:
5) Is the answer the same if the creature below you is 5' offset in the ground but still in your threat range (i.e. in the 9 cubes which form the 3x3 grid directly below you).
Cheers
Richard
I would treat the ground as if it were a wall between you and the burrower.
Treat the ground as if it were water for an earth glider but still as a wall for you.
So, treating the ground as if it were water for earth gliders, they would have improved cover (+8) if they are partially submerged at the surface and total cover if they are totally submerged. I would suspect that if they were to attack you then they would only be partially submerged and receive improved cover.
Because they have cover, you do not get attacks of opportunity.
A 5 ft. offset is still in your threatened area so it doesn't matter.
I would say it depends on what type of ground it is and whether the two of you are aware of each others presence, because there are very few circumstances in which a sword is going through stone, soft dirt is a completely different matter however, and if you don't know anything is there why are you stabbing the ground?
Keep in mind that treating the ground like water for earth gliders does not mean the ground is like water for you.
I would rule that you have cover from an earth glider so they cannot make attacks of opportunity against you.
Plus both of you have total concealment from each other.
So an earth elemental attacking you from below has improved cover from you but you only have cover from it.
Is that right?
Richard
No, that's just my ruling. I am unable to find any rules regarding attacking creatures on "land" from "water".
I just figured they wouldn't be able to get an attack of opportunity against you.
As long as the earth gliding creature stayed in the ground, it would have full cover. The only way to get an attack on it would be to ready an attack for when it showed itself to attack you, or force it out of the ground somehow. For a burrowing creature, I would say that if it stayed within 5' of the surface, it would be in some sort of open pit or tunnel that it would be attacking from, which would give it partial cover. Neither would provoke AoO since cover negates them, if I recall correctly. For ease of ruling, I would say that you could reach the 3x3 grid above and below your plane same as you could if the target stood on the same surface as you.
So an earth elemental attacking you from below has improved cover from you but you only have cover from it.
Is that right?
Richard
Since it treats the earth as water, you would have no cover from it. However, unless it has some way of seeing through the earth, you would have concealment from it.
Tremorsense would do it. You would have no cover or concealment from the EE, while it would have full concealment and full cover as long as it stayed in the ground. A readied attack to go off when it showed itself would be the only way to hit it.