D&D General How Do You Handle Falling Damage?

[ezo]

If I've got 110 hit points and view them purely as a resource, spending maybe 20 of them to immediately get 50' down to where I need to be can often be a (too-)good tradeoff.

Never mind that if I'm really lucky I can land on the foe and squash it.

Nearly 20% of your "life"? Yeah, ok, you do that just for getting down 50 feet. I'll find a safer way if I can.

 

[Laurefindel]

Good, so it's in line with other traps and hazards.

Wading. Through. Lava. does 10d10. Capped falling damage does more than that on minimum, average, and maximum damage.

It absolutely shouldn't be more threatening than that. Even if you want to replicate realism instead of heroic fantasy, lava is molten rock between 800C to 3000C degrees. Just getting near it can kill. It will vaporize flesh and blood and fuse to bone. Wading through it shouldn't be more survivable than a long fall, where we have real world examples of people living, much less heroes.

You statement that it's not very threatening is not in line with the rest of the game. If you want to make that statement you really need to reevaluate hazards and traps, or maybe HPs as a whole. But otherwise it does not hold up.

im conflicted about that. One one hand, I’m fine that fall damage and lava are not what kills your PC, because it’s a bit lame to die from falling down the stairs, no matter how realistic or not.

On the other hand, falling 50ft or in lava is something your character would be afraid of, or at the very least, being at risk of falling 50ft or in lava should be a bad thing, and the right tactical decision should be to manoeuvre to avoid that risk. This threat is not backed-up by the rules. As it stands, an enemy using an attack to throw you down the sixth floor (50ft fall) most likely increases your survivability, which sounds a bit counter-intuitive.

 

[Chaosmancer]

im conflicted about that. One one hand, I’m fine that fall damage and lava are not what kills your PC, because it’s a bit lame to die from falling down the stairs, no matter how realistic or not.

On the other hand, falling 50ft or in lava is something your character would be afraid of, or at the very least, being at risk of falling 50ft or in lava should be a bad thing, and the right tactical decision should be to manoeuvre to avoid that risk. This threat is not backed-up by the rules. As it stands, an enemy using an attack to throw you down the sixth floor (50ft fall) most likely increases your survivability, which sounds a bit counter-intuitive.

That starts getting into levels and tones.

I'm fine with mid to high level adventurers seeing a 50 ft drop as an inconvenience, because they have hit a threshold for me that makes that sort of action sensical for me. The Power Ranger or Kamen Rider should be able to leap from a five story building into the street, that just works for me.

Meanwhile, Lava (or from Spelljammer the surface of the sun) is just... a fundamentally different force. If you don't have fire immunity, I don't particularly want it to be survivable. Period. Maybe if you were really high level, and only in it for a single turn. I might even have lava be "take 100 fire damage, or 50% of your health, whichever is higher)

But, as a corollary to that desire for deadliness.... I don't use it. I don't have people enter areas where there is a lot of nearby lava they could be thrown into... because I don't expect them to survive that and "you got hit by a basic attack and pushed 10 ft, you die" isn't a fair challenge.

Which, I think is amusingly true. The deadlier something is, the less likely it is to be used, because the goal is not to kill the players, it is to challenge them. And "you touched it, you are now dead" isn't a challenge.

 

[Clint_L]

Good, so it's in line with other traps and hazards.

Wading. Through. Lava. does 10d10.

Not in my games. That's just death. You're dead.

 

[ezo]

Not in my games. That's just death. You're dead.

Do you rule the same if a PC is breathed on by an ancient red dragon, especially after failing the save? The damage would be much higher, after all...

 

[Laurefindel]

Do you rule the same if a PC is breathed on by an ancient red dragon, especially after failing the save? The same would be much higher, after all...

In most cases, we can easily imagine a way to protect ourselves from attacks, whether it’s a dodge or blocking or somehow shielding yourself from damage. Part of that is based on our real-life experience, part of it from stories/movies.

It’s a lot harder to imagine protecting yourself from lava when you are immersed or wading through a lava pool.

Realistically, both lava and dragon fire should be equally deadly but narratively, it’s easier to find a way to avoid the blunt of the dragon breath.

 

[Zaukrie]

I avoid it.....

 

[ezo]

A bit of something I don't recall if anyone posted about yet is including the massive damage rules:

I just don't care for the effects, a bit to soft IMO.

In most cases, we can easily imagine a way to protect ourselves from attacks, whether it’s a dodge or blocking or somehow shielding yourself from damage. Part of that is based on our real-life experience, part of it from stories/movies.

It’s a lot harder to imagine protecting yourself from lava when you are immersed or wading through a lava pool.

Realistically, both lava and dragon fire should be equally deadly but narratively, it’s easier to find a way to avoid the blunt of the dragon breath.

Ah, but see, there's the rub.

We often talk about hit points in the abstract, which of course they are, but as I posted above, hit points in 5E are:

... a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck.

Nothing about skill, dodging, turning with the blow, etc. which we commonly attribute to how damage is mitigated narratively and was common in prior editions.

While it is harder to imagine protecting yourself from lava, etc. with hit points being "durability, will to live, and luck" it is (as many attribute) a huge part of plot armor for PCs.

I would argue it isn't easier to find a way to avoid the brunt of the dragon's breath. You failed your save, you are caught very possibly in the center of the blast (or close to it!), what did you do? Nothing. YOU BURN! In stories and movies we see creatures turned to cinders in such cases. You can't just say, "I ducked behind my shield" or something, as if we're being honest, your shield would likely melt right there on your arm. Fire wraps around obstacles, you still get burned.

So, narratively, we have to justify it... But if someone is going to rule "wading through lava" is instant death, failing a save versus one of the most damaging attacks in the game should probably be the same IMO.

 

[cbwjm]

I use the current rules for the most part but a 10ft fall can be completely negated with an acrobatics checks.

 

[Laurefindel]

A bit of something I don't recall if anyone posted about yet is including the massive damage rules:
View attachment 365784

I just don't care for the effects, a bit to soft IMO.


Ah, but see, there's the rub.

We often talk about hit points in the abstract, which of course they are, but as I posted above, hit points in 5E are:

Nothing about skill, dodging, turning with the blow, etc. which we commonly attribute to how damage is mitigated narratively and was common in prior editions.

While it is harder to imagine protecting yourself from lava, etc. with hit points being "durability, will to live, and luck" it is (as many attribute) a huge part of plot armor for PCs.

I would argue it isn't easier to find a way to avoid the brunt of the dragon's breath. You failed your save, you are caught very possibly in the center of the blast (or close to it!), what did you do? Nothing. YOU BURN! In stories and movies we see creatures turned to cinders in such cases. You can't just say, "I ducked behind my shield" or something, as if we're being honest, your shield would likely melt right there on your arm. Fire wraps around obstacles, you still get burned.

So, narratively, we have to justify it... But if someone is going to rule "wading through lava" is instant death, failing a save versus one of the most damaging attacks in the game should probably be the same IMO.

Agreed on the last part. I still believe we have less narrative tools for survival of extreme events, but they are there. I’d even say that the more extreme the event, the more they become important.