Freedom of Movement and Roper strand

Voadam

Legend
I've got a roper going after a party where everybody has freedom of movement. How should this work? The strand attack "latches on", but does not use grapple checks. It can be shrugged off using an escape artist check, but that takes an action.

Can the strand latch on?

If so can the protected character get the auto escape artist check result from FoM by spending an action to use the skill on his turn since it is not an automatic check?

Drag (Ex)

If a roper hits with a strand attack, the strand latches onto the opponent’s body. This deals no damage but drags the stuck opponent 10 feet closer each subsequent round (provoking no attack of opportunity) unless that creature breaks free, which requires a DC 23 Escape Artist check or a DC 19 Strength check. The check DCs are Strength-based, and the Escape Artist DC includes a +4 racial bonus. A roper can draw in a creature within 10 feet of itself and bite with a +4 attack bonus in the same round. A strand has 10 hit points and can be attacked by making a successful sunder attempt. However, attacking a roper’s strand does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If the strand is currently attached to a target, the roper takes a -4 penalty on its opposed attack roll to resist the sunder attempt. Severing a strand deals no damage to a roper.

Strands (Ex)

Most encounters with a roper begin when it fires strong, sticky strands. The creature can have up to six strands at once, and they can strike up to 50 feet away (no range increment). If a strand is severed, the roper can extrude a new one on its next turn as a free action.


Freedom of Movement
This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. The subject automatically succeeds on any grapple check made to resist a grapple attempt, as well as on grapple checks or Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.
 

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Follow up question, with six strands, would it be one check no matter how many strands are on you, or one check per strand?
 

6 separate Escape Artist checks to break free, with each taking an action, seems a bit much. Make it one check. Add a circumstance bonus of +2 per additional strand if you want the extra strands to make it tougher to escape.
 

I don't allow FoM to have any impact on a roper's strands. The roper is not grabbing you, its tentacles physically stick to you (I think of it as billions of microfilament hooks that also exude a fairly powerful adhesive). A fairly loose interpretation could imply that the roper cannot pull you toward it unwillingly, but that you can not escape without extracting yourself from the tentacles.
 

airwalkrr said:
I don't allow FoM to have any impact on a roper's strands. The roper is not grabbing you, its tentacles physically stick to you (I think of it as billions of microfilament hooks that also exude a fairly powerful adhesive). A fairly loose interpretation could imply that the roper cannot pull you toward it unwillingly, but that you can not escape without extracting yourself from the tentacles.

So how are the roper strands any better then say paralysis, solid fog, slow, or web? Freedom of Movement affects more then just grapple checks.
 

airwalkrr said:
I don't allow FoM to have any impact on a roper's strands. The roper is not grabbing you, its tentacles physically stick to you (I think of it as billions of microfilament hooks that also exude a fairly powerful adhesive). A fairly loose interpretation could imply that the roper cannot pull you toward it unwillingly, but that you can not escape without extracting yourself from the tentacles.

FoM trumps all forms of stickiness.
 

The spirit of FoM would imply that any attempt to entangle, grapple, hold or impede the movement of an affected character would fail...including the ropers attack. If Web is ineffective (a sticky substance), then the ropers tentacles surely wouild fail as well.
 


Voadam said:
Freedom of Movement
This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. The subject automatically succeeds on any grapple check made to resist a grapple attempt, as well as on grapple checks or Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.

The roper does not grapple or pin, therefore FoM should not apply to escaping its grip. However, FoM does let you move normally(Anyway, nothing in the Ropers description says you cant simply move away from it). So roper drags you 10 feet, move away from it 10 feet. As they say on the interwebs, "Hilarity ensues."
 

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