Feeling Funny about Feather Fall

[Three_Haligonians]

Hey all,

So, I'm working on a problem solving challenge for my players- how to get a big heavy object off a high place and down onto the ground with as little damage/destruction as possible.

So, after I work out the various heights and weights involved, I started looking into possible answers myself, in case they need a hint or two, I don't want this to drive this game into a "mathmatical block". One of the first things I asked myself was "how can magic help?" and I found myself answering "feather fall" seems like a good solution".

But here is where the funny thing came in. I looked it up and to my surprise, the spell works creature and object size, not weight. So it is easier to feather fall a heavy dense but small object than it is a large but lightweight one. Truthfully, that's kinda odd to me but certainly not a major problem.

Then I started to think, since it is not based on weight - couldn't you use the spell like an elevator? Rather than cast it on the whole party, just cast it on one large object that they can all stand on. Or instead of carrying something large, balance it on something smaller and then just cast the spell on -that-.

I mean, the spell itself states that any creature under its effects can carry up to their maximum load and so I assume that means if they are past it, the spell fails but what about objects?

Is it just me? Am I reading too much into this? Or can you see some potential loopholes in the RAW that can be abused?

J from Three Haligonians

 

[PallidPatience]

Inanimate objects have no Strength (or a Strength of -, if you prefer). How much weight can a creature with that Strength score carry? How much can the object carry?

 

[javcs]

Well, as for feather fall on an object with other things on top of it, I have no idea how that would work. It is, depending on how you view feather fall working, possible that they would take nearly full damage from falling, if you view feather fall as right before impact, reducing velocity and inertia both to 0.


As for your problem solving exercise, telekinesis may be the way to go. Either that or teleportation subschool magic to move it with you.

 

[papastebu]

It seems to me that the weight of the party standing on top of the object would drive the object downward at nearly the same rate as if you just chucked it over the edge. They don't have feather fall, so their weight must be accounted for somehow. I would go with casting feather fall on it if they have a means of then lowering it, say with a rope or something. Your caster, who would probably be a minimal weight to a whole party, could ride along on top and cast feather fall if necessary, on his- or herself or the object, or both, and the rest of them could lower them. Doesn't feather fall end if the bespelled person or thing comes to a complete rest on any surface?

 

[Nail]

There's really no math necessary.

Objects that have Feather Fall cast on them fall at a rate of 60 feet per round.

Objects that do not have Feather Fall cast on them, even if they are on top of an object with Feather Fall cast on it, fall at the normal speed.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

There's really no math necessary.

Objects that have Feather Fall cast on them fall at a rate of 60 feet per round.

Objects that do not have Feather Fall cast on them, even if they are on top of an object with Feather Fall cast on it, fall at the normal speed.

So, is this what you're implying?: Each round the block moves 60 feet downward, leaving the characters standing on top of it without any footing. They fall 60 feet, taking 6d6 points of damage. Then, they have the rest of the round to take one round's worth of actions, stand up, dust themselves off, etc., before the block falls 60 feet again.

Or are you implying this?: The block moves down slowly at a steady 60 feet per round velocity. A character who jumps onto the falling block will discover that since he himself is not affected by a Feather Fall spell, he falls directly through the block as though it were incorporeal, falling the complete distance to the ground.

Or maybe this?: The block moves down slowly at a steady 60 feet per round velocity. A character who jumps onto the block can stand on the block like he could if the block were on a solid surface. When the block reaches the ground, the character takes damage as though he had fallen the entire distance.

I'm having trouble reconciling your last sentence with anything that makes any kind of sense at all.

 

[IanB]

I would just assign the block they were standing on an initative count, and move the whole thing at that point in the round, assuming they're in combat when this is happening.

Standing on top of a feather fall-ed platform should work just fine, just like standing on a levitating one or a rope-and-pulley elevator.

 

[mvincent]

couldn't you use the spell like an elevator? Rather than cast it on the whole party, just cast it on one large object that they can all stand on. Or instead of carrying something large, balance it on something smaller and then just cast the spell on -that-.

I mean, the spell itself states that any creature under its effects can carry up to their maximum load

I don't believe inanimate objects have an actual carrying load, so allowing this would be a DM's call. However, an elevator that was a huge animated object could certainly use the spell to carry passengers safely to the ground.

I don't believe the spell would be useful for ascending though. It would probably just easier to outfit your elevator creature with boots of levitation (or some flying device or spell). Many of these things don't have a weight limit, and could be used on incredibly big creatures. I've previously used a huge skeleton with a fly spell on it as an aerial troop transport

 

[Henry]

I believe it would look something like a person falling, while holding a LARGE sheet of cardboard. Their weight would be greater than the object they're holding, so they'd just carry the object down with them at full speed - unless they let go beforehand.

 

[szilard]

I believe it would look something like a person falling, while holding a LARGE sheet of cardboard. Their weight would be greater than the object they're holding, so they'd just carry the object down with them at full speed - unless they let go beforehand.

Though if the sheet of cardboard were large enough, it could act as a parachute or wing...

-Stuart