Can you dig it? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can you dig it? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
cthulhu42
05-25-04, 04:59 AM I need to dig a tunnel, probably about 200 to 300 feet long, large enough for a human to move through. My PC is a 14th level wizard.

Seems like it shouldn't be a big deal, but I'm not finding a whole lot of spells to facillitate the tunnleing process.

I've thought of summoning some earth elementals to do the work, but the MM doesn't give a lot of info on their digging skills.

I've thought of asking my DM if I can summon an alternate creature, like a purple worm, but thus far I havn't been able to ask her, and it'll be a long shot, as allowing alternate creatures would open a big can of worms, which I doubt she wants to deal with.

I've thought of polymorphing myself into a small dragon because I've heard that they can dig pretty well, but thus far I havn't been able to find that info either.

We have a little bit of time to do this, say a few days or so. I'm planning on useing Fabricate or Wall spells to support the tunnel to avoide cave ins.

I also have a cleric buddy (14th level) if that helps.

What am I missing?
zerpentor
05-25-04, 09:36 AM a few options:

1. I'd polymorph into a mole or large mole

2. get a shovel and pick and start digging

3. hand out shovels and picks and have someone else dig for you

4. charm someone and have him/her dig with his/her bare hands

5. use teleport to teleport dirt and rock away
SoldierOfFortune187
05-25-04, 09:39 AM Isn't there a Move Earth spell which details just what kind of dimensions it can handle with each casting?

Barring that, make friends with some dwarves, summon up some elemental plane of earth natives, and have at it.

Keep in mind, unless you are tunneling through solid stone (which would slow you done), you will probably need to reinforce the tunnel from the inside.
Vaettyr
05-25-04, 10:59 AM Move earth would be good, except for a little bit at the end:
The spell cannot be used for tunneling and is generally too slow to trap or bury creatures. Its primary use is for digging or filling moats or for adjusting terrain contours before a battle.
I'd just polymorph into some kind of mole, or something with a burrow speed
ehrin
05-25-04, 11:35 AM other options, to add some fun along with the polymorph and elemental summoning

have your unseen servant(s) help. they can help haul away dirt, brush sides, carry wood, etc. Not much weight, but a constant supply of it can be taken a little at a time.

prestidigitation can move a handful or two of dirt constantly, for an hour with little effort. Cast a series of those to help with the small touches and sandy areas.

Stone to Flesh spell is handy.

summon normal monsters, like dire badgers. isn't much, but every so often it is fun to send one down the shaft and scare the dwarves.
Waylan Wolf
05-25-04, 11:43 AM What about disintegrate? that should destroy up to 10 cubic feet of matter per casting... only 20-30 casting to make your tunnel.;)
zerpentor
05-26-04, 06:40 AM lol yes.... there is nothing more rewarding that digging away 10 feet of gooye flesh instead of dirt and rock :P
Lily_Knight
05-26-04, 06:58 AM Look under being buried/landslides/avalanches in the DMG. There is a small section there on how much earth can be moved with a certain amount of strength. Then summon the biggest strongest thing you can imagine.

Cuz it could dig it
:cool:

Sorry...that call was rather lame.
Nimrud
05-26-04, 06:59 AM Stone Shape?
Winsome
05-26-04, 10:55 AM Summon Umber Hulk?

(Nice pun in the original post "Big Can of Worms", it'd need to be big for Purple Worms)
olshanski_home
05-26-04, 11:05 AM Regarding Disintegrate: 10 cubic feet is very small area:
Figure you will need the tunnel to be about 4 feet high and 2.5 feet wide... it will be a very tight squeeze for anyone wearing armor... That is 10 cubic feet.
If you want to make a tunnel 200 feet long, it will take 200 disintegrate spells to make your small crawlspace.

