Plant Growth Question

[tieren]

I have seen discussion about the spell plant growth that describes it as party friendly (talking about the first 1 action effect) because it lets you exclude any areas you want from the casting so you can leave paths for your allies to get out.

However, once you cast and have excluded those pathways, can't the enemies follow the same pathways (once they can reach them) and not suffer the movement slowing effect, as long as they stick to those pathways.

I mean they [the pathways] don't close up behind your party members right?

[Yora]

What it says is "you can exclude one or more areas of any size within the spell’s area from being affected." Those areas you leave free are not affected in any way. The spell doesn't exist there. When you leave spaces free while casting the spell, they remain free for the whole duration of the spell. I see nothing that indicates that the shape of the affected area would change in later rounds.

[RickAsWritten]

I have seen discussion about the spell plant growth that describes it as party friendly (talking about the first 1 action effect) because it lets you exclude any areas you want from the casting so you can leave paths for your allies to get out.

However, once you cast and have excluded those pathways, can't the enemies follow the same pathways (once they can reach them) and not suffer the movement slowing effect, as long as they stick to those pathways.

I mean they [the pathways] don't close up behind your party members right?

It can be used for funneling. Say your group is going up against a large number of dangerous enemies. Drop Plant Growth and exclude a small area around your party, and maybe one 5ft path that leads toward the enemies. Now instead of getting immediately swarmed, the few enemies nearest the path will get there first while the others will be limited or stuck behind their comrades. This gives your party time to dispatch the first few enemies before the rest can engage.

Or find a way to make your party fly. Or have a Cleric in the party capable of casting Spirit Guardians, half speed plus 4-to-1 speed equals zero speed(and unavoidable damage).

[clash]

If you are making paths for your allies, then you can use the fact that enemies use them to your advantage. First your allies can use them to get clear of the spell. then when the enemies use them, they act as a choke point grouping the enemies together in a straight line. Perfect for the lightning bolt inclined

[tieren]

If you are making paths for your allies, then you can use the fact that enemies use them to your advantage. First your allies can use them to get clear of the spell. then when the enemies use them, they act as a choke point grouping the enemies together in a straight line. Perfect for the lightning bolt inclined

Thanks for the connection with lightning bolt, hadn't thought of that before.

Corrolary question, plant growth is not concentration, entangle is, can the two areas overlap, and if so, what would a characters speed be?

[sithlordnergal]

Thanks for the connection with lightning bolt, hadn't thought of that before.

Corrolary question, plant growth is not concentration, entangle is, can the two areas overlap, and if so, what would a characters speed be?

This depends on if the DM allows Plant Growth and Entangle to stack. Technically Plant Growth is not Difficult Terrain, as it does say it creates Difficult Terrain. As such the two movement costs should stack. Some DMs may say they don't stack though.

If they do stack, it should be cutting a creature's speed down to approximately 1/8th their original movement since Difficult Terrain cuts movement speed by half, and Plant Growth cuts it down to 1/4th.

[tieren]

New Question:

Suppose the party is on a 15 foot wide dirt road through a wilderness area with lots of underbrush to either side. Would plant growth allow the plants on either side of the road to grow into it creating the movement slowing effect on the road area? Can I have sprouts burst out of the ground and create the effect in the roadway?

[Yora]

The spell is not specific on this. But with a dirt road in an area of already heavy plant growth, I would as GM rule that there are plenty of roots running under road that can grow out of the surface and create the slowing down terrain.
I wouldn't allow it on a paved road.

But as it is written, it appears that the spell only affects areas that already have plants in them. If a GM rules that it doesn't work on a road, then I would have no argument to counter that.

[tieren]

Okay so I had an NPC druid cast plant growth against the party, with the party scout trapped a good distance away from the rest of the party who are heavily melee focused. The cleric is trying to cast "dispel magic" to turn the field back to normal.

However, I don't see an ongoing magical effect to dispel. The plants just seem to be overgrown now. It seems like trying to use dispel magic to reverse a heal spell, sure a magical effect happened, but now you have a healthy character [overgrown field].

Thoughts?

[clash]

Okay so I had an NPC druid cast plant growth against the party, with the party scout trapped a good distance away from the rest of the party who are heavily melee focused. The cleric is trying to cast "dispel magic" to turn the field back to normal.

However, I don't see an ongoing magical effect to dispel. The plants just seem to be overgrown now. It seems like trying to use dispel magic to reverse a heal spell, sure a magical effect happened, but now you have a healthy character [overgrown field].

Thoughts?

Ya plant growth is instantaneous so it cant be dispelled. Put simply the magic doesnt make he plants big where dispelling it would make them small. The magic makes the plants grow and once they have finished growing the magic is done and the plants are big.

[RickAsWritten]

The spell is not specific on this. But with a dirt road in an area of already heavy plant growth, I would as GM rule that there are plenty of roots running under road that can grow out of the surface and create the slowing down terrain.
I wouldn't allow it on a paved road.

But as it is written, it appears that the spell only affects areas that already have plants in them. If a GM rules that it doesn't work on a road, then I would have no argument to counter that.

In this hypothetical, I would argue that on a cobblestone or brick road(which seem like the most likely in a fantasy setting) there would be sufficient moss or algae in the area for the spell to work.

In fact, if someone wanted to use this spell in one of my games, I would rule that lichen and fungus are plant-like enough to work with the spell. While not technically correct, the mental image of a bunch of mushrooms and fungus just popping up out of nowhere is too cool to disallow.