Earth Elemental vs Bridge

[Lord Zardoz]

This is in reference to the Red Hand of Doom adventure, so yay spoiler.

Now, there is a bridge in that adventure that the players will want to tear down. The adventure lists several spells that may be workable for succeeding at this.

However, my players are going to attempt to have some small Earth Elementals help them tear it down. This is something that makes a great amount of sense to me. Aside from being a reasonably 'beefy' summoned monster, they ought to be pretty good at digging. However, there is nothing specific in the Monsterous Manual that would seem to apply here.

The bridge its self is wood dressed stone over a high cliff with one particularly weak spot at one of the anchoring points on the cliff face.

My first instinct is to let the elementals bypass any hardness due to stonework when attacking it. But should they be capable of doing more than that?

END COMMUNICATION

 

[green slime]

This sounds like an excellent plan.

Also consider that the elemental can move through the earth without hindrance, and so can easily attack the supporting arch.

 

[Deset Gled]

Aside from being a reasonably 'beefy' summoned monster, they ought to be pretty good at digging.

There's actually nothing in the EE description that makes it any better at digging than any other strong creature. Their glide ability does not displace ground. It may seem counter intuitive, but it's really not any different from the way that a fish can move through water, but can't make a big splash or a whirlpool (a whale or other huge fish might be able to, but it would be due to huge size and strength, not the fact that they're water creatures).

I think green slime's idea is the best one. EEs could easily attack the bridge from underground, destroying it's base at it's weakest spot.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Interesting.

The 1e DMG had rules for attacking structures that showed earth elementals as being particularly good at it, but since 3e didn't bother including any of that kind of stuff in the core rules, people are left on their own a bit here.

Off hand treants seem to be the best at destroying structures, but if I were DM I'd be fishing out my 1e books and extrapolating from there for earth elementals...

 

[MarkB]

Earth elementals could do with a re-write, really. Not only do they lack any special control or influence over their element, they don't even have any special sensory ability to allow them to navigate while earth-gliding.

 

[frankthedm]

I would not be so inclined to give a small earth elemental too much bridge destroying power.

IIRC those 1E elementals were the large to huge elementals of today. TBH Power attack really helps big elementals break stuff already.

A small elemental power attacking a structure deals 1d6+6 [9.5], barely enough to harm stone

A medium elemental power attacking a structure deals 1d8+11 [15.5], always enough to harm stone.

A Lagre elemental power attacking a structure deals 2d8+14 [23] twice a round, enough to ding adamantine structures.

A huge elemental power attacking a structure deals 2d10+22 [32] twice a round, which can make short work of a lot of things.

 

[Dirigible]

Earth elementals could do with a re-write, really. Not only do they lack any special control or influence over their element, they don't even have any special sensory ability to allow them to navigate while earth-gliding.

Seconded. RAW elementals are boring.

So, you have two ways to go here, Lord Zardoz: use the rules literally as several other posters have given advice on how to do; or use your imagination and common sense, with which you will probably find that earth elementals are extremely effective at dismantling earthen or stonework structures.

 

[MrNexx]

My solution? Earth Elementals ignore hardness for anything made of the element Earth... meaning stone, adamantine, etc. They just reach into it and pull it apart.