If you go with a tunnel that is 2.5 feet by 2 feet... then someone can belly-crawl through it... probably an escape artist check of about 15 (but people can take 20 and go very slow)... then you could make it with half the number of disintigrate spells.
KangTheCallipygian
05-26-04, 04:15 PM Rather than digging up chunks of gooey flesh in the Stone To Flesh example, could you then cast Animate Dead on it so it would just crawl out of its hole and slither away horribly? Stone to Flesh says it would turn an ordinary statue into a corpse... Animate Dead says to make a zombie you need a mostly-intact corpse of a creature with a true anatomy. Anyone other than me care to speculate whether you could Stone To Flesh a big, snake-shaped chunk of rock in the ground into a "corpse" suitable for animation? Might be pushing the rules a little; well, probably a lot... but the looks on the faces of the fleeing, terrorized commoners when this great fleshy 3-foot by 10-foot zombie fleshworm passes through the local hamlet might just make it worth bending them, just this once... :)

Seriously though, as for Move Earth, if you want to use it instead of Stone Shape (which I didn't look up but for now am assuming would work since nobody's contradicted Nimrud) or any of the various other suggestions here, you could use it to make a trench, then cast Wall of Stone to make a roof of sorts to cover it. Presto! A tunnel.

But I like the horrific zombified flesh-tube idea better ;)

Kang
RobTzu
05-26-04, 08:02 PM 2ed had a "dig" spell which I still don't know why they got rid of. Yeah, your best bet is this:
Your Cleric casts "Soften Earth and Stone". It Specificaly says that it can be used on Vertical faces. It is only 2nd level, so he can load up his higher level spots on it. You can then use your unseen servants, as earlier, to move the Loose earth away. Or just use a bucket brigade or such.
Gandilas
05-26-04, 11:21 PM SRD says:

Burrow: A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.

The only creatures I can find in the SRD that say they CAN leave a tunnel behind are the Dire Badger, an Ankheg and the Frost Worm. Ankheg's and Frost Worms are kinda hard to come by, however Dire Badgers can be summoned with a Summon Monster III. They can make a 5' diameter tunnel, 10 feet deep per MEA or 20 feet a round. 14 rounds and you have 280' of raw tunnel. Haste him and he can dig 40' per MEA or 80' per round (Wow!).

Don't ask me where all the dirt goes though...
cthulhu42
05-27-04, 03:22 AM Sweet! Dire badger! Now we're talking! Thanks. :D
Gandilas
05-28-04, 12:13 PM Hello.

Just make sure you can somehow speak with the wolf when he appears..otherwise summoned creatures will just stand there and attack the nearest creature.
SmiloDan
05-28-04, 01:09 PM can you cast passwall or phase door?
Lady Ishtar
05-28-04, 01:22 PM long time ago we made this spell called Rock to Food. the purpose of said spell was to eat our way out of dungeos and such, as our DM liked cave-ins
mercurial67
05-28-04, 02:23 PM Originally posted by olshanski_home
Regarding Disintegrate: 10 cubic feet is very small area:
Figure you will need the tunnel to be about 4 feet high and 2.5 feet wide... it will be a very tight squeeze for anyone wearing armor... That is 10 cubic feet. The spell itself says one 10 foot cube of non-living matter. While I agree 4x2.5x1=10 cubic feet, the spell actually does one 10 foot cube (10x10x10=1000 cubic feet) so it would only take 20-30 castings to make a nice sized tunnel.
Krelios
05-28-04, 02:58 PM A Dire Bader with Animal Growth should make that 5' tunnel into a 10' one fairly easily. I think that's the way to go. All you'd have to do is follow it and brace what he's dug out--shouldn't be too hard considering he only does about 20' a round.
eudas
05-28-04, 03:19 PM Originally posted by Lady Ishtar
long time ago we made this spell called Rock to Food. the purpose of said spell was to eat our way out of dungeos and such, as our DM liked cave-ins

I turn the cave-in into... Ice Cream! Dig in, boys!
Heh. While seriously damaging suspension of disbelief, it is still amusing. :)

eudas
CJ1720
05-28-04, 10:51 PM Check out animate objects (PHB 3.0 p. 174). It is a cleric 6 spell. Allows 1 cubic foot per caster level of raw mattr such as water or rock to become animated and have a sembalance of life and mobility. Of course they want to attack someone or something, but the caster can control that.

