Reverse Gravity - Indoors

[Ferrum]

Recently a situation came up in our game, and it seemed a little odd to me.

We were in a 30 ft wide, 30 ft tall corridor. Stone golems were approaching, the druid cast reverse gravity, capturing 3 of them in the effect.

The stone golems were huge. According to the MM, they are 18 ft tall. The druid cast the spell placing the 10ft cubes 5ft above the ground, making the golems lift to 15ft above the ground, 15 ft below the ceiling.

Now, according to the SRD:

If an object or creature reaches the top of the area without striking anything, it remains there, oscillating slightly, until the spell ends.

Here's where the weirdness comes in. Huge creatures have a reach of 15'. According to RAW, the golems could reach out and touch the walls, ceiling or floor and pull themselves out of the area of effect. But picturing the scene in my head, an 18 ft tall humanoid shaped creature should have arms between 7' and 8'. If its center of gravity is fixed at 15' above the ground and below the ceiling, I can't see it reaching any surface to pull itself along.

I can see a huge creature leaning over and reaching into a space 15' away if its got solid footing or if it's flying, but not if it has no leverage.

Am I way off? Does the above quote make my point?

 

[blargney the second]

I don't have 5' arms, but I have 5' reach. "But that's not how it is in real life" logic doesn't really have a place in discussions of game mechanics...

 

[Korak]

But picturing the scene in my head, an 18 ft tall humanoid shaped creature should have arms between 7' and 8'. If its center of gravity is fixed at 15' above the ground and below the ceiling, I can't see it reaching any surface to pull itself along.

That's where the bit about oscillating comes in... bobbing up and down enough to enable the golems to reach out into other squares to the limit of their combat reach.

 

[frankthedm]

Am I way off?

Yes. the golem's sheer size ensures the ceiling will be within limb's reach.

 

[Infiniti2000]

The stone golems were huge. According to the MM, they are 18 ft tall. The druid cast the spell placing the 10ft cubes 5ft above the ground, making the golems lift to 15ft above the ground, 15 ft below the ceiling.

I'm not convinced of this. Why would the golems be lifted if they were not fully within the effect? In other words, how do you rule partial effects? If the cubes were 15ft above the ground, would you still catch the golems since they are 18ft tall?

Moreover, if the spell catches them and the cubes are not stacking atop each other, then they would be crouching to fit within the now 15ft high corridor. They would be 'standing' (upside-down) 15ft below the ceiling (the floor to you). The top 5ft would be normal gravity, however. They can clearly reach the 'ceiling', though presumably it wouldn't help since I didn't see you mention a reflex save. If they could jump to squeeze within the top (bottom) 5ft, then maybe that would be enough to pull them out of the reverse gravity?