So pretty much anyone can look at the spell Earthquake and pretty easily determine what it will do to most creatures in most situations, but there's one situation that I find is curiously absent that I was hoping to maybe get some insight on, and that's creatures that aren't in a cavern, but are actually in the midst of tunneling through the ground itself, whether through a burrow speed or Earth glide if you're an elemental.
It's fairly obvious that this spell would do SOMETHING to these creatures, but out of everything listed in the spell's various effects I'm having trouble finding one that would fit. I find it hard to believe, for instance, that a creature with a burrow speed could actually be pinned by "falling" debris in their little tunnel, as the act of burrowing is almost like constantly dealing with the threat of a cave-in, and this isn't even touching those with Earth Glide, as that states you can basically move through the ground like it's water.
Might I suggest an errata that takes a beat from Pokemon, where creatures that are burrowing or planted underground aren't pinned but instead take extra damage from getting jostled around by the movements of the earth?
Bumping to see if anyone would like to give input.
Sorry Sigh,
You are in Rules Questions.
The spell will do what it says it does, and no more.
Trying to get more out of it by reasonable extrapolation is more a homebrew kind of question.
^-^
Trying to make anything make sense about the tunneling ability is doomed to failure.
Sorry Sigh,
You are in Rules Questions.
The spell will do what it says it does, and no more.
Trying to get more out of it by reasonable extrapolation is more a homebrew kind of question.^-^
Trying to make anything make sense about the tunneling ability is doomed to failure.
I mean, to be fair, I've also been told that this section can also sometimes get the developers in to explain their intent which is less homebrew and more errata, though I suppose with it being such a high level spell that makes it less likely that someone will have come across this situation and needed answers.
It is a reasonable question; unfortunately, I don't know of any published rule text that sheds any light on this situation. I suppose you could argue that a tunneling creature is effectively in a very cramped (cave, cavern, or tunnel)...?
Now, since this is Rules, cave-ins, which are a big part of your question:
Cave-In / Collapse CR 8
XP 4,800Cave-ins and collapsing tunnels are extremely dangerous. Not only do dungeon explorers face the danger of being crushed by tons of falling rock, but even if they survive they might be buried beneath a pile of rubble or cut off from the only known exit. A cave-in buries anyone in the middle of the collapsing area, and then sliding debris damages anyone in the periphery of the collapse. A typical corridor subject to a cave-in might have a bury zone with a 15-foot radius and a 10-foot-wide slide zone extending beyond the bury zone.
A weakened ceiling can be spotted with a DC 20 Knowledge (engineering) or DC 20 Craft (stonemasonry) check. Remember that Craft checks can be made untrained as Intelligence checks. A dwarf can make such a check if he simply passes within 10 feet of a weakened ceiling.
A weakened ceiling might collapse when subjected to a major impact or concussion. A character can cause a cave-in by destroying half the pillars holding up the ceiling.
Characters in the bury zone of a cave-in take 8d6 points of damage, or half that amount if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. They are subsequently buried. Characters in the slide zone take 3d6 points of damage, or no damage at all if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. Characters in the slide zone who fail their saves are buried.
Characters take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage per minute while buried. If such a character falls unconscious, he must make a DC 15 Constitution check each minute. If it fails, he takes 1d6 points of lethal damage each minute until freed or dead.
Characters who aren’t buried can dig out their friends. In 1 minute, using only her hands, a character can clear rocks and debris equal to five times her heavy load limit. The amount of loose stone that fills a 5-foot-by-5-foot area weighs 1 ton (2,000 pounds). Armed with an appropriate tool, such as a pick, crowbar, or shovel, a digger can clear loose stone twice as quickly as by hand. A buried character can attempt to free himself with a DC 25 Strength check.
With this being defined as an encounter, it is, by definition, GM territory only. So, you only get cave-ins and the like when the GM decides that is what is going to happen. Frankly, I have to agree with this being the right way to handle it.
Now, if when you reference tunneling creatures, you mean specifically Burrowing creatures you really get no help. Burrowing creatures do not leave tunnels behind them, so are effectively swimming through the dirt. If you are trying to mess with Burrowing critters you need to stick with create water and mud to rock.
I figured that earthquakes could still mess with burrowing creatures given that creatures that can swim are still susceptible to being damaged by things like bad enough currents or whirlpools, especially since most non-magical creatures with a Burrow speed don't leave a tunnel behind them because it actually fills in behind them as opposed to basically "swimming" through it.
I figured that earthquakes could still mess with burrowing creatures given that creatures that can swim are still susceptible to being damaged by things like bad enough currents or whirlpools, especially since most non-magical creatures with a Burrow speed don't leave a tunnel behind them because it actually fills in behind them as opposed to basically "swimming" through it.
That makes sense, but, barring liquefaction cases where water is actually present, earth just isn't all that fluid, even in an earthquake. Pressure seems like it should be a thing, until you consider what pressure just moving would inflict on a burrower.