Rock to Mud VS Featherfall

[Trench]

So a party goes into a dungeon filled with earth genies. The casters stay spider climbed on top of the cavern while the melee types go down below to distract.

An earth genie casts rock to mud on the ceiling, causing the spider climbed casters to fall. The sorcerer casts featherfall.

Does the party still take the 8d6 damage from falling rocks AND the falling damage or does the feather fall cancel the falling damage. Or does it cancel both?

((Apologies if this is posted on the wrong forum. Rushing off to work...))

 

[frankthedm]

FF: One Medium or smaller freefalling object or creature/level, no two of which may be more than 20 ft. apart

TRTM: If transmute rock to mud is cast upon the ceiling of a cavern or tunnel, the mud falls to the floor and spreads out in a pool at a depth of 5 feet. The falling mud and the ensuing cave-in deal 8d6 points of bludgeoning damage to anyone caught directly beneath the area, or half damage to those who succeed on Reflex saves.

I'd rule the caster can't target the mud since that falls as one enormous {much bigger than medium] mud pie nor can the caster target the rocks, the main source of the damage, since those fall AFTER the mud does. The caster simply wont have LOS/LOE on the falling rocks until AFTER the Feather Fall spell has been cast and resolved.

 

[frankthedm]

Related rules to keep in mind.
[sblock=Cave-Ins And Collapses]
Cave-Ins And Collapses (Cr 8)
Cave-ins and collapsing tunnels are extremely dangerous. Not only do dungeon explorers face the danger of being crushed by tons of falling rock, even if they survive they may be buried beneath a pile of rubble or cut off from the only known exit. A cave-in buries anyone in the middle of the collapsing area, and then sliding debris damages anyone in the periphery of the collapse. A typical corridor subject to a cave-in might have a bury zone with a 15-foot radius and a 10-foot-radius slide zone extending beyond the bury zone. A weakened ceiling can be spotted with a DC 20 Knowledge (architecture and engineering) or DC 20 Craft (stonemasonry) check. Remember that Craft checks can be made untrained as Intelligence checks. A dwarf can make such a check if he simply passes within 10 feet of a weakened ceiling.

A weakened ceiling may collapse when subjected to a major impact or concussion. A character can cause a cave-in by destroying half the pillars holding the ceiling up.

Characters in the bury zone of a cave-in take 8d6 points of damage, or half that amount if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. They are subsequently buried. Characters in the slide zone take 3d6 points of damage, or no damage at all if they make a DC 15 Reflex save. Characters in the slide zone who fail their saves are buried.

Characters take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage per minute while buried. If such a character falls unconscious, he must make a DC 15 Constitution check. If it fails, he takes 1d6 points of lethal damage each minute thereafter until freed or dead.

Characters who aren’t buried can dig out their friends. In 1 minute, using only her hands, a character can clear rocks and debris equal to five times her heavy load limit. The amount of loose stone that fills a 5-foot-by-5-foot area weighs one ton (2,000 pounds). Armed with an appropriate tool, such as a pick, crowbar, or shovel, a digger can clear loose stone twice as quickly as by hand. You may allow a buried character to free himself with a DC 25 Strength check.[/sblock]

 

[kitcik]

I agree casting it on the slide would fail.

I would say the sorerer, if he casts FF on himself, would be treated as in the "slide" area based on the rules above as he would fall more slowly than the mud and rocks.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Wait, are you saying the Sorcerer cast Feather Fall on the casters or on the falling ceiling?

If the casters were Feather Falled, than the falling rock/mud would hit them on the way down, but if I was DM, I'd say that since it was falling faster than the casters were falling, and only started moving from under their feet (hitting/passing them as falling momentum only began), they'd end up taking significantly less damage from the ceiling. They'd take no damage from the falling.

The casters would not be buried, since the entirety of the falling ceiling would hit the ground before they did. They might sink a little into mud, but they'd end up on the surface.

 

[kitcik]

Wait, are you saying the Sorcerer cast Feather Fall on the casters or on the falling ceiling?

If the casters were Feather Falled, than the falling rock/mud would hit them on the way down, but if I was DM, I'd say that since it was falling faster than the casters were falling, and only started moving from under their feet (hitting/passing them as falling momentum only began), they'd end up taking significantly less damage from the ceiling. They'd take no damage from the falling.

The casters would not be buried, since the entirety of the falling ceiling would hit the ground before they did. They might sink a little into mud, but they'd end up on the surface.

I'm not sure if the OP was saying that, but that is what I am saying