Flying PC drops bricks from 400' up!

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

why hasn't anyone mentioned True Strike yet? If the Sorc wants to be effective in combat, just cast Fly, carry the Bid Metal Ball(tm) 100' into the air, cast TS, and drop it. Bang. Nice damage for a 1st level spell!

Nice damage, probably, but you are using more than one spell in this case, and I wonder how the Sorcerer will get up that 100 pd object into air...

For the other thing: Difficult. I am not sure about this. But since you normally can`t move during a grappe, I don`t think you can do it in this case, as you supposed. But I am not sure about this..

 

[Umbran]

Re: all the things you want to drop stuff on

The idea of using deviation makes sense under certain circumstances, but the fact that you're dropping something straight down has got to have some mitigating effect on the difficulty.

It isn't as easy as you might think. Hitting a target 3' across from 400' up is roughly like hitting a 0.5" target from 5' up.

So, take a square of paper a half-inch on a side, and put it on the floor. Find a pebble, look down on the target, and try to drop the pebble on it. Now imagine that the target is probably smaller than what you see there (a real humanoid isn't a full 3' square). Now imagine 400 feet of varying breeze. Now imagine that the target may move (and it doesn't have to move much at all). Good luck!

 

[Nareau]

I think the rules cover this situation pretty well.
The flyer is using an improvised thrown weapon to hit a target.

From the SRD:

Thrown weapons, such as throwing axes, have a maximum range of five range increments. Projectile weapons, such as bows, can shoot up to ten increments.

Improvised Thrown Weapons: Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons get thrown. Because they are not designed for this use, all characters who use improvised thrown weapons are treated as not proficient with them and suffer a -4 penalty on their attack rolls. Improvised thrown weapons have a range increment of 10 feet. Their size and the damage they deal have to be adjudicated by the DM.

So, let's first note that he can't hit anything beyond the maximum range, which is 50'. And he'll be getting a -14 on that roll (-10 for 5 range increments, -4 for nonproficiency).

As for the barn example, the guy could take a full-round action to line up the shot (giving him a +5 to hit):

If a combatant takes a full-round action to line up a shot (as with the coup de grace against a helpless foe), the combatant gets an automatic hit with a melee weapon and a +5 attack bonus with a ranged weapon. (Objects, however, are immune to critical hits.)

The target should be Huge or Gigantic. Let's say Gigantic, which give it a -4 size penalty to AC. It's an unattended immobile object (-5 Dex modifier). So its net AC is 1.

So there you have it: The sorc needs to hit AC 1, and he'll have a -14 or -9 on his roll (before BAB, Dex, etc). You'll need to figure out damage, overcome the object's hardness, etc.

Let's assume that the roof was similar to a "Good Wooden Door". That's Hardness 5, with 15 hitpoints. And remember:

Objects take half damage from ranged weapons (except for damage from siege engines and the like). Divide the damage by 2 before applying the object's hardness.

Oh, and also remember that you can't fly if you're carrying more than a Medium load (I'm pretty sure that applies to the spell). So it's unlikely that a sorceror will be carrying a 100lb rock to drop on his enemies.

The tactic that I would use (with fly and dropping bombs) would be to get a bag full of Alchemist's Fires. Fly above your enemies, just out of reach, pelting them with fiery doom.

 

[Anubis]

First off, you all are making this WAY too complex! There are rules covering *almost* everything being discussed, and you are all ignoring those rules for sake of physics, which has no real place in D&D!

First off, this is a bombing mission, not a ranged attack mission, whether you're attacking a person or an object is thus irrelevant, as are rules for ranged attacks. You must use only rules for dropped objects for this. Ranged attacks can only go five increments at 10 feet each with improvised weapons, but things can be dropped from an UNLIMITED height.

First things first; DROP THE PHYSICS and FORGET ABOUT WIND. Geez . . . Wind would have no appreciable effect on bricks anyway!

Getting to the point . . . As a bombing run, I would say dropping something straight down on a colossal object (broad side of barn is considered colossal) would AUTOMATICALLY HIT. Remember, though, you MUST be able to see your target, which would be impossible from 400 feet in anything but ideal light conditions. (DMG, pg. 60) Next, each brick is a seperate attack, so damage is rated BY THE BRICK. A brick would way about 5 pounds (I'm feeling generous), and assuming you have ideal light conditions, dropping a SINGLE brick from 400 feet (5 increments of falling) would do 5d6 points of damage. Wood has a hardness of 5, so 5 points are taken off from EACH brick. (DMG, pg. 89, for all of the above)

As for hitting a person, that would be nearly impossible with dropping objects, and I would rule as such. If within five ranged attack increments (50 feet), however, I would allow the player to THROW the bricks down at the target using ranged attack rules. Dropping objects, however, I would not allow AT ALL. There is simply no real chance of hitting, at least not with bricks. An anvil, MAYBE, but not bricks. As for throwing bricks, that -4 for non-proficiency, -4 for improvised weapon, and -2 per range increment against the target's normal AC. (IOW, not worth trying.)

