Spike Stones: help with the area of effect

[Olive]

I need some help with spike stones...

Spike Stones
Transmutation [Earth]
Level: Drd 4, Earth 4
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area: One 20-ft. square/level
Duration: 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial
Spell Resistance: Yes
Rocky ground, stone floors, and similar surfaces shape themselves into long, sharp points that blend into the background.
Spike stones impede progress through an area and deal damage. Any creature moving on foot into or through the spell’s area moves at half speed.
In addition, each creature moving through the area takes 1d8 points of piercing damage for each 5 feet of movement through the spiked area.
Any creature that takes damage from this spell must also succeed on a Reflex save to avoid injuries to its feet and legs. A failed save causes the creature’s speed to be reduced to half normal for 24 hours or until the injured creature receives a cure spell (which also restores lost hit points). Another character can remove the penalty by taking 10 minutes to dress the injuries and succeeding on a Heal check against the spell’s save DC.
Spike stones is a magic trap that can’t be disabled with the Disable Device skill.
Note: Magic traps such as spike stones are hard to detect. A rogue (only) can use the Search skill to find spike stones. The DC is 25 + spell level, or DC 29 for spike stones.

So the question is, how do the squares arrange themselves? Do they have to touch? Or can the cleric or druid just plonk them down willy nilly? I guess either is ok, it just seems a bit lacking in direction...

 

[Lawmage]

So the question is, how do the squares arrange themselves? Do they have to touch? Or can the cleric or druid just plonk them down willy nilly? I guess either is ok, it just seems a bit lacking in direction...

I would say no to the "plonk them down willy nilly" portion. You are right that the RAW do not specify. However, given that the area is not listed as "shapeable" (ref page 176 of the 3.5 PHB), I would not allow a random scattering of the 20ft squares. As a DM, I would likely allow some limited shapping as long as the end result was a single square or rectangluar shape with no hollows. Thus for instance, I would allow an 8th level caster to create an area of effect one square wide and eight squares long (8 total squares) or an area of effect two squares wide and four squares long (again, 8 total squares.) I might even consider allowing some "L" or "+"shaped area of effect but that would likely depend on the location, such as along the top of a wall or perhaps along a dungeon passage. I would not allow any checkerboard type areas or anything that was noncontiguous. Of course, YMMV

 

[Seravin]

I need some help with spike stones...



So the question is, how do the squares arrange themselves? Do they have to touch? Or can the cleric or druid just plonk them down willy nilly? I guess either is ok, it just seems a bit lacking in direction...

Wizards 'Rules of the Game' part 5, deals with this in a roundabout way.
At the bottom of the article it talks about 'Cubes' as related to the Area entry of a spell description.
Essentially the cubes (or squares in this case I believe) have to share a side, corner or edge, and the spellcaster needs line of effect to the farthest cube, drawn through the other cubes in the area. Also, none of the cubes in the area may extend past the range of the spell.
There's a couple other things, but that's essentially it.

edit: Re-reading Lawmage's post again and the text of Skip's article, I have to agree with Lawmage. Without the (S) descriptor, the spell isn't meant to be shapeable - at least in any complex way. Lawmage's rectangular method is just as good a way as any to determine shape. Or you could house-rule that the spell is shapeable.

 

[Olive]

Hmmm... thanks for the opinion guys. The lack of a shapable part is interesting. I'm not sure it makes the spell over powered to let the squares be placed wherever, as long as they touch (which is how I've been playing it).