Falling: prone, winged, items?

[Voadam]

What rules govern what happens when you fall besides how much damage you take?

Are you prone when you land?

Do items come out of your hands?

How long before a winged creature can use its wings to stop a fall? Instantly? A certain number of feet? Never?

 

[frankthedm]

Are you prone when you land?

I say yes. Unless the person used the jump action to start the fall.

Do items come out of your hands?

No

How long before a winged creature can use its wings to stop a fall? Instantly? A certain number of feet? Never?

After 1 round of falling under some readings.

 

[Voadam]

Are there any rules governing these situations that I'm just not finding?

 

[mvincent]

Are you prone when you land?

From the 3.5 FAQ:
"In general, characters don’t land on their feet after
falling; however, the Sage could see some reasonable
exceptions:
• A character who jumps down intentionally and takes
no damage because of a successful Jump check (see
the Jump skill).
• A character who jumps or falls down and takes no
damage because of a successful Tumble check (see
the Tumble skill).
• A character with the slow fall ability (such as a
monk) who takes no damage from a fall because of
this ability.
• A character under the effect of feather fall or similar
effect that negates falling damage.
• A character who uses the catfall power. This one is
clear, as the power specifically states that the
character lands on his feet no matter how far he falls.
Basically, if the character has an ability that negates the
damage from the fall, you could choose to say that she also
lands on her feet; assuming the fall was brief enough, she
should have the option to keep moving as part of the same
action that took her off the edge."

 

[mvincent]

How long before a winged creature can use its wings to stop a fall?

From the rules:
"If a flying creature fails to maintain its minimum forward speed, it must land at the end of its movement. If it is too high above the ground to land, it falls straight down, descending 150 feet in the first round of falling. If this distance brings it to the ground, it takes falling damage. If the fall doesn’t bring the creature to the ground, it must spend its next turn recovering from the stall. It must succeed on a DC 20 Reflex save to recover. Otherwise it falls another 300 feet. If it hits the ground, it takes falling damage. Otherwise, it has another chance to recover on its next turn."

Also, this Rules of the Game article can provide more detailed information.