Jumping off a 10' building = automatic prone?

[jkohlhepp]

I had some archers on the roof of a 10' building in a recent encounter. The PCs wanted to jump off after they dispatched with the archer. I read through the rules and it seems that if you jump 10' you take falling dmg, and you are automatically prone. This is true even if you voluntarily "fall" (jump). Acrobatics lets you halve the damage but even with that you still are automatically prone?

Am I missing something? Even normal people can jump 10' and land on their feet. It seems heroes should be able to do it...

Thanks,

~ Justin

 

[RangerWickett]

I don't have the book with me, but I'd just say that if you intentionally jump down, you can make an Acrobatics check even if untrained to reduce the damage. Normal damage will be 5 or 6, and an average roll for an untrained person would be a 10 or so, so most of the time a person could jump down and be okay, but if they land badly they might fall over and hurt themselves.

I mean, sure, 10 feet isn't a crazy height, but it's a ways to fall. I wouldn't expect to be able to do it regularly and come out unhurt. Much safer to slowly climb down, which since they're archers should be okay. Just use one hand to lower yourself down, and drop 3 feet.

 

[Klaus]

I had some archers on the roof of a 10' building in a recent encounter. The PCs wanted to jump off after they dispatched with the archer. I read through the rules and it seems that if you jump 10' you take falling dmg, and you are automatically prone. This is true even if you voluntarily "fall" (jump). Acrobatics lets you halve the damage but even with that you still are automatically prone?

Am I missing something? Even normal people can jump 10' and land on their feet. It seems heroes should be able to do it...

Thanks,

~ Justin

You must be trained in Acrobatics.

Jump down and roll damage (1d10 per 10 feet).

Roll Acrobatics check and reduce damage by 1/2 of your result.

If you reduce damage to 0, you don't fall prone.

 

[Garthanos]

I am sure glad these rules are pc... targetted... them soldier minions go splat splat splat.

 

[FurryFighter]

I've jumped off my roof before, which is about 9', took all hands and feet to keep from faceplant, knees went to chest, bones and muscles ached. doing a shoulder tucking roll would've been better. in this instance, the small -2 penalty to heavy armor doesnt seem enough for a realism standpoint (for normal humanoid beings), except that as these people are better than normal people, being heroes, then it makes more sense. The falling prone makes sense, except in very good acrobatic rolls. Why didnt they want to try flipping around to lower off the edge with their hands? if they go prone they waste more time. I know its not as flashy though...

 

[Infiniti2000]

Acrobatics lets you halve the damage but even with that you still are automatically prone?

As Klaus points out, you do not halve the damage, you reduce the damage by half your check. Big difference. Depending on how badly the roll went, you could theoretically jump down a long way without getting hurt.

Regarding going prone, as noted again by Klaus the rule in DDI is "Prone: You fall prone when you land, unless you take no damage from the fall."

 

[Infiniti2000]

I am sure glad these rules are pc... targetted... them soldier minions go splat splat splat.

...unless they score high enough on their acrobatics rolls.

 

[keterys]

Or 'Climb' down a single foot, then drop down.

 

[chitzk0i]

Or 'Climb' down a single foot, then drop down.

If it's a ten foot drop, I'd let someone climb down with a move action. If if there's no wall there to cling to, you could say you're hanging down from the ledge and only dropping a few feet.

 

[Kzach]

Am I missing something? Even normal people can jump 10' and land on their feet. It seems heroes should be able to do it...

Again, damage is not always representative of physical injury.

And if you seriously think that you can jump off a 10' roof without physically exerting yourself and landing upright then you're either an Olympic gymnast, in which case the rules cover you, or you're delusional.

Try jumping off a 10' roof sometime to see what it's like. Just don't come back here claiming D&D made you do it when you break your neck