Incorporeality: a few questions

[Aelf]

These questions are based on a recent shadow encounter.

Since a creature can't move through an opponent's square and can't end movement in an occupied square (I have yet to find an exception for incorporeals) it seems a party could align itself in a 5' corridor where only the characters at the front and back of the line could be directly attacked by the shadow.

Now, the shadow could hide in a wall/floor/etc and attempt to target (via listen - a difficult check) characters it couldn't see or simply attack nearby 'invisible' characters recognizing that the attacked chars would have 50% concealment.

Barring some clarification that I've missed; these are my impressions of RAW.

My questions:

1. This setup contracdicts the expected outcome of a shade/ghost/etc floating 'through' opponents in a terrifying manner. This is a mechanical issue that reduces the enjoyment of encounters. How do other DMs judge this?

2. Clever players (without turning) might try to hold an attack/spell waiting for the shadow to attack them from an adjacent square (within the wall). However, since the shadow never leaves the wall, and the characters' weapons don't normally penatrate walls, it seems the shadow would be immune to being hit. Again, how do other DMs judge this?

Any feedback on how you folks handle this is appreciated!

Regards,
Aelf

 

[hong]

Nothing stops the shadow going straight through the blocking people, unless they have magic weapons/ghost touch armour. If they don't have magic weapons they can't do a thing to it, so it can just ignore them.

Even if the shadow can't go through the blocking people, it can go into the wall and come out behind them. I'd allow a readied attack to go off when the shadow attacks, because some part of it has to make contact with the target. The shadow would get cover though (+4 AC).

 

[PallidPatience]

Shadows fly. How low is the ceiling?

 

[Len]

1. I haven't thought of that as an "expected outcome", but if you want to freak out the players, go ahead. The shadow could just as easily have gone around the PCs through the air or the walls, this is just more interesting. I wouldn't allow a shadow to stay in an occupied square though, just pass through it.

2. This is covered in the rules:

An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as it attacks.

(Make sure to read the sections on incorporeality in both the DMG and the MM to get the whole story.)

So the PCs can strike back. Both sides are at a disadvantage - the PCs have total concealment from the shadow, and the shadow has cover from the PCs and can only be attacked by a readied action.