Person_Man
2007-12-06, 12:03 PM
This is an idea I had while reading the Mole Handbook (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=961599) over on the opt board. Thought I'd bring it over here for the playgrounders to kick around.
Here's the combo:
Burrow/Earth Glide + Pounce + Scorpion's Grasp feat (Sandstorm)
It's actually quite easy to get these special abilities. Here's a list (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=662842).
Charge and attack. If you hit, you get a free Grapple check thanks to Scorpion's Grasp. Once you've successfully Grappled your enemy, you can use your remaining attacks to make additional opposed Grapple checks. (You've always been able to do this, and it was even clarified in the Rules Compendium here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20071009a)). One of the things you can do with an opposed Grapple check is move at half your speed, bringing your enemy with you. Do so, moving strait down. Once you're underground, make another opposed Grapple check to escape from the Grapple, or just continue to pummel your enemy.
Now that your enemy is underground, he doesn't have line of sight against anyone but you, protecting all of your fellow party members. And once you're no longer Grappling, he doesn't have line of sight against anyone at all. Unless he has some special way of moving, he's might be trapped there.
I'm honestly not sure if this combo works. Arguably, you need to have a burrow ability and not earth glide or something similar that allows you to just magically pass through stone, because when you Grapple it doesn't explicitly impart your ability to move through solid stone to your enemy. Depending upon how your burrow ability is worded, this might leave a tunnel that your enemy could then Climb out of - still taking him out of combat for at least one round, but not trapping him underground.
Although this method isn't very efficient (any well done melee build should be able to kill any single enemy with a full attack, especially if they charge the enemy with pounce) it's sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. It's also be a hilarious way to take out (or at least protect your friend from) a BBEG or other super strong enemy that you couldn't necessarily kill in one round.
I could also see this combo working in the other direction, with a flying build that Grapples an enemy, moves upwards, and then drops him (preferably on other enemies).
Critiques? Build Ideas? Other ways to abuse this?
Here's the combo:
Burrow/Earth Glide + Pounce + Scorpion's Grasp feat (Sandstorm)
It's actually quite easy to get these special abilities. Here's a list (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=662842).
Charge and attack. If you hit, you get a free Grapple check thanks to Scorpion's Grasp. Once you've successfully Grappled your enemy, you can use your remaining attacks to make additional opposed Grapple checks. (You've always been able to do this, and it was even clarified in the Rules Compendium here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20071009a)). One of the things you can do with an opposed Grapple check is move at half your speed, bringing your enemy with you. Do so, moving strait down. Once you're underground, make another opposed Grapple check to escape from the Grapple, or just continue to pummel your enemy.
Now that your enemy is underground, he doesn't have line of sight against anyone but you, protecting all of your fellow party members. And once you're no longer Grappling, he doesn't have line of sight against anyone at all. Unless he has some special way of moving, he's might be trapped there.
I'm honestly not sure if this combo works. Arguably, you need to have a burrow ability and not earth glide or something similar that allows you to just magically pass through stone, because when you Grapple it doesn't explicitly impart your ability to move through solid stone to your enemy. Depending upon how your burrow ability is worded, this might leave a tunnel that your enemy could then Climb out of - still taking him out of combat for at least one round, but not trapping him underground.
Although this method isn't very efficient (any well done melee build should be able to kill any single enemy with a full attack, especially if they charge the enemy with pounce) it's sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. It's also be a hilarious way to take out (or at least protect your friend from) a BBEG or other super strong enemy that you couldn't necessarily kill in one round.
I could also see this combo working in the other direction, with a flying build that Grapples an enemy, moves upwards, and then drops him (preferably on other enemies).
Critiques? Build Ideas? Other ways to abuse this?