Dig and Wand of Earth and Stone

[Dead Greyhawk]

I'd like to talk about the spell Dig and the Wand of Earth and Stone

Here's what the PHB says about Dig

Dig (Evocation)
Level: 4
Range: 3"
Duration: 1 round/level
Area of Effect: 5’ cube per level of the magic-user
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 4 segments
Saving Throw: Special

Explanation/Description: A dig spell enables the caster to excavate 125 cubic feet of earth, sand, or mud per round. The hole thus dug is a cube 5’ per side. The material thrown from the excavation scatters evenly around the pit. If the magic-user continues downward beyond 5’, there is a chance that the pit will collapse: 15%/additional 5’ in depth in earth, 35%/additional 5' depth in sand, and 55%/additional 5’ depth in mud. Any creature at the edge (1’) of such a pit uses its dexterity score as a saving throw to avoid falling into the hole, with a score equal to or less than the dexterity meaning that a fall was avoided. Any creature moving rapidly towards a pit area will fall in unless it saves versus magic. Any creature caught in the center of a pit just dug will always fall in. The spell caster uses a miniature shovel and tiny bucket to activate a dig spell and must continue to hold these material components while each pit is excavated.

I read this to be mainly, but not totally in line with my understanding of the dig spell as we used it on Sunday. The last line of the spell implies to me that the magic-user can't cast another spell that uses material components, since they need to be held while the spell continues to dig. We ignored that last part on Sunday, assuming that the pit just kept going, but the caster was totally free.

I think we have over played the effect of the collapse a bit. As I read this, an earth pit, which I assume most will be, cast by an 7th level caster directly under someone will almost certainly kill them (90% after 6 rounds of a collapse).

Here's what Unearthed Arcana says about the Wand of Earth and Stone

Wand of Earth and Stone: A wand of this sort is typically of shortish length and tipped with some form of mineral. It is imbued with the following dweomers:
Dig 1/2 charge per use
Passwall 1 charge per use
Move earth 2 charges per use

The wand description doesn't mention anything additional. According to the DMG, wands operate as if cast at 6th level. The cheapness of the Dig function indicates to me that this wand is supposed to be able to dig a lot. On the other hand, I don't/didn't expect the wand of earth and stone to be a huge offensive tool.

I suggest we do a few things. The first is require the caster of dig to have to keep part of their attention on the spell, so that half the round you were busy maintaining your dig. The second is make the collapse of the pit relate more to the amount of dirt. Instead of burying them alive, we could have them suffer the equivalent of falling damage at whatever depth the pit collapses at. A 10 foot pit for 1d6, a 15 foot pit for 2d4, etc. The third thing would be to make the wand function work the same way as the spell, except that you'd have to keep the wand pointed at the pit.

Unresolved questions for me are:

1. If you dig for a round, but then stop digging to go run over and fireball someone, can you then resume digging?

2. Once the pit has collapsed on you, at what height are you? Are you trapped or not? Did you struggle up through the collapsing soil so you are bruised and bloodied, but back up to the 5' deep pit? It seems like a good balance, to me, to have the damaged creature come back up to the top. The digging would continue from that height, I imagine.

I envision, in this case, something like the following. You dig, using the wand, under an orc shaman. The orc shaman falls in and is in a 5' pit. You continue to dig. The orc shaman is now 10' down. You continue to dig. The orc shaman is now 15' down, and the pit collapses for 2d4 falling damage. The orc shaman ends up, after the collapse, in a 5' pit. You continue to dig. The orc shaman is now 10' down. You continue to dig. The orc shaman is now 15' down. You continue to dig. The orc shaman is now 20' down. The pit collapses for 2d6 falling damage. The orc shaman ends up, after the collapse, in a 5' pit.

In any case, give me your thoughts so we can figure out how to use this spell right.

[venger]

It's hard to imagine Dig as a damage-dealing spell.

Seems more for like immobilizing or capturing things.

What about treating pit collapse like an overpowered Web spell? Smaller, weaker creatures run the risk of suffocation, while larger stronger creatures can more easily escape.

But you typed all that stuff and whatever you say goes.

[Ginger]

apprentice said:

But you typed all that stuff and whatever you say goes.

The Iron Law of Message Boards: Whoever writes the most stuff is the most correct.

This looks fine to me, but I'll yield to Josh and James. I'm sure they'll have suitably wacky or complex alternatives.

[Wolfgar]

I think any lack of concentration should cause the spell to end. So only half movement and minor actions are possible. The user can choose not to dig in any round but must continue to concentrate to be able to dig successive rounds up to the 6 round duration.

To determine how much of the pit collapses I think you should apply the percentages listed in the spell decreasing as you move towards the bottom of pit. The first section that does not collapse stops the collapse. The number of sections that collapse determine the damage and the new level of the pit as you suggest but you should not actually be able move upward in the collapse. I think we used something like this then Winthrop fireballed the anhkegs' lair though in that case it was a horizontal instead of vertical collapse.

While we are on the subject of the wand. How does the Move Earth component work? Does the user have to point the wand at a hill for a turn to get it to move? Do we use other spell casting times for other magic items, e.g. rod of resurrection? What happens to the earth moved? What happens if you move the earth under a structure (to choose a random example - a tower)?

[Ginger]

I had another wand related thought. Pfiffwin should wave the wand every time he casts an illusion. It would presumably add a penalty to anyone's save to disbelieve him.

[Mr. Trommer]

He should also wear a turbin like Dell and be a mini-me-Dell.