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| 6 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
The icy prison found in Ultimate Magic needs some additional clarification please.
The target that makes the Reflex save against this spell is entangled for its duration. How does the target remove itself from the entangled condition? Is it a full-round Strength check? Or can the target escape from the entangled condition using a grapple maneuver? What is the spell's CMD?
Does the ice encasing the target "protect" it against outside effect, such as weapons, spell rays, and AoE? Is it possible to coup de grace the helpless target encased in ice? By the spell's description, the ice is 1" thick per caster level (minimum 9" by most casters)
And lastly, how did this 5th level spell receive a base DC of 15? Most other spells of this level usually start at DC 10 plus modifiers.
The spell has no special rules for escaping its entanglement so that does need to be addressed.
The spell has no CMD because you are not being grappled. If you fail or even save, making a CMB check does you no good.
The target being in ice means it is "protected", since line of effect is block, but it also means it is helpless. If you want to capture someone, but you have to kill their buddies this is not a bad spell to have.
The base DC of 15 for level 5 spells is 15(10+spell level). In this case however I think the DC is 15 to start because otherwise the spell would not be able to hold anyone.
As an example if the normal save DC's were used for they wanted the spell to have a high enough strength DC that most people can not escape.
As an example a level 9 caster would force a DC of 24.
A dedicated full BAB NPC(levels 8 to 10) might have a +7 or 8 modifier to strength per my estimation. They need a 17ish roll to get out.
PS: The reflex DC to not get trapped still follows the normal DC spell rules.
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So my issue with this spell is that even if the target makes its initial save against the spell, he is now entangled for the duration of the spell (minutes per level). The target is going to take damage each turn (1 point per level) until it can break free (either an impossible or obnoxious STR check). With this spell at minimum, the target is entangled and taking 9 points of damage each round at minimum for the rest of combat (even powerful spells like slay living and disintegrate deal significant less damage 1-time if the save is made).
Can the entangled target attack the ice entangling it to break free? The spell description explains 0 hardness and 3 hit points per inch of ice, so it would suggest to me that the ice itself can be attacked (but not by a target that failed the save against the spell).
There is nothing preventing a creature that made their save from attacking the ice themselves.
This is also around the level where freedom of movement becomes a common ability for PC's to gain access to.
EDIT: Perhaps just as important as the OP's FAQ request on the spell ... The range listed for the spell on the OP's Link (the PRD) is listed as medium but in parathaseis it shows 10ft + 10ft/level. Should that not be 100ft + 10ft/level?
Yeah it would be 100+10. There is a thread somewhere in the forums to submit prd typos.
