Earth Elemental Sensory Perception while Earth Gliding

[Crazyshak48]

Hi all. I have a couple questions regarding earth elementals and the Elemental Body spell. I was using Elemental Body recently to bypass a cliff by earth gliding. However, my GM ruled that without tremorsense I wouldn't be able to perceive what was around my exit point, and I was promptly pancaked by a frost giant at the top when I emerged. This leads me to two questions:

1. Does an earth elemental have means (besides tremorsense) of perceiving activity in the world around it while earth gliding? Or am I effectively blind if I earth glide without tremorsense?

2. Would adding tremorsense to the earth elemental form of the Elemental Body spells be a reasonable home brew addition, with its radius getting wider for more powerful versions of Elemental Body (20 ft for EB I, 30 ft for EB II, etc.)? Or was that deliberately omitted from the spell for game balance reasons?

Thanks for the feedback!

[avr]

Earth elementals have darkvision (irrelevant here) and tremorsense but no other listed unusual senses. I expect they can feel the texture of stone they're touching and maybe taste it too, and ordinary hearing might let you tell that there was a frost giant stomping around, but tremorsense would be their main means of sensing things at range while within the stone.

Giving tremorsense for free doesn't immediately seem balanced to me. Of course if you feel the elemental body spell needs a boost that's up to your GM or to you when you run a game. Typically tremorsense becomes available at the last spell in a polymorph line like beast shape IV or monstrous physique IV.

[Volkard Abendroth]

Elemental Body does not grant any senses that can be used while earth gliding.

You can pick up boots that grant tremor sense fairly cheaply if you intend to continue using the spell.

[Crazyshak48]

Understood. Just seemed odd that Beast Shape would grant it but Elemental Body wouldn't. But, them's the rules. So, note for the future: Don't earth glide when I don't know what's at my planned exit point.

[Diego Rossi]

You can still make perception checks to hear the made noise by a creature and to notice the vibrations made by its movements.
And the creature needs to do the same unless it has the appropriate perceptive abilities.
It doesn't get to attack you for free because the omniscient GM know where you are. Chances are that you are both surprised when you exit the ground and who act first will be determined by an initiative check.

BTW, for a character in earth elemental form moving through the earth is as easy as swimming in water for a fish, but the earth provides total cover.
If you poke your head out of the terrain, you get improved cover, +8 to AC and +4 to reflex saves (see the CRB, pp. 196 and 432).