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Request for thoughts on falling damage change
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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 7115191" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>Falling damage has been a problem throughout D&D's history. The reason is that we use hit points to measure both physical toughness and a character's defensive abilities. But we also have an intuitive sense that skill at defending yourself in combat shouldn't enable you to survive a thousand-foot fall.</p><p></p><p>So I'm not sure the problem can be solved by tinkering with the amount of damage dealt. Yes, you can crank up the damage so that high-level characters must fear a fall; but then lowbies will die any time they trip over a rock. </p><p></p><p>D&D <em>does</em> have a mechanism for effects that bypass your defensive abilities: The saving throw, which is now basically the same as an ability check. If I were setting out to "fix" falling damage, that's where I would look. Something like:</p><p></p><p>When you fall, you land prone and must make a DC 10 Acrobatics check. If you fail, you suffer the effect listed below. If you succeed, the effect is one level less severe; on a natural 20, it's two levels less severe; on a natural 1, it's one level <em>more</em> severe.</p><p></p><p>0-9 feet: No effect</p><p>10-19 feet: Damage equal to your hit dice/level</p><p>20-39 feet: Damage equal to half your maximum hit points</p><p>40-79 feet: Reduced to 0 hit points</p><p>80-149 feet: Reduced to 0 hit points and 2 failed death saves</p><p>150+ feet: Instant death</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 7115191, member: 58197"] Falling damage has been a problem throughout D&D's history. The reason is that we use hit points to measure both physical toughness and a character's defensive abilities. But we also have an intuitive sense that skill at defending yourself in combat shouldn't enable you to survive a thousand-foot fall. So I'm not sure the problem can be solved by tinkering with the amount of damage dealt. Yes, you can crank up the damage so that high-level characters must fear a fall; but then lowbies will die any time they trip over a rock. D&D [I]does[/I] have a mechanism for effects that bypass your defensive abilities: The saving throw, which is now basically the same as an ability check. If I were setting out to "fix" falling damage, that's where I would look. Something like: When you fall, you land prone and must make a DC 10 Acrobatics check. If you fail, you suffer the effect listed below. If you succeed, the effect is one level less severe; on a natural 20, it's two levels less severe; on a natural 1, it's one level [i]more[/i] severe. 0-9 feet: No effect 10-19 feet: Damage equal to your hit dice/level 20-39 feet: Damage equal to half your maximum hit points 40-79 feet: Reduced to 0 hit points 80-149 feet: Reduced to 0 hit points and 2 failed death saves 150+ feet: Instant death [/QUOTE]
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