Falling is fatal...

[Captain_K]

Does anyone do Falling differently than the PH rules? Allow saves? Give some classes a special ruling? Does armor affect the fall damage? What height is safe to "jump" from? What height is safe to fall from? Is falling height a function of character height?

[Go0gleplex]

Dragon mag. did a fairly comprehensive article on falling back in the mid to late 80's that had damage increasing based on physics, so 1d6 at 10', 3d6 at 20', etc.

Falling can be a very circumstantial thing if the CK wants to get into that much detail with it. I personally knew of a lady that fell a mere three feet and killed herself upon landing back in 1984. She leaned out her window over her couch to yell at her kids and lost her balance, falling out of the window. Military training has what is called the Spider Drop so a fully loaded trooper can fall around 10-15 feet with less of a chance of injury. Rules exist for monks taking less falling damage and there is of course parkour that can be useful if learned.

It all depends on how into you want to get. Personally I just keep it simple and modify things as common sense requires. Fewer headaches to worry about that way.

[Traveller]

This discussion brings back memories.

[Omote]

Intentionally jumping down from 10 feet results in no damage.

If during a fall, the first 1-5' do no damage, but the character must stand up, which in itself could be a problem during combat. From 6-10' 1d6 subdual damage and prone, or DEX saving throw for no damage, and not prone. Beyond this, 1d6+1 damage for every 10 feet fallen (2d6+2 at 20', 3d6+3 at 30', etc.). A successful DEX saving throw from 100' or less is possible for 1/2 damage (or less damage equal to DEX attribute score, depending on my whim). Falls of greater than 100' grant no saving throw. 1d6+1 damage per 10' fallen, with no upper limit on amount of dice rolled. For example, if falling from 350 feet, the damage is 35d6+35 ~ almost certain death.

Maximum velocity aside (physics be damned!), HP represents no just heath, but luck. And the higher distance a character falls from, the greater amount of luck is needed. Health means little at this point. Luck runs out fast, so don't fall.

Why 1d6+1 damage? They way I feel is that when falling, it's kind of like being hit by a club in C&C, hence the 1d6+1 damage.

~O

[Treebore]

Its simple, if you don't have a Ring of Feather Falling, or are a Monk close to some kind of wall, don't fall.

[Captain_K]

I'm going to blame my total lapse of memory of that former post series to the time of day, in a rush to get off to work.. with a stray thought coming to my mind on the way out the door shutting the computer down... thanks Traveller....

[serleran]

The ground gets to make an attack roll against the falling victim. However, due to its massive size and Strength, it gains just enough bonus to always hit and inflict enough damage to slay anything. Feather fall and flight, among a few other magic/tech effects [anti-gravity for example] reduce the effective Strength of the planet to a tolerable level.

[Fizz]

This discussion brings back memories.

Ah it was... good times...

-Fizz

[Lurker]

The ground gets to make an attack roll against the falling victim. However, due to its massive size and Strength, it gains just enough bonus to always hit and inflict enough damage to slay anything. Feather fall and flight, among a few other magic/tech effects [anti-gravity for example] reduce the effective Strength of the planet to a tolerable level.

I like that!

Now to bring in one of my favorite tongue and cheek books, ... if the ground rolls a 1 (a critical miss) and the target makes a successful dodge/dex roll, the one falling misses the ground and has learned the art of flying (throwing yourself at the ground and missing) by default

[Traveller]

@Lurker: "We apologize for the inconvenience."

[Captain_K]

The Pit and the Pendulum short bit I'm working on for the Doomsday as would guess will need some falling damage ideas or options... should be fun!

[bugleyman]

I played in a 1E game that used the C&C falling damage rules (which we found in Dragon, I think), so C&C as written seems about right to me.