Could help. Just get the dirt and rock to walk out.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
cthulhu42 05-25-04, 04:59 AM	I need to dig a tunnel, probably about 200 to 300 feet long, large enough for a human to move through. My PC is a 14th level wizard. Seems like it shouldn't be a big deal, but I'm not finding a whole lot of spells to facillitate the tunnleing process. I've thought of summoning some earth elementals to do the work, but the MM doesn't give a lot of info on their digging skills. I've thought of asking my DM if I can summon an alternate creature, like a purple worm, but thus far I havn't been able to ask her, and it'll be a long shot, as allowing alternate creatures would open a big can of worms, which I doubt she wants to deal with. I've thought of polymorphing myself into a small dragon because I've heard that they can dig pretty well, but thus far I havn't been able to find that info either. We have a little bit of time to do this, say a few days or so. I'm planning on useing Fabricate or Wall spells to support the tunnel to avoide cave ins. I also have a cleric buddy (14th level) if that helps. What am I missing?
zerpentor 05-25-04, 09:36 AM	a few options: 1. I'd polymorph into a mole or large mole 2. get a shovel and pick and start digging 3. hand out shovels and picks and have someone else dig for you 4. charm someone and have him/her dig with his/her bare hands 5. use teleport to teleport dirt and rock away
SoldierOfFortune187 05-25-04, 09:39 AM	Isn't there a Move Earth spell which details just what kind of dimensions it can handle with each casting? Barring that, make friends with some dwarves, summon up some elemental plane of earth natives, and have at it. Keep in mind, unless you are tunneling through solid stone (which would slow you done), you will probably need to reinforce the tunnel from the inside.
Vaettyr 05-25-04, 10:59 AM	Move earth would be good, except for a little bit at the end: The spell cannot be used for tunneling and is generally too slow to trap or bury creatures. Its primary use is for digging or filling moats or for adjusting terrain contours before a battle. I'd just polymorph into some kind of mole, or something with a burrow speed
ehrin 05-25-04, 11:35 AM	other options, to add some fun along with the polymorph and elemental summoning have your unseen servant(s) help. they can help haul away dirt, brush sides, carry wood, etc. Not much weight, but a constant supply of it can be taken a little at a time. prestidigitation can move a handful or two of dirt constantly, for an hour with little effort. Cast a series of those to help with the small touches and sandy areas. Stone to Flesh spell is handy. summon normal monsters, like dire badgers. isn't much, but every so often it is fun to send one down the shaft and scare the dwarves.
Waylan Wolf 05-25-04, 11:43 AM	What about disintegrate? that should destroy up to 10 cubic feet of matter per casting... only 20-30 casting to make your tunnel.;)
zerpentor 05-26-04, 06:40 AM	lol yes.... there is nothing more rewarding that digging away 10 feet of gooye flesh instead of dirt and rock :P
Lily_Knight 05-26-04, 06:58 AM	Look under being buried/landslides/avalanches in the DMG. There is a small section there on how much earth can be moved with a certain amount of strength. Then summon the biggest strongest thing you can imagine. Cuz it could dig it :cool: Sorry...that call was rather lame.
Nimrud 05-26-04, 06:59 AM	Stone Shape?
Winsome 05-26-04, 10:55 AM	Summon Umber Hulk? (Nice pun in the original post "Big Can of Worms", it'd need to be big for Purple Worms)
olshanski_home 05-26-04, 11:05 AM	Regarding Disintegrate: 10 cubic feet is very small area: Figure you will need the tunnel to be about 4 feet high and 2.5 feet wide... it will be a very tight squeeze for anyone wearing armor... That is 10 cubic feet. If you want to make a tunnel 200 feet long, it will take 200 disintegrate spells to make your small crawlspace. If you go with a tunnel that is 2.5 feet by 2 feet... then someone can belly-crawl through it... probably an escape artist check of about 15 (but people can take 20 and go very slow)... then you could make it with half the number of disintigrate spells.
