Falling from Great Heights

[radja]

hmm.. I'm actually not sure about 1 in a milion, I suspect the chance to survive a 200ft fall is more like 1 in 10000.

a friend of mine actually fell 60 meter (about 200ft) after a parachuting accident and survived. he made a full recovery and is now jumping out of planes again. not bad after a broken back and neck.

 

[Aaron]

The damage from a Giant's club can be described (by the DM, of course), as only being a glancing blow, etc., and it makes sense (the same goes for the Dragons slash).

It appears to make sense if:

1) you assume that the PCS are normal humans, an assumption not shared by many DMs;

2) you describe every single attack from the hundreds (thousands?) of deadly enemies the PCs encounter as only being glancing blows: but, unfortunately, that doesn't make sense at all.

3) you like to be forced to describe even dragon crush attacks as "glancing blows", or pools of acid as "mildly irritating", and so on.

The Fireball can be dodged, shielded by an object, mitigated by armor or clothing, etc.

What if the character is sleeping, tied, or otherwise completely helpless?

Do you realize that (in 3E) a high level PC can easily survive a coup de grace from a commoner armed with a dagger, despite being completely helpless (paralized, tied, and so on)?

Conversely, the ground cannot be dodged, cannot be concievably blocked by any object the PC may be carrying, nor will any mitigation due to clothing or armor help enough in a 200' fall.

There's nothing you need to help you; you sustain the damage, just like you sustain an ancient wyrm firebreath.

There simply is no realistic, narrative explanation for commonly surviving a 200' fall with relative impunity.

Aside from the term "realistic", that IMHO sounds quite inappropriate in a D&D setting, the explanation is simple: we are talking about PCs here, people who can drink poison like beer.

And if you want to visualize a high level PC jumping from a roof, [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAQfTP7VDk"]here you are[/ame].

That leaves the Rules As Written, if included as part of the base rules, as unsupportive and exclusionary of Realistic Play Styles. Impossible to ignore.

Realistic Play Styles in D&D?

Good luck with that.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Yes people have fallen out of airplanes and walked away in real life. So what? The problem in D&D is that characters can consistently jump our of airplanes with the reasonable expectation that they're going to walk away from it. This does weird things to decision making. Having my high level PC jump off a 50 foot cliff just to save time is genre-appropriate for say, Toon, but not so much for fantasy.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I would be intrigued to hear alternate approaches to damage from heights. Damage for non-combat scenarios in general (including traps, avalanches, stampedes, drowning, being crushed, smothering e.t.c. e.t.c.) which arent tied to hit points would intrigue me generally.

I kind of like the idea of using ability damage for such things, specifically constitution.

As a rough initial idea, falling damage might do 1d6-1 CON damage per 20' fallen, if you hit 0 CON you go to 0 hp, and if you go to negative CON you're dead.

 

[Elf Witch]

Isn't the demigod-slaying paladin like, 1 in a million though?

Yes but he shouldn't be able to do it over and over and live.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I would be quite happy to see a system where if you pushed someone out of a high window, that person might end up paralyzed below the waist. Is that too much to ask?

 

[Hussar]

I would be quite happy to see a system where if you pushed someone out of a high window, that person might end up paralyzed below the waist. Is that too much to ask?

Well, considering this is a system where I can beat you repeatedly with a large, metallic object and you will never, ever, suffer any lasting effect so long as you don't die, then, yes, I would say this is too much to ask.

Where do you draw the line? Unless you describe every attack as a glancing blow, SOME of those hits have to connect solidly. Guess what happens when you get stabbed? You bleed... a lot. Frequently, without access to modern medicine, you bleed to death. Never mind that apparently every single weapon, claw, tooth, and whatnot in a D&D universe has been sterilized for your protection before use. Considering we're talking a period of time where stepping on a nail can cost you your foot, how realistic is it that we get bitten, slashed, pummeled, torn into, folded, spindled and/or mauled on a regular basis, yet NEVER suffer any lasting effects?

Why should falling be the special case?

 

[Ahnehnois]

Why should falling be the special case?

That was my point. It shouldn't.

 

[Elf Witch]

I would like to see some kind of mechanic for falling great distances instead of just hit point damage.

I think a save or die would be good. That way falling from a great height will be just as scary no matter what level you are. The higher level characters have a better chance because of their higher saves but anyone can roll a natural 20 or a 1.

That way miracles can happen you get that 1 in a million chance of living feeling.

 

[Elf Witch]

Well, considering this is a system where I can beat you repeatedly with a large, metallic object and you will never, ever, suffer any lasting effect so long as you don't die, then, yes, I would say this is too much to ask.

Where do you draw the line? Unless you describe every attack as a glancing blow, SOME of those hits have to connect solidly. Guess what happens when you get stabbed? You bleed... a lot. Frequently, without access to modern medicine, you bleed to death. Never mind that apparently every single weapon, claw, tooth, and whatnot in a D&D universe has been sterilized for your protection before use. Considering we're talking a period of time where stepping on a nail can cost you your foot, how realistic is it that we get bitten, slashed, pummeled, torn into, folded, spindled and/or mauled on a regular basis, yet NEVER suffer any lasting effects?

Why should falling be the special case?

I actually have mechanics in my game for this. Magical healing takes care of infection if done soon after the injury. But if you let it heal naturally or have a delay in magical healing then you have to make a save against disease.