Running into an invisible wall?

[evilbob]

For the record, this question is awesome.

I'd probably just rule 1d6 non-lethal, or 2d6 non-lethal if running or charging, with no other effects. I wouldn't take speed into account, either, because having a high speed is a bonus, not a penalty. I would also try hard not to think about a 1st level commoner knocking himself out this way.

Also, those around you may point and laugh as an immediate action.

 

[Quidam]

Moral

And the moral of the story is-

"When not in a hurry, toss a pebble over the pit first."

 

[kjenks]

I think this is one of those areas whare you can't just make a rule that will cover everything and have it be less than a page long.

I already have such a rule: You don't take any damage from running into immovable objects. That covers everything and it's pretty darned short. I'm in the dark why you'd want to do anything different.

Does this happen a lot? Are creatures running into invisible walls very often in your campaign?

 

[mvincent]

I thought that sage answer was bogus.

His calculations seemed accurate to me.

I still think its gonna hurt.

For real pain: try readying an action to put up a prismatic wall in front of them.

 

[schporto]

His calculations seemed accurate to me.

For real pain: try readying an action to put up a prismatic wall in front of them.

I probably wouldn't argue with his calculations, BUT the tone of "why would this ever come up what are you a moron" was a bit over much. And while a person running at normal speeds into a wall probably does little to no damage, I still think high speed creatures slamming into a wall would hurt. Heck, people can get killed being tossed from a horse. That's probably about slamming into a wall. Seems somewhat reasonable question. Readied actions for walls of force seem like a reasonable attack in some cases.
And yeah prismatic wall would hurt more, if you have it prepared.
-cpd

 

[accipiter]

Does this happen a lot? Are creatures running into invisible walls very often in your campaign?

The thing is, if one of my players came up with a brilliant, creative, hilarious idea like this, I'd want to reward them by having it work, even just if it's for token damage. So threads like this help me out a lot, even if it's just in seeing how to extrapolate a ruling like this properly.

 

[mvincent]

I'd want to reward them by having it work, even just if it's for token damage.

Then here is a more suitable ruling from the Rules of the Game:
"Colliding with an Obstacle: Here's another place where the rules don't help much, so here are some more unofficial suggestions.

If you fly into an obstacle and you cannot land there, you must make a Reflex save (DC 15) to avoid damage. If you fail the save, you and the object you strike take damage as though an object of your weight fell a distance equal to half your flying speed before you hit. (If it isn't clear what your speed before the collision was, use your flying speed during your previous turn.) If the object you hit has a hardness of 6 or less, you take nonlethal damage (the object takes normal damage).

Your flying movement stops when you strike, forcing you to stall (even if you don't have a minimum forward speed) and fall straight down."

 

[Thurbane]

I asked a similar question once - I think the most common opinion was to treat it as the same damage from falling from a moving horse (a mere 1d6)...

 

[Venator]

Thank you all for your opinions and ideas. I think we would have used the Xd6 non-lethal if the situation actually came up.

How / why did this come up?


****AGE OF WORMS SPOILER****




We just ran the first encounter, a four team free for all, in chapter 5: The Champion's Games. The battle takes place in the Greyhawk Arena which is something like 300' by 150' or more. (we actually built a 6' by 4' version, I'll post a link to the pictures as soon as they are up) Anyways, I was discussing possible party tactics with the DM the night before the encounter so he could make sure that he had rulings for anything wacky. Wall of Force came up... I asked him what he figured the penalty would be for moving/running/charging into and invisible, immobile, wall of force would be... and here we are! After all, the baddies might know that the PC had cast a spell, but most of them likely do not know what it was or where it went.

As it turns out, we didnt end up using the Wall of Force in an effort to control the battlefield at all. A widened Evard's Black Tentacles and a few empowered Fireballs was all the battlefield control we really needed.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

If I was going to house rule it at all, I'd use 1d3 per 10 feet. 1d6 is just too much; it's not the same damage as falling.