Evard's Black Tentacles

[kigmatzomat]

Here's a way to reword the question:

Does a mass of blindly waiving tentacles with the distribution of EBT provide any cover/concealment to targets within or beyond?

Would you rule this the same way for a giant squid waving its tentacles above the water with the archer on a boat/water-walking and targeting a creature in the squid's threatened area? If not, why?

 

[irishfast]

field of rubbery 10 foot tentacles that creatures can either be grappled by or only move half speed through...
yes. i would say they provide cover. at least 50 percent.

p.s. I hate this spell. nothing slows an encounter better than EBT being cast. giant squid and octopus tentacles are the material component for this spell. make both creatures extremely rare

what, did you really have to post the same objection to EBT in two posts? we get it. you don't like the spell.

comment removed by moderator

 

[ShadowRaven]

Hey now kids, play nice.

To the question at hand. The rules for EBT are not all that clear as to the density and such of the tentacles. All you've got to go on is's what's written in the spell description, and your own mental picture. All it gives is the size, a twenty foot radius, which means it covers an awful big area and can graple any and every creature that enters that big area. Now, assumeing that there is one, or more tentacles per five foot square covered for example, that sounds to me like a whole bunch of tentacles. You made a ruleing, based on what you had to go with, sounds like a fair ruleing to me, and as a Player, I applaud the decision. It works, it makes sense, stick with it.

 

[Nail]

Again, I wasn’t trying to “fix” anything about the spell – I wasn’t trying to change the spell at all.

Yup. I understand that. In fact, I agree with your intent, and even your visualization of the spell in question. My post was not addressing your motives at all. If anything, it was addressing airwalkrr's post. Perhaps you could read my post again in this light?

I trotted out a "fix" to show that anyone saying "Quasqueton's interpretation makes the spell more powerful" needs to carefully think through the ramifications of the interpretation. (And again: I know you did not propose a "fix". I said so in the post you quoted.)

Alright?

 

[Quasqueton]

Yup. I understand that. In fact, I agree with your intent, and even your visualization of the spell in question. My post was not addressing your motives at all. If anything, it was addressing airwalkrr's post. Perhaps you could read my post again in this light?

I trotted out a "fix" to show that anyone saying "Quasqueton's interpretation makes the spell more powerful" needs to carefully think through the ramifications of the interpretation. (And again: I know you did not propose a "fix". I said so in the post you quoted.)

Alright?

OK, sorry. It felt like several people were bashing me with the "cannot interpret anything; must rule only by explicit text" bat, and I was getting defensive. I lost track of who was saying what to whom.

Quasqueton

 

[Nail]

LOL

So, next time, I'll just get out my "What Quasqueton Said" flag and wave it before I start my post.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I think there are many interpretations that could be valid.
(1) spell says nothing about cover/concealment, therefor no cover/concealment
(2) spell creates large area of 10-ft. tentacles, therefor (some amount of) cover/concealment
(3) just use the "DM's best friend" rule to apply -2 on ranged attacks that have to pass through the EBT

 

[Piratecat]

No insults, gang! I've removed one; please remember the rules here (posted at the top of every forum), and remember to follow them.

 

[Kmart Kommando]

I'm with the "I hate this spell" crowd.
Every encounter is an EBT covering the entrance to the combat area, followed by "you can't target anyone on the other side because they have cover" actually, they end up having total cover, 'cuz you can't target them, even though it says nothing about that in the spell description. :\
Everyone but the wizard and psion ends up grappled. well, after burning those 4th level get out of jail free spells. Because no one can make the grapple check as a medium creature.