For reference:
Grease spell
I guess it comes down to whether an Earth Elemental ever fully stops using its Earth Glide ability. In other words, do they ever form feet to walk around, or do they just sort of poke out of the ground all the time?
Earth Glide is an ability (like flying, for example) that uses its own movement rules. If an earth elemental decided to walk through a greased area, it'd have to make the save. There would be nothing stopping it, however, from simply gliding through the ground beneath the greased area.
That's what I was leaning towards, but I wanted to put the question here in case anyone can think of something I'm not considering. Thanks.
|
This situation really is a corner case, so the impact of this ruling is pretty minimal.
In my game, I have described earth elementals as merging with the earth wherever they touch it, 'anchoring' them to the surface. This is mostly a descriptive way to reenforce their need to be in touch with their natural 'habitat', but it occasionally has a small benefit in mechanics. Of course, it also helps support the the earth elemental's desire to stay attached to the earth since they have negative effects when not attached.
For instance, when the earth elemental begins to set it's 'foot' on the ground, the ground will rise slightly (as if my magnetism) to meet the foot and then the foot and ground will merge together. While this effect is generally just window dressing, in the case of the grease spell, it would give the benefit that the earth elemental could ignore the spell since foot and earth are merging together. Of course, this is my game and is certainly not RAW.
This situation really is a corner case...
Barely one if at all, the rules are spelled out and there isn't any inherent paradox in the wording of Grease and Earth Glide/the EE's stat block.
Earth Glide is an ability (like flying, for example) that uses its own movement rules. If an earth elemental decided to walk through a greased area, it'd have to make the save. There would be nothing stopping it, however, from simply gliding through the ground beneath the greased area.
Is the correct answer by the rules.
If the elemental isn't below the ground/below the area of effect then it faces the spell the same as anything else.
---
If you need a fluff reason, and rules forum you don't the RAW is there but obviously it's nice, an elemental mixed with the ground would have the grease mixed in with his own earth. That would be what was destabilizing him.