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Question about Freedom of Movement
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<blockquote data-quote="Frostbiter01" data-source="post: 6825634" data-attributes="member: 6677201"><p>Wizards has archive rules and it clearly stats Freedom of Movement does not allow you to move if immobile due to mind effecting spells. Not so much that you can't move cuz even without the spell you could move it is that your mind wont let you. Thus if hit with a hold spell they are stuck. Same with Command and whatever other spells they listed. Go to their web site and pull up their FAQ sheet on spells. </p><p></p><p>For times sake here are 2 rules from the D&D Archives for 3.5 from Wizards the true authority. I just went back and looked and found the clarifications. Will post here for all to see and compare to answers above.</p><p></p><p><strong>"Does the freedom of movement spell protect a character from being stunned?" </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>The argument is that “stun” is a condition that hinders movement. Freedom of movement is one of those tricky spells that has a lot of open-ended wording that might lead to confusion. The spell becomes much more manageable if you just look at it as something that ignores any physical impediment to movement or actions. If you assign this restriction, then it makes sense that freedom of movement works against solid fog, slow, and web; each of these spells puts something in the way of the creature that stops them from moving/acting, or specifically targets the creature’s physical movement. With this interpretation, spells and effects such as hold person that apply a mental impediment to taking any action would not be bypassed by freedom of movement. These are mental effects, and freedom of movement only helps you bypass physical effects (such as solid fog) or effects that specifically impede just your movement, not spells that stop you from taking any action, as hold person does. In the same vein, freedom of movement would not work on someone who had been turned to stone by a medusa’s gaze or by a flesh to stone spell. To answer the original question, being stunned is one of those mental effects and would normally deny a creature the ability to act at all. Since it’s not specifically focused on just impeding movement, and it is a mental, not physical impediment, freedom of movement would not help a stunned creature to act or move normally.</p><p></p><p>This interpretation of freedom of movement can make it easier to adjudicate the effects of the spell, but it is also more restrictive. As always, it will ultimately be up to the Dungeon Master to make the best call as he sees fit for his campaign and play session. </p><p></p><p>Also for the swallowing I found this too:</p><p><strong>“Swallow whole uses the grapple rules to determine whether you are swallowed. Freedom of movement spell says you win all grapple checks. Does freedom of movement automatically allow a character to succeed against theswallow whole attack?”</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Freedom of movement’s wording is actually a bit more specific on this case, and it reads, “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 pin.” So, by the rules as written, it would not help against the grapple check made to prevent a creature from being swallowed whole. However, a Dungeon Master could definitely rule that the attack is so similar to grappling that the freedom of movement effects would still apply. Also, swallow whole attempts usually happen after the creature has successfully grabbed or grappled a foe, and freedom of movement would definitely help against that initial grapple attempt.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Frostbiter01, post: 6825634, member: 6677201"] Wizards has archive rules and it clearly stats Freedom of Movement does not allow you to move if immobile due to mind effecting spells. Not so much that you can't move cuz even without the spell you could move it is that your mind wont let you. Thus if hit with a hold spell they are stuck. Same with Command and whatever other spells they listed. Go to their web site and pull up their FAQ sheet on spells. For times sake here are 2 rules from the D&D Archives for 3.5 from Wizards the true authority. I just went back and looked and found the clarifications. Will post here for all to see and compare to answers above. [B]"Does the freedom of movement spell protect a character from being stunned?" [/B] The argument is that “stun” is a condition that hinders movement. Freedom of movement is one of those tricky spells that has a lot of open-ended wording that might lead to confusion. The spell becomes much more manageable if you just look at it as something that ignores any physical impediment to movement or actions. If you assign this restriction, then it makes sense that freedom of movement works against solid fog, slow, and web; each of these spells puts something in the way of the creature that stops them from moving/acting, or specifically targets the creature’s physical movement. With this interpretation, spells and effects such as hold person that apply a mental impediment to taking any action would not be bypassed by freedom of movement. These are mental effects, and freedom of movement only helps you bypass physical effects (such as solid fog) or effects that specifically impede just your movement, not spells that stop you from taking any action, as hold person does. In the same vein, freedom of movement would not work on someone who had been turned to stone by a medusa’s gaze or by a flesh to stone spell. To answer the original question, being stunned is one of those mental effects and would normally deny a creature the ability to act at all. Since it’s not specifically focused on just impeding movement, and it is a mental, not physical impediment, freedom of movement would not help a stunned creature to act or move normally. This interpretation of freedom of movement can make it easier to adjudicate the effects of the spell, but it is also more restrictive. As always, it will ultimately be up to the Dungeon Master to make the best call as he sees fit for his campaign and play session. Also for the swallowing I found this too: [B]“Swallow whole uses the grapple rules to determine whether you are swallowed. Freedom of movement spell says you win all grapple checks. Does freedom of movement automatically allow a character to succeed against theswallow whole attack?”[/B] Freedom of movement’s wording is actually a bit more specific on this case, and it reads, “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 pin.” So, by the rules as written, it would not help against the grapple check made to prevent a creature from being swallowed whole. However, a Dungeon Master could definitely rule that the attack is so similar to grappling that the freedom of movement effects would still apply. Also, swallow whole attempts usually happen after the creature has successfully grabbed or grappled a foe, and freedom of movement would definitely help against that initial grapple attempt. [/QUOTE]
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