[Quick!] Need help, what is the max distance one falls in a round?

[RedSwan78]

Hey all, I have a game here coming up in a about 2 hours (it's 11:00 am pst/2:00 pm est)

I need to know what the distance is that someone will fall in one round. I think I remember someone somewhere saying you fall 360 feet in one round? That could be totally wrong. If you have any answers/references, that would be great!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Caliber]

Assuming normal gravity and ignoring wind resistance you fall about 9.8 meter per second squared.

So in 6 seconds you'll get to a velocity of 58.8 meters, which is roughly 112 feet. Of course after round 1 you will continue to accelerate (and eventually you'll hit terminal velocity where all that air resistance we were ignoring couteracts gravity's pull)

Basicly, unless its a REALLY long fall, it shouldn't take more than 1~3 rounds.

Why ya need to know?

 

[RedSwan78]

Well, the short of it is, I'm playing a Blink Dog

Blink Dogs can use Dimension Door as if cast by an 8th lvl sorc, so that's 720ft. So, I could Dimension Door myself straight up in the air 720. Now, Blink Dogs can act immediatly after using Dimension Door, unlike if it was cast by a normal person. I'm going to be picking up a lvl of cleric next lvl (we're starting at 4th lvl, just perfect for a Blink Dog Yes, the DM likes us playing weird things.. hehe) So I was thinking, if I'm in dire need, I could Dimension Door straight up 720ft in the air, and while falling cast Cure Light Wounds on myself. Then at the beginning of next round, I could Dimension Door somewhere else so I don't hit the ground and take massive fall dmg.

Sure, I could just Dimension Door somewhere else, but going straight up in the air is just one possibility, and I wanted to have all of my angles covered

So basically, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't out-fall my distance and go splat

But, you gave real world examples. While appreciated, I'm looking for D&D answers, as I'm kind of certain I had once seen somebody say something somewhere about how far you fall in a round..

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

s = 1/2 * a * t^2

(if I remember physics correctly)

Which means 176.58 meters (or roughly 570 feet) using 9.81 m/s^2 for g.

I don't think there's a specific rules answer, since the damage (IIRC) tops out at about 20d6 for a fall, or 200 feet.

 

[Mark Chance]

So I was thinking, if I'm in dire need, I could Dimension Door straight up 720ft in the air, and while falling cast Cure Light Wounds on myself. Then at the beginning of next round, I could Dimension Door somewhere else so I don't hit the ground and take massive fall dmg.

In my opinion:

The character would still take damage. Dimension door would not cancel the character's speed gained during the round he was falling. So, let's say just for the sake of having a number, that in the round in which the blink dog is casting cure light wounds (and making a Concentration check to cast while plummeting), the character falls 60 feet.

When the character "blinks" back to the ground, he is still moving at a rate of 60 feet/round. Consequently, he suffers 6d6 points of damage as the ground absorbs the energy of his fall.

 

[drnuncheon]

When the character "blinks" back to the ground, he is still moving at a rate of 60 feet/round. Consequently, he suffers 6d6 points of damage as the ground absorbs the energy of his fall.

The description of dimension door in the Player's Handbook does not say anything about preservation of momentum.

Having house rules is fine, but you should not present them as "the way it is" in a Rules Forum discussion.

J

 

[dcollins]

I need to know what the distance is that someone will fall in one round. I think I remember someone somewhere saying you fall 360 feet in one round? That could be totally wrong. If you have any answers/references, that would be great!

I personally use 500 ft in the first round, 1,000 feet in each subsequent round. This came from a book called Skydiving, and is nice and simple.

The WOTC Dungeon adventure "Storm Lord's Keep" specifies 670 ft. in the first round, 1,150 feet each subsequent round (p. 79).

DMG p. 69 has falling rates of 150 ft followed by 300 feet, but that's only for winged/flying creatures when they lose sufficient air speed.

 

[Mark Chance]

The description of dimension door in the Player's Handbook does not say anything about preservation of momentum.

Having house rules is fine, but you should not present them as "the way it is" in a Rules Forum discussion.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Constructive response.

If we're conserving momentum, what happens when you teleport to the opposite side of a rotating spherical world?

To me, it makes more sense to allow someone to Dimension Door to safety while falling than it does to open the Physics can of worms.

-Hyp.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

If we're conserving momentum, what happens when you teleport to the opposite side of a rotating spherical world?

To me, it makes more sense to allow someone to Dimension Door to safety while falling than it does to open the Physics can of worms.

Hear, hear.

Since momentum is a vector quantity, you'd have to define what the frame of reference is to make teleport manageable. That's way too involved for this game. I'd stick with magic not following the laws of physics and thermodynamics. You'll consume less aspirin that way.