D&D 5E Request for thoughts on falling damage change

[Satyrn]

2) However, if being pushed over the cliff = instant death than i would be extremely hesitant to push the PCs over the cliff!

See, that's exactly when I - evil DM that I am - eagerly push the PCs. Just think of the terror you instill with every casting of Thunderwave!

Of course, the trick is to make sure you just push them to the edge, not over. All the terror, none of the ragequitting.

 

[Sunseeker]

I think the best idea is making it percentage based. Maybe a save to just being injured.
You can also invoke a massive damage rule. But if you don't want people to jump from cliffs, just tell them they die. No need to invent escalating damage rules.

Make it that you lose 1/4th of your hp per 10 feet of falling. Acrobatics check to reduce the fall by 10 ft.
That way a fall from 50ft is lethal. No matter what level....

That's not a bad idea, and certainly simpler and less silly. I'm thinking 10% per 10 feet, and yeah, using the system shock rule at 1/2 health will make 110-ft-falls absolutely deadly, and 60+ falls potentially very deadly.

I always did like percentage-based damage.

 

[n0nym]

Use what you like, but your system ignores reality in that people have survived falls of thousands of feet

How many ? What percentage is that ? That's 5 cases out of how many millions ?

Falling is usually letal, in the real world AND in fiction. But in D&D, a high level fighter or barbarian could jump off several buildings *consecutively* and survive, which is plain stupid. At this level it's not "heroic" anymore, it's superhero level. And that's Marvel Super Heroes territory, not D&D imo.

 

[Flamestrike]

We also should remember that d&d is a heroic game. High level characters can do amazing things... such as surviving a 1000 feet fall.

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Exactly.

Just come up with a narrative reason how they survived. A sizeable proportion of hit-points are luck. So something lucky saves the PC.

A giant eagle catches him on the way down. Done.

Indiana Jones survived a nuclear explosion on account of a refrigerator being nearby. In game terms he simply had a ton of Hit Points.

 

[SmokeyCriminal]

In last weeks episode of Critical Role the Druid swan dived off a 2 thousand ft. cliff screaming something like "We're golden gods." She could have turned into a bird at any moment but decided to turn into a fish. She's about 16th lvl with HP north of 100, and i think she figured she'd miss the rocks and look really cool, or hit the rocks and take a bunch of damage and everyone would think it was hilarious.
She hit the rocks and took like 370 damage and died instantly. Everyone laughed in shock and she laughed in confusion. Lucky for her someone had Revivify.

I think the DM just removed the cap on falling damage. So that's what that looks like when you do that.

 

[SmokeyCriminal]

The only problem I personally have with the rules is the 10ft damage because of how they tend to work with climbing checks at low levels. There's always a scene where someone says;

PC: I'm going to climb the tree.
DM: Make a strength athletics check.
PC: OK *Rolls dice*
DM: You fail, take 1d6 damage.
PC: A 10ft fall took half my health?
DM: Yup, sorry.
PC: OK *Rolls eyes* Well we need to rest now...

It just feels tedious, annoying, and it can grind the momentum of the scene. It's a nice little laugh the first time but it gets old quick.

I've notice that if the first time someone falls in a game and it's 20 feet, and they're told they are taking damage for it, it never gets question or surprises anyone. But when they fall 10ft and get told they're going to take damage its usually a surprise and you get a "really?"

So I personally think fall damage should start at 20ft.

 

[SmokeyCriminal]

An Alt. system i've seen that I don't think has been mentioned is having the dice grow, they went by every 2m, but you can go for every 5ft, or 10ft to keep it familiar.

5ft - d2, or d4-2
10ft - d4
15ft - d6
20ft - d8
25ft - d10
30ft - d12
35ft - d20
40ft - 2d20
45ft - 3d20

Or if you want to keep it simpler just use the regular rules and cap it at 10d6 at 100ft. and just double the damage for everyone 100ft, rounded down.

Or you can keep the rules as written and just add a Lingering Injury if u exceed the 20d6 cap. That could be a nice balance of heroic but not invulnerable.

 

[Craig Fox]

Here's a suggestion.

Calculate damage as per normal, 1d6 per 10ft. Then divide the total damage by the PC's Constitution. If the result is 1 (rounded down), the PC is reduced to 0 hp and will start making death saves next round. For each 1 higher, the PC automatically fails 1 death save. So if the damage is 4 times the PC's Constitution score, death is instant regardless of whether starting hps are higher.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Actually, it should be worse.

Hit points are an abstraction, they could represent grazes, light touch, endurance or simply luck. But when you fall, you take raw damage. You can't really avoid or dodge them and luck can't really help you.

In my game I've ruled that you take 1d6 / 5 feet when falling (not jumping). When you reach 150 feet, you just die (unless you have favorable conditions, like falling on soft material). It's harsh, but then again WHY DID YOU STAND NEAR THAT CLIFF in the first place ? No sane human being with no access to Feather fall would do that.

If someone hits me with a greatsword, I believe I stand a much greater chance of dying than falling off 1 story of a building, which I have actually previously done. This system seems like it assumes that every first level character is about as durable as my grandma.

I also personally know someone who's fallen ~50m (about 150 feet) while rock climbing, and after doing so, they crawled into cell-phone coverage and called themselves an ambulance. And yes, we all think he's an idiot, but he's far from a superhuman.

So... from a realism/real world/gritty perspective, your rules seem over the top.

 

[dave2008]

How many ? What percentage is that ? That's 5 cases out of how many millions ?

Falling is usually letal, in the real world AND in fiction. But in D&D, a high level fighter or barbarian could jump off several buildings *consecutively* and survive, which is plain stupid. At this level it's not "heroic" anymore, it's superhero level. And that's Marvel Super Heroes territory, not D&D imo.

I guess I see high level D&D characters as low level super heroes. The things they can do are well beyond the norm. Personally I would cap "normal" at level 10 max and anything above that is super human.

D&D is certainly a weird mix.

So, personally my call would to make a high fall (50-100'?) deadly for a level 10 character with a small chance of survival. Maybe 0 hit points and dying (death saves), but not out right dead.