Jumping and Falling Monsters

[Pinotage]

OK, so my PCs are facing off against an Elder Earth Elemental. I've just been reading through the MM to get an idea of the creature when it strikes me that it's 40 ft tall and weighs a whopping 66000 lbs or something along those lines. It can hit with a slam attack for 2d10+11, but seriously, why doesn't this thing just jump or fall on its foe? With that weight falling on you, almost anything will be toast. Am I missing something?

Pinotage

 

[Lasher Dragon]

Maybe it doesn't want to get dirty?

I think it's weird that it has that much mass behind a slam attack and the best it can do is 2d10+11? What a sissy! hehehe

 

[Pinotage]

Maybe it doesn't want to get dirty?

I think it's weird that it has that much mass behind a slam attack and the best it can do is 2d10+11? What a sissy! hehehe

Heh! It is an earth elemental, so dirty comes with the form! It does look like things just don't scale well here...

Pinotage

 

[kjenks]

I think it's weird that it has that much mass behind a slam attack and the best it can do is 2d10+11? What a sissy! hehehe

The Elder Earth Elemental's slam attack is mis-computed in the SRD. With Str 33 (+11), its sole natural attack (Str bonus x 1.5) should inflict 2d10+16.

With Power Attack (BAB +18), Earth Mastery and a critical hit (19-20/x2), the best it can do is much, much more than 2d10+11. Try 4d10+70.

But these bad boys should pick up a weapon and get iterative attacks. Give one a masterwork huge spiked chain (non-proficient) and it gets three attacks at +25/+20/+15 for 3d6+17 on each -- and that's before two-handed Power Attack. And it would have 30 ft. reach.

As for jumping into the air, well, they don't like that element. They don't have ranks in Jump so they're likely to fall prone if they try to jump and fail.

If you have ranks in Jump and you succeed on a Jump check, you land on your feet (when appropriate). If you attempt a Jump check untrained, you land prone unless you beat the DC by 5 or more.

 

[Ferret]

I just don't think that an earth elemental would like being seperate from the earth, just falling though would make sense....

 

[azmodean]

The only "roleplaying" reason I could think of for the low damage is that the earth elemental is made of dirt, not rocks. So it's the difference between being hit by a rock and a clod of dirt. It's still pretty puny damage.

 

[Voadam]

The Elder Earth Elemental's slam attack is mis-computed in the SRD. With Str 33 (+11), its sole natural attack (Str bonus x 1.5) should inflict 2d10+16.

Doesn't it have natural attacks of two slams because of its size?

 

[Lasher Dragon]

The only "roleplaying" reason I could think of for the low damage is that the earth elemental is made of dirt, not rocks. So it's the difference between being hit by a rock and a clod of dirt. It's still pretty puny damage.

Yeah but when it comes to 66,000 lbs. of dirt vs 66,000 lbs. of rock comin at ya the difference in the "hardness" becomes pretty trivial

 

[kjenks]

Doesn't it have natural attacks of two slams because of its size?

Yes, it does. The SRD is wrong. (Well, the "2" part of "2 slams" is in the wrong column.) MM, page 97, confirms two slams for 2d10+11/19-20x2.

So this isn't a sole natural attack after all. No 1.5x Str bonus for you, Mr. E.

Even with two slam attacks, he's much better off with that spiked chain, especially if he sets Power Attack on 2 for a +4 damage bonus.

 

[Philip]

OK, so my PCs are facing off against an Elder Earth Elemental. I've just been reading through the MM to get an idea of the creature when it strikes me that it's 40 ft tall and weighs a whopping 66000 lbs or something along those lines. It can hit with a slam attack for 2d10+11, but seriously, why doesn't this thing just jump or fall on its foe? With that weight falling on you, almost anything will be toast. Am I missing something?

Pinotage

It doesn't need to. 2d10+11 squashes a normal human (3 hp.) just as effectively as falling on it would. An earth elemental's blow literally feels like a house coming down on you. It's just that those weird high level characters and their dude factor allows them to survive leaps from tall buildings and blows from 30 ton earth elementals. You are comparing the effect 66000 lbs. would have falling on a normal human to the effect it would have on a D&D hero, which is an invalid comparison.