Forced to end movement in illegal space.

[Morrus]

Now would you consider the first creature to be threatening the space above it? And would thus the second creature when it falls down and leaves the
space above the first creature, provoke an attack of opportunity?

The problem isn't that question. The problem is that anyone asked it!

 

[Manbearcat]

The first creature is immobilized until the end of its next turn. The second creature must succeed at an escape attempt against an average grapple DC or have its movement rate removed by 1/3 (round down). Any subsequent creature falling into the pit must make a Saving Throw versus Paralyzation. The pit has hardness 25 and and 400 HPs. If 47 creatures fall into the pit, make an attack against the pit; 1d42 + 233 damage. Sustain Standard. If the pit sustains more damage than its HPs, all 47 creatures fall through the planet to China. Any creature that has a tanglefoot bag can spend an immediate action to attempt to glue themselves to the continental crust or they fall into space. Apply Suffocation Rules. Make a Saving Throw vs Vacuum of Space Death. If all 47 creatures have enough 10' poles, they can attempt to climb back to earth with 23,831,322 move actions.

 

[pemerton]

Another vote for the applicability of squeezing rules.

Also, if PF/3E permit one creature to occupy the space of another prone creature, you could pretty reasonably rule that the bottom pit-dweller is knocked prone by having the upper pit-dweller land on him/her.

And if one or both succeed at Acro checks at the appropriate difficulty, than rather than prone and/or squeezing, they have established a fully operational human pyramid!

 

[Sunseeker]

If the creature at the bottom is aware of the new creature falling down, it should get some sort of reflex roll in order to squeeze out of the way.

Otherwise logically, the falling creature lands in the same space as the first and probably knocks it prone.

I mean really a 5x5 square is HUGE, it's 25sq feet. The average person when standing still only takes up about 2x2 feet. The 5x5 square mostly exists to show how much space swinging a sword and dodging attacks takes. Reasonably speaking a moving object with several limbs flailing about takes up more space than a stationary object.

I vote: logic and a little physics. The two objects occupy the same square, but are considered to be squeezing and thus take penalties to movement and actions.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I like the sqeezing idea; forcing the falling PC to be prone in the shared space works for me, too. I think there are a handful of good options here. DM Judgement call.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind here is that WHATEVER decision you make is the RIGHT decision -- make it and keep the game moving.

-rg

 

[Tharkon]

In this case the bottom creature is a zombie that has been deprived of his favorite meal for centuries only to be sustained by the necromantic energy that makes it undead. It is so hungry it can basically smell the living creatures walking around above the trap and is eagerly waiting for one of them to fall down.

Think I'll be ruling it this way:

Falling creature can make an acrobatics/tumble check as usual to avoid falling prone. If it succeeds then it knocks the zombie prone instead. Regardless the zombie takes one attack when this happens and I don't really care if this is an attack of opportunity or a readied action. If the zombie was knocked prone then it gets a -4 penalty on it's attack, if the falling creature fell prone instead then the falling creature get's -4 on it's AC. If the falling creature fell prone and attempts to stand up it provokes an AoO as usual, but if it succeeds then they will both be squeezing.

Thank you all for your input.

 

[Halivar]

Put a gelatinous cube halfway down the shaft and let the problem sort itself out.

 

[Uller]

Squeezing sounds right.

Now would you consider the first creature to be threatening the space above it? And would thus the second creature when it falls down and leaves the
space above the first creature, provoke an attack of opportunity?

One creature falling ontop of another in combat is more like a charge than moving through threatened space. if th creature in the pit readied an attack id allow it to attack the falling creature. Otherwise id just reolve the fall (each creature takes 50% of the falling damage or do a skill contest to see who takes the brunt of it)

 

[Uller]

Put a gelatinous cube halfway down the shaft and let the problem sort itself out.

DM: you see a zombie at the bottom of a 5X5X15' deep pit. He's standing on what appears to be a pile of adventuring gear...some of it appears to be very valuable. The zombie looks up at you hungrily...

Player: Booyah! I draw my sword and leap in the pit! I'll try to land on the zombie to break my fall.

DM: your fall is slowed about half way down by something...squishy...

 

[Greenfield]

Put a gelatinous cube halfway down the shaft and let the problem sort itself out.

I'm curious: Isn't that like filling the top half of a glass with water without filling the bottom?

Or does gravity not apply to Gelatinous Cubes in your game?

Just wondering.