Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NinjaPenguin 07-16-07, 01:59 AM	I originally sent this to Customer Service on 07/12/2007: I have a few questions about two abilities of the Earth Dreamer: Earth Sight and Earth Glide. First a few things I want to confirm: 1) All your equipment moves through the earth with you when you Glide. This seems like a no-brainer, but it never hurts to check. 2a) Given (1), If you are within a stone or earth floor or wall and adjacent (in the 3D sense) to a foe, your can melee attack them as normal, since your weapon is not impeded by the earth, being part of your equipment. 2b)This could also be true of a Reach weapon, though I'm not sure. 3a) Given (2a), if I am in a square in the floor/wall, I have total cover from my enemy. If I then attack my foe, he is flat-footed, and, since I have not actually left the wall, I still have total cover after the attack. I could, in theory, gain a full attack with my opponent flat-footed in this manner. I seem to recall that, even if your foe knows the exact square you're in and can 'pinpoint' you, you still have total cover/concealment from him and can thus attack him flat-footed. 3b) Given (2b), could I stand on the opposite side of a less-than-5 foot thick stone wall, see my opponent through Earth Sight, and attack him by using Earth Glide to allow myself, and thus my equipment, to glide through stone? 4) If a spell requires Line of Sight, but not Line of Effect, I am able to use Earth Sight and apply that's spells effect to the area I can now see. 5) If a spell DOES require Line of Effect, and I am in a floor or wall adjacent to open air, I can 'reach out' of the surface to target my spell. 6a) And the big one, if I am in a surface using Earth Glide and NOT adjacent to open air, do I have line of effect since I, and by extension all my equipment and effects, treat the stone 'as easily as a fish swims through water'? 6b) Related question, would thrown ranged weapons and/or projectiles be usable from within a stone surface this way? 7) While earth gliding, can you breathe? Their response: Thank you for writing. While no specific rules are in place to govern attacking or casting spells through or from within a wall, you sound like you are on your way to setting up some house rules for this scenario. I suggest you sit down with your Dungeon Master and go over what is the most fair and balanced resolution for these situations and so that your can handle them quickly if they appear in your game. Unfortunately I cannot assist you in the creation of these house rules, but it should definitely streamline play if any or all of these scenarios pop up in your campaign. So I come to you here. I understand there are no rules governing what characters can and can't do inside and through solid earth while using earth glide, and how actually being able to see via Earth Sight changes even these basics. Thank you.
Metafictional 07-16-07, 04:59 AM	Well, I think that answer is bunk, thanks Cust Serv. They have Incorporeal creatures, don't they? Heck, look at the Improved Shadow with Spring Attack. Guess what he's supposed to do. Heck, Xorn do the same thing as your Earth Glide, as do Earth Elementals. So. Yes, you can attack from within the earth. You would be considered to have Cover just as if you attacked through a solid wall. This hard cover would benefit you, and not your enemy, of course. Now if you were using a reach weapon, it's not even cover anymore, they simply cannot attack anything but your weapon, since there's at least 5' of solid whatever between you both. To attack you, they must strike the ground with enough force to bypass it's hardness and hit points, and I imagine the excess would hurt you. Spells are out of the question. Though you can see, there is still the fact that solid ground and cover block line of effect. So no spells for you while entombed in the earth, at least those that require line of effect to the target. On the other hand, buffs and heals work, just as they do for a Cleric who uses Meld into Stone. Further, you could reach a hand out to use a touch spell...heck, you could touch their boot or something, and still claim full Cover. But ranged spells should be a no go, as I understand the rules for line of effect. There are, of course, ways to get at you with spells, such as Disintegrate, Soften Earth or Stone, or Transmute Rock to Mud (or Stone to Flesh...eww) which could have some icky effects when targeting the ground. While line of effect is blocked, can you use ranged weapons? That might be fun, shooting arrows through solid walls and the like...