How far can you fall in a round?

[RandomNPC]

Yes I could do the math for this but it has come up in play several times and I was wondering if there is an official number. How many feet do you fall in a round? Where is this time calculated in as far as your turn?

 

[shilsen]

The 3.5 DMG pg.20 (under aerial combat) says that a creature falls 150 ft the first round and 300 ft the round after that. I'd count that as occurring at the creature's turn on initiative.

 

[dcollins]

The figures in the DMG are for flying creatures (i.e., with wings or other flight powers) who are unable to maintain their minimum speed, and thus not appropriate for the general case of PCs falling off something.

I use a speed of 500 ft (first round) and 1,000 (later rounds), based off a skydiving booked referenced in an old Dragon magazine. Dungeon #93, p. 79, had an official 3E adventure that specified a falling speed of 670 ft (first round) and 1,150 (later rounds).

 

[LazarusLong42]

The following is a table for time fallen in seconds, as well as velocity and distance fallen. Basically, you reach terminal velocity within one round (1) (at about 5.5 s, actually)--ASSUMING you're trying to slow your fall by spreading out, rather than balled up or pointed like a diver. Taking this assumption, you'll fall 572 ft in round one, and a further 1056 ft in round two... which are pretty darn close to dcollins's 500 and 1000 ft estimates, which are easier to remember.

t(s)	v(ft/s)	d(ft)
0	0	0
0.5	16	4
1	32	16
1.5	48	36
2	64	64
2.5	80	100
3	96	144
3.5	112	196
4	128	256
4.5	144	324
5	160	400
5.5	176	484
6	176	572
6.5	176	660
7	176	748
7.5	176	836
8	176	924
8.5	176	1012
9	176	1100
9.5	176	1188
10	176	1276
10.5	176	1364
11	176	1452
11.5	176	1540
12	176	1628

(1) http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml discusses terminal velocity estimates for skydivers as being around 125 mph, or about 180 ft/s.

 

[DM2]

The figures in the DMG are for flying creatures (i.e., with wings or other flight powers) who are unable to maintain their minimum speed, and thus not appropriate for the general case of PCs falling off something.

I use a speed of 500 ft (first round) and 1,000 (later rounds), based off a skydiving booked referenced in an old Dragon magazine. Dungeon #93, p. 79, had an official 3E adventure that specified a falling speed of 670 ft (first round) and 1,150 (later rounds).

I use those rounded figures as well, as they are fairly close to the actual figures, yet rounded to easy to remember hundreds'.

DM2

 

[RandomNPC]

Okay, now for a new can of worms, any opinions or rules for how fast someone using feather fall falls?

 

[Unseelie]

Okay, now for a new can of worms, any opinions or rules for how fast someone using feather fall falls?

60ft. per round as per Feather Fall in the 3.5 PHB.