When a priest casts Earthquake, a local tremor of fairly high strength rips the ground. All creatures within the area of effect are exposed to the tremors and cracks, friend or foe.
Description[]
| “ | When this spell is cast, a local tremor of fairly high strength rips the ground. The shock is over in several rounds. The earthquake affects all creatures in its area of effect. There are 3 tremors that are caused by the earthquake: – 1st: All creatures affected take 6d6 points of damage and fall to the ground for 4 rounds. A successful Save vs. Spell with a -6 penalty halves the damage and negates the fall. – 2nd: All creatures affected take 3d6 points of damage. A successful Save vs. Spell with a -2 penalty halves the damage. – 3rd: All creatures affected take 2d6 points of damage. A successful Save vs. Spell halves the damage. This spell will affect both enemies and friends of the caster's, so care must be taken in its use. Finally, earth elementals dislike mere mortals toying with the land and there is a 2% chance that casting this spell will cause an earth elemental to appear and attack the party. |
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Gameplay[]
The spell exposes all creatures to a potential Sleep effect (Opcode #39) meant to emulate an unconscious effect lasting 4 rounds. A saving throw vs. spells with a -6 penalty will negate. The effect can be blocked by magic resistance. A creature made unconscious will not reawaken by suffering damage. Elves and Half Elves do not gain any protection against this effect based on their racial Sleep (Status Effect) resistance, but sleep effect (Opcode #39) immunities do work (eg most Familiars are immune to it, Chaotic Commands protects against it and so does Enrage).
Contrary to what one might expect, the earthquake effects don't really act over the targeted area and, instead, are applied to each of the creatures who were there at the time of casting. This means that it's safe to enter the targeted area after the spell is cast and creatures who leave it will still suffer subsequent tremors.
The Earthquake itself applies Crushing damage and, as a kind of Physical damage, it can be mitigated by a Stoneskin.
In relation to the angry elemental that can spawn when casting this spell (2% chance), there are a few things to know:
- It's actually a Greater Earth Elemental, who may charmed (eg with the Staff of Command to avoid failure due to a successful save) just like any other elemental to turn misfortune into fortune.
- If it spawns, it does so 3 rounds (ie 18 seconds) after the spell was cast.
- It may spawn even if no creature is actually hit by the Earthquake (and, therefore, no screenshake or any other effect happens).
- It remains indefinitely.
- The spawned elemental will always be aligned against the caster. So, if a party member casts Earthquake while charmed (having a red circle), the angry elemental will spawn as an uncontrollable ally that attacks all red-circle creatures (including the charmed caster, if they're still charmed).
The Earth Elemental prince Ogremoch is scripted to force cast a party-friendly version of this spell (so it will only affect the player's party) during combat in Sendai's Lair (Diaytha). And Sunnis, the Elemental Prince of Earth that the player can summon via Elemental Summoning and Greater Elemental Summoning, can cast the exact same party-friendly version of this spell (but, in this case, only affecting enemies). In both cases, the 2% chance to spawn an angry elemental remains and, just like the regular spell, said creature will be aligned against the caster (so Ogremoch has a small chance of producing an ally for the player).
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Spell Revisions mod has changed this divine spell, revising its effects, saving throw, spell level and description. See below:
Earthquake
Level: 7
School: Alteration
Sphere: Elemental (Earth)
Range: Long
Duration: 3 rounds
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 30’ radius
Saving Throw: Special
When this spell is cast by a druid, a local earthquake rips the ground. Once every round for the spell’s duration, a tremor will take place, affecting all creatures in its area of effect. Earth elementals and flying creatures are unaffected by this spell.
There are three tremors that are caused by the earthquake. The first tremor causes all creatures affected to suffer 6d6 points of damage (save vs. paralyzation at -6 for half damage). Those who fail their saving throw fall to the ground unconscious for 2 rounds. The second tremor is less severe, causing 4d6 points of damage (save vs. death at -4 for half), but is accompanied by fissures opening in the earth, which all affected creatures have a 20% chance to fall into and die (save vs. breath at -4 negates). The final tremor causes 2d6 damage (save vs. death at -2 for half) and there is a 10% chance affected creatures will be trapped within the fissures, causing death (save vs. breath at -2 negates). Creatures knocked unconscious by the first tremor automatically fail any saves to try to avoid falling into or becoming trapped in the fissures.
This spell will affect both enemies and friends of the caster, so care must be taken in its use. Magic resistance does not affect this spell.
Mod gallery[]
External links[]
- Earthquake on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.