OK, it's pretty high level... but it's one creature/level in 30 foot diameter... but it only works on incorporeals, so mixed groups waste this spell, and what kind of spells known caster carries a spell that only works on a tiny subtype of enemies?... AAAAAND then it drops the bombshell, it's a CMB check that only uses CL+IntMod. Oh, did I mention it was *concentration?!* Well, at least when you miss everything you know there's no point in maintaining concentration...
Of course, incorporeals lack a Str score, so maybe their CMD isn't going to take off like the others? Well, no... This spell unlocks at level 12, and the first CR 12 incorporeal I can find, a [Aoandon](https://aonprd.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Aoandon), has a CMD of 40, so if we assume an Int of 26, we already need a nat20 to land a hit with this spell. Incorporeals still gain basically 2 CMD per level while this spell gains 1 CMB, so you're only falling further behind from there. Also, attacking more than one incorporeal doesn't help with this, because you explicitly only roll once, so this is a spell that only works 5% of the time, but it hits everything if it does... well, you know, if you can beat SR on all of them.
So , this is just [Black Tentacles](https://aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Black%20Tentacles) exclusively only against incorporeals and it starts out already obsolete. What a waste of paper and ink.
Nice, thorough evaluation of the spell. Sounds like the only way this ever works is when facing a huge number of incorporeal low CR mooks. I can think of a single, home-brewed session where that was the case, so it’s safe to say this spell doesn’t belong on anyone’s character sheet, unless they’re in a similar homebrew game.
> Of course, incorporeals lack a Str score, so maybe their CMD isn't going to take off like the others?
You've already found out that it's not likely, but I can provide the reason why: if you're incorporeal, your CHA contributes to your AC - that's why their AC is so damn high without any natural armor, armor, or shield bonuses.
> A creature can also add any circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to AC to its CMD. Any penalties to a creature’s AC also apply to its CMD. A flat-footed creature does not add its Dexterity bonus to its CMD.
Basically, anything that isn't a shield, armor, or natural bonus gets added to CMD - and whaddaya know, those are the only bonuses that incorporeals don't benefit from.
Yeah, I find it a bit odd that it's Cha, since that replaces Con, too, which means Cha is half of your ability scores. (If you're ever making a character that might become a playable ghost or want to make a ghost that annoys the hell out of your players, be sure to go sorc or oracle...)
Terrible spell
Grapple a very specific type of creature with a bad bonus of just CL+int mod (oh and do note it's always int, even for the wisdom based spiritualist) and since it's only available to spontaneous casters even if it was good at it's niche, which it isn't, it would still not get used. Oh and it's concentration duration, just to make it extra worthless.
OK, it's pretty high level... but it's one creature/level in 30 foot diameter... but it only works on incorporeals, so mixed groups waste this spell, and what kind of spells known caster carries a spell that only works on a tiny subtype of enemies?... AAAAAND then it drops the bombshell, it's a CMB check that only uses CL+IntMod. Oh, did I mention it was *concentration?!* Well, at least when you miss everything you know there's no point in maintaining concentration... Of course, incorporeals lack a Str score, so maybe their CMD isn't going to take off like the others? Well, no... This spell unlocks at level 12, and the first CR 12 incorporeal I can find, a [Aoandon](https://aonprd.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Aoandon), has a CMD of 40, so if we assume an Int of 26, we already need a nat20 to land a hit with this spell. Incorporeals still gain basically 2 CMD per level while this spell gains 1 CMB, so you're only falling further behind from there. Also, attacking more than one incorporeal doesn't help with this, because you explicitly only roll once, so this is a spell that only works 5% of the time, but it hits everything if it does... well, you know, if you can beat SR on all of them. So , this is just [Black Tentacles](https://aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Black%20Tentacles) exclusively only against incorporeals and it starts out already obsolete. What a waste of paper and ink.
Even worse on Spiritualists which are Wisdom based casters.
Nice, thorough evaluation of the spell. Sounds like the only way this ever works is when facing a huge number of incorporeal low CR mooks. I can think of a single, home-brewed session where that was the case, so it’s safe to say this spell doesn’t belong on anyone’s character sheet, unless they’re in a similar homebrew game.
> Of course, incorporeals lack a Str score, so maybe their CMD isn't going to take off like the others? You've already found out that it's not likely, but I can provide the reason why: if you're incorporeal, your CHA contributes to your AC - that's why their AC is so damn high without any natural armor, armor, or shield bonuses. > A creature can also add any circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to AC to its CMD. Any penalties to a creature’s AC also apply to its CMD. A flat-footed creature does not add its Dexterity bonus to its CMD. Basically, anything that isn't a shield, armor, or natural bonus gets added to CMD - and whaddaya know, those are the only bonuses that incorporeals don't benefit from.
Yeah, I find it a bit odd that it's Cha, since that replaces Con, too, which means Cha is half of your ability scores. (If you're ever making a character that might become a playable ghost or want to make a ghost that annoys the hell out of your players, be sure to go sorc or oracle...)
Not all incorporeal creatures are undead, some do have a con score.
Terrible spell Grapple a very specific type of creature with a bad bonus of just CL+int mod (oh and do note it's always int, even for the wisdom based spiritualist) and since it's only available to spontaneous casters even if it was good at it's niche, which it isn't, it would still not get used. Oh and it's concentration duration, just to make it extra worthless.