KangTheCallipygian 05-26-04, 04:15 PM	Rather than digging up chunks of gooey flesh in the Stone To Flesh example, could you then cast Animate Dead on it so it would just crawl out of its hole and slither away horribly? Stone to Flesh says it would turn an ordinary statue into a corpse... Animate Dead says to make a zombie you need a mostly-intact corpse of a creature with a true anatomy. Anyone other than me care to speculate whether you could Stone To Flesh a big, snake-shaped chunk of rock in the ground into a "corpse" suitable for animation? Might be pushing the rules a little; well, probably a lot... but the looks on the faces of the fleeing, terrorized commoners when this great fleshy 3-foot by 10-foot zombie fleshworm passes through the local hamlet might just make it worth bending them, just this once... :) Seriously though, as for Move Earth, if you want to use it instead of Stone Shape (which I didn't look up but for now am assuming would work since nobody's contradicted Nimrud) or any of the various other suggestions here, you could use it to make a trench, then cast Wall of Stone to make a roof of sorts to cover it. Presto! A tunnel. But I like the horrific zombified flesh-tube idea better ;) Kang
RobTzu 05-26-04, 08:02 PM	2ed had a "dig" spell which I still don't know why they got rid of. Yeah, your best bet is this: Your Cleric casts "Soften Earth and Stone". It Specificaly says that it can be used on Vertical faces. It is only 2nd level, so he can load up his higher level spots on it. You can then use your unseen servants, as earlier, to move the Loose earth away. Or just use a bucket brigade or such.
Gandilas 05-26-04, 11:21 PM	SRD says: Burrow: A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details. The only creatures I can find in the SRD that say they CAN leave a tunnel behind are the Dire Badger, an Ankheg and the Frost Worm. Ankheg's and Frost Worms are kinda hard to come by, however Dire Badgers can be summoned with a Summon Monster III. They can make a 5' diameter tunnel, 10 feet deep per MEA or 20 feet a round. 14 rounds and you have 280' of raw tunnel. Haste him and he can dig 40' per MEA or 80' per round (Wow!). Don't ask me where all the dirt goes though...
cthulhu42 05-27-04, 03:22 AM	Sweet! Dire badger! Now we're talking! Thanks. :D
Gandilas 05-28-04, 12:13 PM	Hello. Just make sure you can somehow speak with the wolf when he appears..otherwise summoned creatures will just stand there and attack the nearest creature.
SmiloDan 05-28-04, 01:09 PM	can you cast passwall or phase door?
Lady Ishtar 05-28-04, 01:22 PM	long time ago we made this spell called Rock to Food. the purpose of said spell was to eat our way out of dungeos and such, as our DM liked cave-ins
mercurial67 05-28-04, 02:23 PM	Originally posted by olshanski_home Regarding Disintegrate: 10 cubic feet is very small area: Figure you will need the tunnel to be about 4 feet high and 2.5 feet wide... it will be a very tight squeeze for anyone wearing armor... That is 10 cubic feet. The spell itself says one 10 foot cube of non-living matter. While I agree 4x2.5x1=10 cubic feet, the spell actually does one 10 foot cube (10x10x10=1000 cubic feet) so it would only take 20-30 castings to make a nice sized tunnel.
Krelios 05-28-04, 02:58 PM	A Dire Bader with Animal Growth should make that 5' tunnel into a 10' one fairly easily. I think that's the way to go. All you'd have to do is follow it and brace what he's dug out--shouldn't be too hard considering he only does about 20' a round.
eudas 05-28-04, 03:19 PM	Originally posted by Lady Ishtar long time ago we made this spell called Rock to Food. the purpose of said spell was to eat our way out of dungeos and such, as our DM liked cave-ins I turn the cave-in into... Ice Cream! Dig in, boys! Heh. While seriously damaging suspension of disbelief, it is still amusing. :) eudas
CJ1720 05-28-04, 10:51 PM	Check out animate objects (PHB 3.0 p. 174). It is a cleric 6 spell. Allows 1 cubic foot per caster level of raw mattr such as water or rock to become animated and have a sembalance of life and mobility. Of course they want to attack someone or something, but the caster can control that. Could help. Just get the dirt and rock to walk out.