Talbot

Probably because they know I'm attached to PnP, where it has always been party-unfriendly. That being said, with a bit of help (via items or spells) you can easily use this spell imo, and SR actually already buffed it by adding a no-save reduced movement rate which can be used to keep some distance while casting spells from afar.

 

As yarpen says, a party-friendly Entangle would be extremely OP in BG1 because you could cast it every single time and have your entire party kite here and there unpunished, rain down arrows or even get close in melee (an entangled opponent with -2 thac0/AC is an even easier prey for Fighter immune to it).

Oh it can still be useful, largely due to the above mentioned no save slow effect. Still as compared to similar spells like Web and Grease it comes up short. Unlike Web it can't be used to tie up ranged attackers or casters, and due to its slow casting time and large area of effect it can't be used to block off melee attackers with the same efficacy as Grease (which slows and stuns). Sure you can set up some decent combos with it, but a first level crowd control spell isn't something you should need items or higher level spells to get use out of.

I'll grant you that party friendliness may be too strong for a first level spell as it stands; but coupled with an easier saving throw or a lessened duration it would be more balanced. I can't compare offhand but what does the casting time look like compared to similar spells (clouds etc.) ?

Your mod has already made this a better and more interesting spell, so I understand tweaking it may not be priority. I'd only like to suggest that the current incarnation struggles to justify its spell slot when it looks like it should be a primary for a druid.

While that was surely true in vanilla, I think that even in the current state SR already made druid's spellbook really great. There can always be room for improvements, but I don't feel like druid's spellbook needs any more love than cleric's one right now. Am I wrong?

Don't get me wrong, SR does a lot of favors for druids and makes them a passable class , and the upcoming version builds on this significantly. So no complaints there. A lot of it is how poorly PnP druids translate to a CRPG primarily about combat. Clerics end up doing just about everything better than druids, whether its healing, buffing, or dealing straight caster damage or even tanking. But looking at the proposed changes you're doing a lot to define their role as better damage and field control casters.

Afraid they'll always be just a little bit lackluster and in the same boat as rangers and bards who don't come out so well in a tactical combat game.

Well, Ranger's Woodland Stride feature does indeed grant immunity to entangle within KR (I'm sure KR's Archer loves this spell), and Druids are kinda destined to get the same ability considering that they share it within PnP.

Perfect, that works well enough for me. Quite looking forward to the realization of the IR/KR/SR triumvirate.

Strange, after all these years I still would prefer to boot up BGT with fresh mods than play any number of modern games!

I'm surprised no one has suggested giving entangle its old party friendly AOE back yet. Druids are pretty thin on useful spells still, and this is their signature one. With the current casting time and the indiscriminate effect this spell is rarely useful. Conceptually a druid shouldn't be getting tripped up by their own plants right? Yes, then it would be pretty strong for a first level spell, but druids need a little love.

(If nothing else consider making druids immune to entangle in KR )