Help With Justifying / Denying Urban Entangle

[Blue Tempest]

So my group is planning on playing in an Urban setting for a game, and the Druid insist on taking the Entangled spell, claiming that people grew stuff on window sills or creeping vines on houses or even grass in between cobblestones on the roads.

I honestly don't know how to counter this as it kinda sorta sounds like it makes sense? But then again it sounds kinda broken, not to mention difficult to keep track of what places would have such plants or wouldn't. But at the same time, I'm afraid of just outright saying "No" and causing some tension over it. Obviously I told the players the game would take place in such a setting, so the player knew full well what they were getting into.

And of course, said Druid is planning on the "Potted Plant" excuse as well.

I honestly don't know how to approach this as this comes off as stretching the rules so far, it's borderline breaking them.

[Nargemn]

It should really come down to GM fiat. In a park, or somewhere where things are very overgrown with lots of plants and gardens with grasses seeping up through cobblestones? Sure, that should be fine. But if they're in a new construction where all the earth is churned up dirt or in the mayor's office, then that would be a no. You'll have to figure it on a case-by-case basis. Just make sure you're clear with your player when he goes to use it whether the area will work with the spell or not. Nothing will sour them more than casting it just to have you go "ah well, didn't work!"

[Ishmell]

The spell specifically calls out tall grass, which tells me that short grass wouldn't be as effective. The way the spell reads to me is that it would affect any plants in the area but only ones that are big enough would be very effective. It doesn't say anything about them growing to work.

[Helen Taylor 558]

The thing to remember is that Entangle doesn't make plants grow it just makes them entangle anything in the area of effect.

[Ascalaphus]

I wouldn't go for the potted plant nonsense. The whole 5ft square needs to have vegetation before it's enough to be useful.

A typical city street wouldn't have enough vegetation. A well-groomed lawn doesn't even have "tall grass" enough. The garden-gone-feral around a haunted mansion is another story of course.

But altogether, it just isn't a good spell in a city. The way the spell is written doesn't seem to imply the plants grow a lot, if it all. So if the plants are too small to wrap around people, the spell won't work. What you need is ivy, lots of ivy.

[The Steel Refrain]

Ascalaphus wrote:

I wouldn't go for the potted plant nonsense. The whole 5ft square needs to have vegetation before it's enough to be useful.

A typical city street wouldn't have enough vegetation. A well-groomed lawn doesn't even have "tall grass" enough. The garden-gone-feral around a haunted mansion is another story of course.

But altogether, it just isn't a good spell in a city. The way the spell is written doesn't seem to imply the plants grow a lot, if it all. So if the plants are too small to wrap around people, the spell won't work. What you need is ivy, lots of ivy.

I agree with Ascalaphus. The circumstances of where Entangle might work in an urban setting are realistically going to be very limited, regardless of the player's attempts to creatively subvert that portion of the spell.

If it were me playing the Druid, I'd look at preparing something different.

[BigNorseWolf]

He's a memorized caster

Memorize something else

[Cevah]

Entangle would only affect areas with plants, so most of the area would be unaffected. I also agree that minor plants won't do.

Use this combo instead:
Climbing Beanstalk to generate a large plant.
Thorny Entanglement to attack lots of things.

The latter spell will even work on minor plants, and will thus cover a lot of area missed by the regular entangle spell.

/cevah