Running into an invisible wall?

[lukelightning]

A good point of reference. People really have very few real life examples of a full grown person running full tilt into a solid object

Have you ever watched football or, even worse, rugby? Two big strong men running right into each other is practically the same as one guy running into a wall.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

It should inflict damage, perhaps even enough to kill a large powerful creature that hits the barrier head-first.

Why? Because if it worked in Tremors, it should work in D&D.

Weird monster?
Knowledge check to figure out attributes of weird monster?
Straightforward massive application of firepower being one of the effective solutions?
A clever trick working once before the DM makes it stop working?
Yeah, that would have been a pretty awesome D&D adventure.

 

[borc killer]

I am about to DM another AoW adventure tonight and

Spoiler

there is a ‘trap’ that stops flying monsters with a camouflage chain that is specifically designed to deal damage

.

It does 1d6/10’ of you movement rating. So if you have a speed of 30 you take 3d6 (or that is how I understood it and it made no allowance for running or charging). As a wall of force is not specifically designed to deal damage in this way I would say the ether the 1d3 of normal damage or 1d6 subdual damage per 10’ sounds about right.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Have you ever watched football or, even worse, rugby? Two big strong men running right into each other is practically the same as one guy running into a wall.

Not even close. Those two big men are deliberately running into each other, colliding their masses with the intent to knock down but not injure (much). The physics of the body are a fascinating thing, and the differences between an anticipated and unanticipated impact are not to be ignored.

 

[mfrench]

There is a spell in Complete Arcane, Defenestrating Sphere, which hurls someone into the air. If you hit a ceiling first, you take 1d6 for each 10' that was prevented.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Why don't you try it sometime? That sounds like a recipe for a concussion or broken ribs to me. It could probably kill you.

Fortunately, you really can't. I mean, you could try to run full tilt into a wall, but your reflexes just aren't going to let you if you know its there, and trying to run full tilt with your eyes closed isn't gonna work either.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Have you ever watched football or, even worse, rugby? Two big strong men running right into each other is practically the same as one guy running into a wall.

Not really. Another human being is mobile and will react differently to you slamming into it than a relatively immobile wall will.

Thats why people can have car accidents with other cars at high speeds that end in injuries while car accidents at lower speeds with trees and barriers are much more likely to end in death. The walls/trees/barriers don't give while a person does.

DS