Attacking form on high question

[.5 Elf]

How would you handle an enemy jumping from a raised ledge to attack? Say an enemy jumping at you from the tree tops or jumping off a ledge at you? Would it be handled as a charge, with an athletics/acrobatics check?

 

[MortalPlague]

A charge seems appropriate, yeah. Maybe if they make their acrobatics check, they knock the target prone, but if they fail it, they fall prone themselves instead?

 

[Will Doyle]

I do it just as MortalPlague says above, but I usually add a +5 damage bonus to compensate for the risk (and reward the cool).

EDIT: Only for PCs though. For enemies, I wouldn't add the +5.

 

[Klaus]

How would you handle an enemy jumping from a raised ledge to attack? Say an enemy jumping at you from the tree tops or jumping off a ledge at you? Would it be handled as a charge, with an athletics/acrobatics check?

It's basically a charge, as others have said (movement + attack), but only if the character takes no damage from the fall (damage = falling prone).

If the character says he wants to land *on top* of the opponent, I'd halve the damage from the fall and apply the other half to the opponent. And both end up prone. This wouldn't be a charge.

A third option would be to let the PC roll an Athletics, Acrobatics or Endurance check against a hard DC of the same level and apply the limited damage expression for said level (or the normal damage expression + knocking the opponent prone). In this case, the character isn't prone. If the character fails to hit the hard DC but hits the moderate DC, the character still succeeds, but is prone.

 

[.5 Elf]

Well it's for monsters I have since found out. I asked this to gain opinions to help someone else out with an encounter they are building.

More accurately it is for Apes.

Quoting his latest response which shared more info on what he is working on:

Wow, thanks a lot guys. I was trying not to give away too much information as i'm trying to build a module but i'm referring to an encounter in a thick forest against apes/su etc. Monsters that have speed 6-7 and climb speed of the same. There would be two full levels to the encounter, the treetops and the ground. The su ambushers grab PCs and carry them off. Also the monsters can climb without provoking op attacks. So having these howling monkeys attack you from the branches above and sometimes carrying you back up the tree (if you escape the grab you may very likely just fall to the ground). This is the general gist of where my question comes from. If this helps you come to a consensus any better. I'm not a very experienced DM which is why I wanted to get other peoples oppinions.

Also, one of the attacks is to shift their speed, grabbing a character somewhere in the shift...could this jump/fall attack count as shifting?

Are Tackles really covered in 4e anymore? Would it just be a grapple or? What are the issues when landing on someone and ending your turn there?

So now that we know it's monkeys attacking from on high ... well to me that changes things a little. I would argue that bonuses may full well apply.

What say you EN World?

 

[Will Doyle]

Sounds like a fun encounter.

For monsters, as he suggests, you can just roll the whole lot into a power.

Very rough example:

"THE JUNGLE...IT CAME ALIVE AND TOOK HIM" (Standard Action, Recharge 4+)
Melee 1 (one creature)
Str vs. AC
Hit: X damage (lots!), and make a secondary attack against the same target
Secondary Attack: Str vs. Fortitude
Hit: The ape grabs the target and shifts up to 5 squares, pulling the target with it. The ape can use this power to climb with the target.
Effect: The ape can shift up to 5 squares before making the primary attack

Here, the shift before the attack can be used to represent the jump. Neither shifting nor forced movement provoke opportunity attacks.