Did you mean to reply to somebody? Because traveling the same amount of distance triggers the same overall amount of potential damage, doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are, moving 5 feet in it causes you to take damage

Quote from FireHawke32 >>

Did you mean to reply to somebody? Because traveling the same amount of distance triggers the same overall amount of potential damage, doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are, moving 5 feet in it causes you to take damage

Just FYI, on these pages if you click reply on a message without quoting it, there's no visual indication anywhere that you're replying to a specific message.

Quote from Haravikk >>

While a lot of DMs will run it like Merilwens Meatgrinder, like a horizontal cheese grater just grinding guards into nothing, others will run smarter enemies who only take 5 (2d4) damage before trying a different path. Part of the challenge in the spell isn't forcing more movement through it, it's forcing any movement in the first place, as you need enemies to really want to get to the other side, or for avoiding it to be the entire point (so you can keep enemies at range for longer).

I think as long as a DM runs reasonably sensible enemies then the spell is fine; extremely useful, but not overpowered.

Great points, but at low levels it's still just overpowered against the vast majority of available foes. Yes, all the but truly mindless / enraged (or tactically astute, willing to make a meaningful sacrifice) stop before or just after they enter the area of growth, whichever seems most realistic. Able-bodied victims even attempt to jump out of it, or across edges when it appears possible, then only take damage for the affected square they left and/or entered (even applying an acrobatics roll for half damage on occasion). I'm also considering the idea of it automatically doing half damage against heavy armor.

Indoors this spell is entirely ridiculous, and in the future I'm pretty sure I'll house rule that "ground" means a natural, solid surface, in keeping with the apparent intent. Even now I refuse to have it grow up walls and such, because that is not "ground" (spheres be damned). It's still a nightmare, with such a large area, let alone the range. It just has to be dropped on the heads slid under the feet of a small army swarming the party in order to turn a deadly ambush into the biggest headache of a joke encounter imaginable. Orcs and lizardfolk throw their javelins then either charge / retreat to their death or stand there and wait to die; Hobgoblins and gnolls may fare significantly better, but most enemies don't have ammunition.  

My point is, the spell is bonkers good when it's used with any sense at all. No, a decent DM isn't completely helpless against it, but it is very, very often a CR-busting bomb against otherwise challenging groups of enemies. It shouldn't require pre-tuning encounters just to account for one particular spell.