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A party member is fighting a large creature which walks halfway over a pit trap.
1) Does this trigger the trap (reveal it)?
2) How much of the creature has to be over the trap before it falls in?
3 If it doesn't fall, what happens?
Please give a reference if possible. Thanks.
Good luck. There is no reference.
Me, I simply have them step in the pit with a single leg, stumble, and then pull their leg out of the pit. If I'm generous (to the pit, not to the large creature), I might add a REF save to not fall prone, and/or have the creature end its movement there as they pull their foot out of the pit and regain their balance.
Think of it like this: have you ever stepped off of a curb (from the sidewalk down to the street) without meaning to? Have you ever walked down some stairs and thought you were at the bottom (ground) but you were still on the last step, so when you walked forward, you actually fell a little bit to the ground? Have you ever walked across a field and stepped in a hole (maybe a rabbit hole or a place where someone removed a basketball-sized rock) that you didn't see?
In all those cases, you probably stumbled, maybe fell or maybe not (REF save with a low DC to avoid falling prone), and maybe stopped for a moment to catch your balance (ended that move action).
That's the most I would do. But I know of zero rules for any of that.
I agree that there are no rules.
I disagree with DM_Blakes examples. Assuming we are talking about a standard 5' pit trap, the equivalent for a medium size creature would be a 2.5 x 2.5 hole. Certainly you would have a better chance of not falling all the way in, but it is quite a bit more significant than a curb or a rabbit hole.
I would have occupying the square trigger the trap. Then I would probably apply the squeezing penalty as a bonus to their reflex save to avoid falling in (obviously if they were too big to squeeze into the hole, they couldn't fall in it.) If they didn't fall, I would probably allow them to continue as normal.
I think there are rules that say large creatures don't fall into a 1x1 pit, but not even 100% sure about that, and fairly confident it doesn't give any detail beyond that even if that is a thing (such as going on to say what % of area must be involved, or anything like that).
There are also rules that allow Large creatures to move through and into 1x1 hallways, called Squeezing. Other than it being a vertical sort of movement instead of horizontal, it's not really any different.
I think there are rules that say large creatures don't fall into a 1x1 pit, but not even 100% sure about that, and fairly confident it doesn't give any detail beyond that even if that is a thing (such as going on to say what % of area must be involved, or anything like that).There are also rules that allow Large creatures to move through and into 1x1 hallways, called Squeezing. Other than it being a vertical sort of movement instead of horizontal, it's not really any different.
And as mentioned above, sticking that leg into a 1x1 pit, even as a 4x4 creature, is going to be unpleasant.
If the pit's big enough for the whole creature, I think I'd let them fall in. Half or more is enough to treat it as 'normal', as in the above, or if you're fond of Create Pit--normal Reflex save or fall in. It'd be easier to climb OUT, of course, but falling in will still hurt as normal.
If the pit's too small, I'd do the Reflex save. On a fail, your leg shot in. Some damage (would half be fair?) due to the awkward twist, stop moving, and effectively prone.
Thanks for your thoughts guys. I took a look at 4 edition, and according to those rules the monster would only fall if all its squares were over the whole, and if it only partially went over it would just have to move or squeeze on its next turn, but that rule doesn't entirely make sense to me. I definitely think a reflex save should somehow be involved.