Wall Effects

[Alvoros]

Example here....Wall of Fog. Says "Area wall 8", which I take to mean that it fills 8 squares.

But, then it goes on to say can be up to 4 squares high.

Does that mean if you make it 4 square high, it can only be 2 wide?

Or is the height purely optional to a MAX of 4 high, and it is always 8 wide?

Daily - Arcane, Conjuration
Standard Action Area wall 8 within 10
Effect: You conjure a wall that consists of contiguous squares filled with arcane fog. The wall lasts until the end of your next turn. It can be up to 8 squares long and up to 4 squares high. The fog grants concealment to creatures in its space and blocks line of sight.

 

[Thasmodious]

The height is a separate measurement and doesn't affect the length of the wall.

 

[JDillard]

The height is a separate measurement and doesn't affect the length of the wall.

Hmm, I disagree. I just read the wall entry in the combat section and it doesn't seem to suggest that at all.

From how I read this power, it looks like you've basically got 8 blocks of wall to play with, with a max height limit of four.

So basically you can make a wall 1 sq high and 8 sq's long, or 4 sq's high and 2 sq's long, or any other combination of 8 blocks that you want, as long as you follow the other wall rule (no ground square can be touching more than two other ground squares in the wall, so no zone blobs)

 

[Particle_Man]

The third dimension is not that well used or defined in 3e. I still don't know if you can aim spells "up", and whether you get cubes or 5' high square prisms if you do.

But in any case, I take the idea that a wall can be up to 8 squares long and 4 squares high as saying you can have an 8 square long, 4 square high wall. The description under "Area" doesn't talk about "Volume" so, it is still up in the air.

 

[Thasmodious]

so, it is still up in the air.

Pun-ishment Forum Attack 1
Encounter * Divine, Radiant, Justice
Immediate Reaction Range: 10 posts
Target: 1 poster
Attack: Humor vs. Will
Trigger: Poster unleashes a terrible play on words
Hit: Poster takes 3 radiant damage, feels the sting of Justice, and is stunned until the end of his next post.

 

[Thasmodious]

Hmm, I disagree. I just read the wall entry in the combat section and it doesn't seem to suggest that at all.

From how I read this power, it looks like you've basically got 8 blocks of wall to play with, with a max height limit of four.

So basically you can make a wall 1 sq high and 8 sq's long, or 4 sq's high and 2 sq's long, or any other combination of 8 blocks that you want, as long as you follow the other wall rule (no ground square can be touching more than two other ground squares in the wall, so no zone blobs)

I don't think so. First, a 10'x20' high wall of fog would be fairly useless. Secondly, if you build the wall in 3 dimensions according to the rules for walls, such a build would violate the rules of the 'wall' keyword (the part about how a wall must be laid out, number of sides that can touch, and the like). You would essentially be building a vertical double wall. Since a horizontal double wall is against the rules, I don't see how this would be. It makes more sense that the wall height is simply a different consideration to the 8 squares of wall along the ground.

 

[Insignia]

You would essentially be building a vertical double wall. Since a horizontal double wall is against the rules, I don't see how this would be.

"this limitation does not apply when stacking squares on top of each other" (PHB, page 272)

 

[JDillard]

"this limitation does not apply when stacking squares on top of each other" (PHB, page 272)

*This

It honestly doesn't really say one way or another, but I interpret this part of the wall rule to mean that you can stack blocks on top of one another. And if you can, then it seems that those blocks must come from the total number.

That's just personal interpretation, and how I would rule it as a DM though. The book wording doesn't appear to answer the question definitively.

 

[webrunner]

can you use wall of ice to make a bridge or a staircase?

 

[Aegir]

can you use wall of ice to make a bridge or a staircase?

As a DM, I would say yes to staircase, tho' it wouldn't exactly be a staircase as much as a series of short, easily-climbable walls (too tall to just walk up it). A bridge would be a bit more problematic, as it doesn't have anything underneath it for support, just where its attached to the walls of the gap.