Can Mold Earth be used to create 5ft cubes of cover?

[Matticusrex]

You choose a portion of dirt or stone that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You manipulate it in one of the following ways:
• If you target an area of loose earth, you can instantaneously excavate it, move it along the ground, and deposit it up to 5 feet away. This movement doesn’t have enough force to cause damage.
• You cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the dirt or stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.
• If the dirt or stone you target is on the ground, you cause it to become difficult terrain. Alternatively, you can cause the ground to become normal terrain if it is already difficult terrain. This change lasts for 1 hour. If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have no more than two of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.



Using the first description you know you are effecting a perfect 5x5 block of dirt, you can then instantly move it up, creating a hole in the ground, but then it says you deposit it up to 5 feet away meaning you should be able to take all this dirt and drop it in a 5ft square, creating a wall you can crouch behind for 3/4 cover or more.


Is this right?

[DragonSorcererX]

I would say that you can, but I am just waiting to see the low-powered jerks come and say otherwise.

[SharkForce]

provided, of course, the ground is subject to mold earth. but yes, you should be able to create cover.

in fact, because you can remove the dirt from one place and move it adjacent, you can create up to 10 foot high cover from one direction with 5 foot cover in the other directions (excluding up, of course). however, it is worth noting that once you deposit the dirt, nothing is holding it in shape any more and it is quite likely that depending on the nature of the soil you won't have a perfect cube any more.

[MaxWilson]

Yes, of course you can.

[odigity]

...it is worth noting that once you deposit the dirt, nothing is holding it in shape any more and it is quite likely that depending on the nature of the soil you won't have a perfect cube any more.

That was my first thought. It should collapse down to the angle of repose (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_repose), which is not more than 45 degrees. I don't remember my volume formulas from Jr. High, so I don't know how wide the bottom of that cone would be. The spell says you can move it 5' away, and it started as a 5' cube, so presumably the bottom of the cone resulting from gravity acting upon the loose dirt once you let go would be larger than 5'... meaning some of the dirt is going to fall right back into your new hole.


...because you can remove the dirt from one place and move it adjacent, you can create up to 10 foot high cover from one direction with 5 foot cover in the other directions (excluding up, of course).

I don't understand what you mean. Can you rephrase / elaborate?

[SharkForce]

I don't understand what you mean. Can you rephrase / elaborate?

i mean that you can stand in the hole, which will have a pile of dirt next to it. the hole is 5 feet deep, the dirt is 5 feet high, therefore from one direction you can have 10 foot tall cover (standing behind the pile and in the hole) and from the other 3 directions you can have 5 foot cover (because your bottom 5 feet are covered by being in the hole).

i suppose if you're thinking in melee terms, the hole doesn't really offer cover. i was assuming you meant against ranged attacks, i suppose.

[georgie_leech]

i mean that you can stand in the hole, which will have a pile of dirt next to it. the hole is 5 feet deep, the dirt is 5 feet high, therefore from one direction you can have 10 foot tall cover (standing behind the pile and in the hole) and from the other 3 directions you can have 5 foot cover (because your bottom 5 feet are covered by being in the hole).

i suppose if you're thinking in melee terms, the hole doesn't really offer cover. i was assuming you meant against ranged attacks, i suppose.

Unless your opponent is flying directly over head, you'll probably get some cover against melee as well. Imagine fighting someone on the other side of a corner in a corridor you're fighting in.

[SillyPopeNachos]

It states a duration of 1 hour on in a part not tied with with the one that seems to describe what you want to do with it, so why not mix these two parts of the text? As a dm, I always like seeing my players take a creative approach. Also, this clearly won't last as long as something like the stone shape spell, so who cares about technicalities?

[CursedRhubarb]

I've used this recently in my current game. Made a fall back position as our barbarian drew a zombie hoard's attention so be could slip through, making the last block as he ran past. Then we burned them down since to get to us they had to fall down a 5' pit, then climb over each other to get up the 10' wall while we sat there and poked and blasted as they arrived one by one.

Next game day used it to make cover to hide the barbarian and myself after blinding an undead beholder that was chained to the ground with a darkness spell and it started blasting beams around like a [expletive]ed-up disco ball and we waited for rescue by the wizard 😂

[Socratov]

I have used Mold earth to, among other things:

[list]
create pit traps
create hobbit homes to camp in
create a quick wall of cover
excavate a tunnel leading to an underground Zhentarim bunker
create a foxhole bunker

Sure given some of them take some time, and ingenuity to complete, but I feel it gives my sorcerer a bit more 'Toph' feel, which is very cool to begin with.