And I think that's one of the worst examples of Mercer's DMing there is, and I'm inclined to ignore the advice of someone who actually DMs that way.
It's not his best example of DMing. But I'm not showing it as that. I'm showing it as an example of players doing foolish things rather than being cool for the camera.
Also, Mercer is many things but he's also not an easy DM. He's not going to softball things or change the world to spare the players from stupid decision.
And think about it: if he had and the player had just dived, take 10 points of damage and moved on... would it be a remotely interesting story to share? A memorable scene at all?
Instead, they got a scene that was absurd enough that it got turned into a T-shirt.
Honestly, that scene was pretty funny. Any fans who got pissed off or called them stupid roundly deserves a slap.
It's hilarious. But the player
wishes she could blame that moment on "doing something for the fans".
Most fans aren't going to call her stupid over it, but she does get some teasing on screen and off for making the jump and not becoming, say, a bird.
It's also not the only example of foolishness or mistakes. Famously, a character died because their player miscounted their hit points.
I do. Mercer botched the falling rules (which isn't horrible in itself) then played it up to make the player who'd done the unwise thing look stupider, just for laughs.
1) You're assuming he didn't houserule falling damage. (Which many DMs do; falling damage stupid low at great heights.)
2) Every DM botches a rule at some time. If that makes someone terrible there are no non-terrible DMs.
3) It was being played for laughs by everyone. He made some effort to be serious but everyone was dying of laughter. The whole situation is so absurd it's hard not to laugh. Watching it live I was dying of laughter the entire time. I'm more surprised he kept a straight face as long as he did...
Now, keep in mind, Matt knows his players. Probably better that you know your players after four years of weekly games plus set-up and one-shots and hanging out. And said player is his wife, who he also knows. He's not going to cross a line or upset them.