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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 9054504" data-attributes="member: 9254">The spell has 4 uses in combat1) make a hole &amp; a dirt pile adjacent to the hole you can hide in/behind2) make a hole under a Wall spell3) make difficult terrain, including solid rock4) make terrain un-difficult, including solid rockThere is a bonus 5th use of adding some kind of markings, which doesnt have a specific value in combat.&nbsp; #3-5 expire after 1 minute and a caster can only have up to three active.The reading of &quot;loose soil&quot; to mean &quot;disturbed soil&quot; makes 1 and 2 impossible unless you are fighting in a recently tilled garden. Soil is disturbed when a plow or bulldozer or shovel has removed it from its bank.The opposite of &quot;loose soil&quot; is &quot;compacted soil&quot;.&nbsp; Soil gets compacted under roads, buildings or boulders. Some soils, especially in desert areas, can be naturally compacted for multiple reasons. Getting rained on 2-3 a year can cause compaction. Salts and minerals can act as cement activated by small quantities of water)At some point the compaction can turn soil to something impenetrable.&nbsp;&nbsp; Shale, slate and sandstone were all clay, silt and sands, until they weren't.&nbsp; Only #3-5 work on rock. &nbsp; Imo, if a wooden shovel used by an average person could not dig a hole, Mold Earth #1-2 would not work as the soil is proto-sandstone or shale or slate (even if geologists don't call it that).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 9054504, member: 9254"] The spell has 4 uses in combat 1) make a hole & a dirt pile adjacent to the hole you can hide in/behind 2) make a hole under a Wall spell 3) make difficult terrain, including solid rock 4) make terrain un-difficult, including solid rock There is a bonus 5th use of adding some kind of markings, which doesnt have a specific value in combat. #3-5 expire after 1 minute and a caster can only have up to three active. The reading of "loose soil" to mean "disturbed soil" makes 1 and 2 impossible unless you are fighting in a recently tilled garden. Soil is disturbed when a plow or bulldozer or shovel has removed it from its bank. The opposite of "loose soil" is "compacted soil". Soil gets compacted under roads, buildings or boulders. Some soils, especially in desert areas, can be naturally compacted for multiple reasons. Getting rained on 2-3 a year can cause compaction. Salts and minerals can act as cement activated by small quantities of water) At some point the compaction can turn soil to something impenetrable. Shale, slate and sandstone were all clay, silt and sands, until they weren't. Only #3-5 work on rock. Imo, if a wooden shovel used by an average person could not dig a hole, Mold Earth #1-2 would not work as the soil is proto-sandstone or shale or slate (even if geologists don't call it that). [/QUOTE]

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