Any Alternate Rules for Entangle?

[Azlan]

I'm DM'ing a low-level campaign where the action often takes place outdoors. The entangle spell is starting to dominate the action, being that it has such a large area of effect (40' radius!) and a long duration (1 minute per level!), and that it greatly hinders the combatants caught within (even those who make their save, albeit to a less degree) -- and all this from a 1st level spell.

For example, last game session the player characters (six of them, levels 2-3) encountered 30 goblins and a half dozen worg wolves. Even though the goblins and wolves were spread out, they were all caught within the radius of a single entangle spell, cast by the group's cleric. Fortunately for the goblins, they had a shaman with them, and he cast an entangle spell on the player characters as well. What a laborous mess, that combat encounter turned out to be! Yet entangle has become a standard tactic used in most every outdoor encounter, and since the action often takes place outdoors, in my campaign, it's getting out of hand.

When I first start DM'ing 3rd Edition, I ran the adventure module, The Sunless Citadel. This adventure was designed for 1-2 level characters. Yet when the player characters encountered the chief villain in the adventure (a 4th level druid), and he cast an entangle spell on them, every one of them failed their save and were immobilized. You should've heard the players bitching...

"All of us are in the area of effect? But we're spread out!"

"How long are we entangled for... ? Four minutes? But there's 10 combat rounds per minute! We'll all be dead within the first minute!"

"Cripes! What level is this spell... ? 1st level?!"

Myself, I was surprised by how effective this one, 1st level spell turned out to be. The villain and his minions, at their leisure, could've wiped out the entire group of entangled player characters, picking them off one-by-one. (Instead, I mercifully chose to have the villain flee the scene and for his minions to guard his exit.)

Anyway, what I'm wondering is, have other DM's out there encountered problems with this spell? And if so, what measures have they taken to keep the entangle spell from unbalancing or tangling up (heh) their campaign?

 

[Cross]

I feel your pain. The ranger in my campaign just recently discovered the joys of that spell, and ever since has made my life miserable. However, there are some balancing factors to be aware of.

Firstly, the immobilization isn't paralysis...you can still move, cast spells, shoot bows, etc. Sure, you have the minus to Dex, but that's not going to stop your elven archer with his 17 dex from plunking a few shots where they'll do the most good.

The save to continue movement isn't all that bad...even if the caster has an 18 wisdom (Druid, ranger, cleric and forgive me if I'm leaving someone out), it's still a DC 15, which lets most rogues, monks, and others with good Reflex saves move about with impunity.

The spell pretty much negates melee combat, since your opponents will get tangled up in there too. (Remind me to tel the story about how the ranger cast this on the orcs, and his fighters charged right in there...only to get stuck in the first 5 feet for the entire duration of the fight).

The real bastard is trying to break free of the grip once you're stuck. That DC 20 is murder for the weaker classes, like mages and clerics. They usually don't have ranks in escape artist, and their strength scores aren't normally all that impressive. However, look at this as an opportunity for your spellcaster! What other time will you be able to be in a 40ft area, wide open, and not be threatened by melee fighters? Take that concentration check (not difficult for most casters), and start hammering the enemy! 8)

All in all...yeah, it's a powerful spell. But it's not unbeatable, and it's really only useful outdoors.

-Cross

 

[JDRay]

You think Entangle is bad, wait until they find Briar Web, which is essentially Entangle that does damage. It's a second level spell, at least for Rangers.

In a prime example of role playing, our party was camped for the night when we were surprised by some baddies that had been pursuing us. Nightwatch failed their Listen check, and the bad guys were on us in an instant. The Cleric, startled awake, was arrogant enough to think he could solve the problem immediately. The conversation went something like this:

DM: "You wake up. There's a [bad guy] about five feet from you, and he's about to kill you."

Player: "Briar Web!!!"

DM: "Where do you center it?"

Player: "Right on HIM!!!"

Rest of Party: "What?!?!?!?!"

Player: "Yes. Right on him. It's got a forty foot radius! He'll never get out!"

DM: "Okay, if that's the way you want it."

Rest of Party: "Crap."

Player: "What?"

DM: "He's five feet from you."

Player: "So?"

DM: "You're in the area of effect. You're all entangled, and take... um... four for you, six for you, five for you, and one for you... points of damage."

Player: "Crap"

DM: "Oh, yeah. And the [bad guy] makes his save. He's outta here."


Basically, we all laid there for the duration of the spell, trying not to move so we didn't take any damage. We were all pretty hurt to start out with, and this only made it worse. Could've died.

 

[Azlan]

My players are veteran gamers, and they know better than to cast entangle on an enemy who is less than 40' away.

Like I said, a lot of encounters in my campaign take place outdoors. (If this were a typical, dungeon-crawling campaign, then entangle wouldn't be used nearly as much.) Almost always, the group sends the ranger and/or the rogue ahead, to scout the area out. When they spot the enemy from afar (typical spotting distances outdoors are 100+ yards), the player characters regroup and get ready. But even if they are surprised by an enemy's presence, they usually have at least 20 yards distance between themselves and the enemy -- which is more than enough room to cast an entangle spell and not be caught in it.

For mid- to high-level characters and monsters, entangle is no big deal, especially for those characters or monsters who have magical means of locomotion, such as flight or super leaps. But for low-level characters and monsters, entangle is a big deal. While the DC for the saving thow is fairly low, the fact that you have to make a save every round you're in the area of effect can be a bugger. If you fail your save, you suffer a -4 penalty to your Dexterity, a -2 penalty to attack rolls, and spell casting requires concentration checks. For low-level characters and monsters, these can be pretty stiff penalties! Furthermore, you are immobilized; to break lose, you must spend an entire round making a strength check against a DC of 20, which can be daunting to even a fighter with a strength of 18.

Even if you do make your saving throw, moving through and out of the area of effect can be difficult, since your movement rate is halved. If the spell is cast in front of you, between yourself and the enemy (which it often is), you could find yourself moving through as much as 80' of entangled area; if you're wearing medium armor, you're going to find yourself having to make at least two saving throws; if you're wearing heavy armor, you're going to have to make at least three saving throws.

I don't know... all this is pretty harsh for a mere 1st level spell. Imagine what a handful of organized 1st level mages could do to an encroaching army of orcs, in the woods!