Do stunned dragons plummet?

[Rhewtani]

In races of the dragon ... dragon born or touched (I don't have the book in front of me) can get/have dragon wings that when they go unconcious unflurl and act as parachutes.

Is this a trait of dragon wings? Is it noted somewhere in particular?

I was running an 11th level wizard whose only flight option was polymorph, so I took to my standard choice of bronze dragon. I then got hit for a 3 minute stun when I was trying to descend what is essentially a 500 foot drop.

So ... 50d6. At the table I play at this is actually taken from "body" (i.e. wound points). I have ... 12 of those, so even all 1's kills me.

Did I miss something? Other than knowing that I should always have a ring of featherfall if I ever want to fly, that is.

 

[Asha'man]

Two things:

- No, that abillity is not a trait of dragon wings. AFAIK, it is unique to the feat. What happens when you're stunned/paralyzed/immobilized/grappled in midair depends on your maneuverabillity rating, spesifically your minimum forward speed. If you can't move at least your minimum forward speed during your turn while in midair, you start falling. This is not an issue for anyone with Good or Perfect maneuverabillity, since they have minimum forward speed 0 ft.

-However, falling damage is capped at 20d6, and it's not automatically wound point damage according to RAW, so it might be you shouldn't have died. (Barring house rules, of course)

 

[Kmart Kommando]

Dude, you got hosed.

Actually, you should have featherfall all the time, because there are so many situations where you'll get bullrushed/dwarf tossed/punted/whatever.

Meta-challenge is the word I'd use. Encounters tailor-made to exploit any weakness or negate any ability you have.

Next caster type you play, ignore the dice cap of a low level spell and see how he reacts, then explain his mistake from the falling damage.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Or just show him how he was wrong on both the dice damage and where it applies to and ask for a ret-con. If he refuses such a reasonable request, THEN follow Kmart's advice.

 

[Rhewtani]

He didn't purposefully hose me. The falling damage going to wound (we call it body) points is an attempt to keep some realism here and there.

It was 7 am (we'd started playing at 3 pm), so we stopped before any damage was rolled.

We didn't know about the 20d6 cap.

The lack of certain spells on my list is based on an older spell research rule the game used. 'Cause this is an existing PC, he's got some gaps that I can fill ... I just haven't had the in-game time.

What I'm trying to do is see how much fixing with RAW there can be to the situation. It was a pre-published adventure.

 

[Rhewtani]

Well, what we determined is that since I spend a lot of time polymorphing into bronze dragons, i would know how my flight works ('cause I did ... before not playing for 9+ months).

I couldn't fly down a 10' radius shat. I'd need 15 ft forward flight, and 20 feet for the uturn.

I could never do that.

So, ooc what happens if I try to use the fly spell in the same situation?

 

[irdeggman]

Do you have access to the 3.5 core books?

If so read the info on flight in the DMG (pg 20) and the fly spell.


Fly spell

The subject can fly at a speed of 60 feet (or 40 feet if it wears medium or heavy armor, or if it carries a medium or heavy load). It can ascend at half speed and descend at double speed, and its maneuverability is good. Using a fly spell requires only as much concentration as walking, so the subject can attack or cast spells normally. The subject of a fly spell can charge but not run, and it cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load, plus any armor it wears.

As stated above if you can't move your minimum forward speed to fall - but perfect and good maneuverability has a zero forward speed minimum hence no falling. The fly spell gives good maneuverability. Which has something to do with the reason when the spell's duration runs out the character drifts to the ground instead of falling.

 

[frankthedm]

The fly spell gives good maneuverability. Which has something to do with the reason when the spell's duration runs out the character drifts to the ground instead of falling.

The soft fall feature of spell has has nothing to do with the good maneuverability the spell bestows. Some soft hearted group of Wizards Who Dwell Near The Sea decided more folks might use the spell if it had a parachute built in. The only time the soft fall kicsk in is when the duration expires. As it happens that is exactly how dispelling magic works, so a Dispel triggers the soft fall. Should the spell duration expire while the subject is still aloft, the magic fails slowly.

Now some folks, like me, read the following line of the fly spell as to indicate "if you can't concentrate enough to walk, your fly spell ceases to function"

Using a fly spell requires only as much concentration as walking, so the subject can attack or cast spells normally.

IIRC this was even the way one of the 3E designers assumed the way the spell worked when he was writing a D20 module. Specifically in an encounter over lava with a foe that could stun with a Blasphemy Spell.

 

[Shin Okada]

What I'm trying to do is see how much fixing with RAW there can be to the situation. It was a pre-published adventure.

20d6 cap is usually enough to save a high-level character from dying by falling.

For example, an average 11th-level mage has 4 + 2.5x10 =29 hp without con modifier. With point-buy, many invest at least 6 points in con, resulting Con 14 (+2). And mages often prefer Amulet of Health over Amulet of Natural Armor and alike. Assume this mage has at least Amulet of Health +2. Now his HP is 29 + 33 = 62. Expectation value for 20d6 is 70 and thus he has a good chance from avoiding death (-10 hp). He still likely to need a save for avoiding death from massive damages, though.

The wound damage house rule is what killed your PC instantly. Introducing that kind of rule will make something not meant to be that deadly by RAW into a deadly thing.

If your party is of 11th-level, Raise Dead spell should be available. It will still save your character. Your PC will lose 1 level but thanks to 3.5e Xp gaining rule, you will eventually catch up with others.

And, I suggest you to re-discuss with your play group if that wound damage house rule is making your games better or not, before playing the next session.