Earthquake (spell)

Earthquake releases a burst of energy, causing a powerful tremor that shakes the ground surface in all directions. All persons within the area of effect are at the quake's mercy, unable to do anything except, at minimum, to fall to the ground. The caster is effectively the "epicentre" of the quake.

Earthquake

Range	120 ft.
Duration	see text
Area of Effect	5 ft. radius per level
Casting Time	2 rounds
Saving Throw	none
Level	cleric (7th)

Once the spell is discharged, the caster has little control over the earthquake's intensity. He or she must roll 3d6 (3-18) to determine how long the shaking lasts. The incident as it unfolds is described below, round by round. At once, a rumbling starts and everyone is affected.

Reason, perception and the victim's sense of direction are turned upside down; the only one that's safe is the caster, who stands at the "eye" of the reverberations. Whatever happens, the caster emerges unscathed, as buildings conveniently fall to the left or right, but never in a way that the caster's touched.

Rounds 1 to 3: creatures find themselves unbalanced, dropping their weapons and staggering to remain on their feet; buildings and trees start to sway back and forth. On the 3rd round, a violent shake drops everyone onto their hands and knees as hairline cracks appear on mortared patios and streets.

Round 4: the shaking eases just enough that creatures can crawl a distance of no more than ten feet, giving themselves a chance to vacate a balcony, escape a building, jump or seek a doorway. Characters attempting to leave the earthquake area must make a dexterity check or fail to guess the right direction.

" Round 5: another hard shake in a random compass direction (1 to 8) tosses everyone and everything that's loose in the same direction; the shock causes 1-6 damage to everyone in the spell's area of effect.

Round 6: another lull allows creatures to move another ten feet; and make another dexterity check to see if they can escape. Flying creatures are able to take to the air.

|- | 7 || tunnels, caves and caverns collapse |- | 8 || wooden structures give way and collapse |- | 9 || ground splits up and swells; creatures suffer 1d6 damage |- | 10 || half-timbered structures break up and collapse |- | 11 || creatures suffer 1d6 damage |- | 12 || stone structures with walls less than six inches thick collapse |- | 13 || all trees in the area have a 1-in-3 chance of being uprooted |- | 14 || stone structures with walls less than a foot thick collapse |- | 15 || creatures suffer 2d4 damage |- | 16 || ground cracks and heaves upwards; creatures suffer 4d4 damage |- | 17 || stone structures with walls less than two feet thick collapse |}