If you REALLY want to put a hole in the roof of the tower, do a KAMIKAZE attack and fly straight down into it. If you weight 200 or more pounds after adding in your encumbrance, you do 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet with a maximum of 20d6 points of damage, and remember to take off 5 for wood hardness. (Again, see DMG, pg. 89.) One terrible side-effect of this tactic, however, is that YOU also take 1d6 damage per 10 feet, with the first 1d6 being subdual (DMG, pg. 113), making a possible Jump check DC 15 to reduce the fall by 10 feet, and making a Tumble check for the same. (However, because it's 400 feet, that likely will NOT reduce damage below 20d6. Hope you're insured.)

 

[Tiberius]

Question: How far do you fall in a round, assuming there is nothing to stop your descent?

Given that a round is 6 seconds, and the acceleration of gravity (on earth at sea level) is 9.8 m/s^2 and the applicable formula is:

X = Xo + VoT + 1/2AT^2.

We'll define Xo to be 0, Vo is 0 (assuming no prior velocity). Therefore:

X = 1/2AT^2 or 1/2*-9.8*36
x = -176.4 m or roughly 550 feet.

-Tiberius

 

[Anubis]

Question: How far do you fall in a round, assuming there is nothing to stop your descent?

I heard a formule on the old boards that answered this question.

D = 16 x T^2

D is the distance fallen
T is the time it takes to fall

That means you fall 576 feet per round.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Question: How far do you fall in a round, assuming there is nothing to stop your descent?

The coyote's falls were always 6 seconds or less, so I would say most falls happen fast (under 6 seconds).

 

[Magus_Jerel]

ok - you are dropping an irregular object as a weapon and trying to hit an AREA of approximately 5ft by 5 ft...
hmmm.

The target has an AC of 4. -5 for a dex of "0" and another -1 for being size large.

As far as your to hit roll, you take the -4 for non-proficency, but there is another factor. The problem comes with "range increments". By definition - irregular weapons have a range increment of 10 feet, and are limited to a total of five increments. However, given the fact that you are "dropping" this thing - I would remove the limitation on increments.

You wind up taking a -2 to hit for each 10 feet dropped - not good for you - especially if the target were mobile.

Now - you catch a break, in that you can use the indirect fire rules to determine where the "hole" occurs - you just need to hit A 5x5 square of roof - not a particular sqare. If your roof is big enough - you will hit SOME part of it.



The damage the object deals is straightforward.

You use the falling object rules - on pg 89 of the DMG.

Now - presuming you went up to about 200 feet above the TARGET (not the ground mind you) to drop this thing.. it depends on the weight of the brick

1-5 lbs = 2d6 dmg
6-10 lbs = 3d6 dmg
11-30 lbs = 4d6 dmg
31-50 lbs = 5d6 dmg
51-100 lbs = 8d6 dmg (at 210ft)
100-200 lbs = 10d6
200+ lbs (at this height) 20d6



Roof hardness:
The roof doesn't likely have a hardness between 5 (for wood) and 8 (for stone). You have somewhere between 10 (wood) and 15(for stone) hp per inch of thickness that you need to "punch a hole" in it.

Roof thickness:
Odds are, the roof is somewhere between 1 and 3 inches thick. (I would have to spot cast a d6 - 1 or 2 = 1 inch 3 or 4 is 2 inches and 5 or 6 is 3 inches)

thus to generate your "hole in the roof"

1 inch wood = 10 dmg
2 inch wood = 20 dmg
3 inch wood = 30 dmg

1 inch stone = 15 dmg
2 inch stone = 30 dmg
3 inch stone = 45 dmg

Your roof has a hardness between 5 and 8, and hp total between 10 and 45

I would probably rule that you could find something that weighed about 15 lbs - carry it aloft - and drop it. If you hit - you would deal about 4d6 of damage. If the roof is 1 inch thick wood - you will probably get your opening. At 2 inches of wood or more - not going to happen.

You will DEFINITELY put a good sized dent in the roof however, and realize that you would need something a bit heavier - or have to go up a bit higher.

Note - because this is a collision - the object you are dropping AND the roof would take "damage" appropriately - so the "rock" might shatter into several smaller pieces on impact.

You are probably much better of just landing on the roof and cutting/punching a hole in it with an axe, mace, sword (possibly) or hammer. Why bother with "dropping something"?

 

[kreynolds]

The coyote's falls were always 6 seconds or less, so I would say most falls happen fast (under 6 seconds).

LOL

 

[Magus_Jerel]

just a moment - 400 feet, not 200 feet - double the dice in the previous chart - and re-calculate....

you would be taking a -80 on the "attack" roll - WAY too much. probably have to come down to about 200 feet.

Target 5x5 square = AC 4
Range increments = 20

so your approximate DC is a 44 ...

you are very likely to miss - but hit some other part of the roof using indirect fire rules (depending on how big the roof is)