Falling Questions.

[kdogg3403]

We are in a campaign right now where a dragon is hovering over a pit. The dragon was hit and went prone. According to the PHB: "If you're flying, you safely descend a distance equal to your fly speed. If you don't reach the ground, you fall." So, does hovering negate the prone effect? If no, how many feet will the dragon fall in a round and does it get a saving throw? One of our group members thinks it would fall 500 feet in a round.

 

[karossii]

per the rules you quoted, the dragon would safely fall its speed (depends on the dragon), and if it didn't land, then it falls to the bottom of the pit instantly. The rules seem to not take into account terminal velocity, speed of a fall, etc.; there is no way provided to adjudicate any distance so far you won't land in the same round you fall... so it is assumed you are instantly on the ground.

Of course, it is very common to house rule some form of maximum falling distance per round; though if a human in 'freefall' position (trying to slow the fall) were to instantly hit terminal velocity, it should fall about 1,050 feet (210 squares) in a 6 second round. This ignores acceleration, and various other factors such as position or shape of the body (which would alter the terminal velocity of the falling body). Because of all of that (figuring acceleration from 0 to terminal velocity, needing to know the shape/position of a body to calculate its terminal velocity humans can easily move from 120MPH to 200MPH terminal velocity by pulling their limbs in, and the world record freefall terminal velocity is somewhere around 600MPH if memory serves), it is probably best to avoid hyper-realism and just go with a generic valuse your group feels is appropriate.

 

[Dalzig]

The DMG section on "High-Altitude Crashes" states that you can fall about 100 squares, or 500 feet, in one round. If you fall that much and still don't hit the ground, then you get a chance to stabilize your flight. See DMG 47-8 for the rules on aerial combat.

Hovering has no effect on whether you crash when you are knocked prone.

 

[karossii]

Wow, I had missed that section. Of course I almost never have had aerial combat in my games, so have been limited to various rules on falling; but OTOH I have read the DMG cover cover and somehow never absorbed that!