D&D 5E Haybale

[Shades of Eternity]

In 5e, How much damage And effect should a haybale falling on you do?

 

[iserith]

I suppose it depends on how big it is and how far it falls. See DMG, page 249 for Improvising Damage. Being hit by a falling bookcase, for example, is 1d10 damage.

 

[Umbran]

A standard small bale of hay weighs between 40 and 75 lbs. It is intended to be handled without machinery. You can find larger bales that are 100 lbs or more, but those aren't for one person to huck around by plain muscle power. These days, they make huge round bales, that are more like 1200 lbs.

I suspect you mean the first of these. If it isn't falling from a significant height, it may not do any damage at all, since it isn't terribly hard.

 

[Laurefindel]

Short answer: I'd go with 1d6 per 10' fallen general rule (assuming a modern 40 lbs bale)

Long answer: It also depends whether we're talking about an actual hay bale or a straw bale, which people tend to confuse. Then it depends how "historically accurate" you want to be. Baling requires some kind of press and mechanical equipment, which may or may not be present in your (presumably) fantasy world. The level of technology of this machinery would make the stack tighter or looser, bigger o smaller, in turn affecting the expectation of damage in D&D. Early balage produced enormous but not particularly tight bales of 500-800 lbs if memory serves.

Even large amounts of loose hay can hurt mind you. I would keep the 1d6 per 10' fallen (or 10' worth of) rule for an avalanche of loose hay.

 

[Quickleaf]

1d6 damage, plus it depends on how good the player's follow-up pun is. "Bailed it" or "Hay maker" are worth an extra +1d6. Something more creative could be worth more bonus damage.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

1d6 damage, plus it depends on how good the player's follow-up pun is. "Bailed it" or "Hay maker" are worth an extra +1d6. Something more creative could be worth more bonus damage.

More bonus situations:
Light it on fire first before dropping it? +1d6 fire damage = Hay Fever
Deliver your attack line broodingly blandly? +1d6 psychic damage = Hay-den Christensen
Shake it like a Polaroid picture? DC 13 Wis save or suffer effect of Otto’s Irresistible Dance = Hay Ya

 

[jgsugden]

1d6 per 10', + Con save vc DC10 to avoid a sneeze.

 

[J-H]

A modern round bale of hay is between 1,000 and 1,400 lbs. If it falls directly on someone's head, that's worse than getting hit by an ogre's club. I'd go for 6d10 at a minimum.

 

[MarkB]

1d6 damage, plus it depends on how good the player's follow-up pun is. "Bailed it" or "Hay maker" are worth an extra +1d6. Something more creative could be worth more bonus damage.

"Yikes, that nearly turned me into a pile of bloody meat. That really would've been a baleful polymorph."