D&D 5E Usefull falling damage?

[delph]

Hi, I had curious idea:
If character get damage from falling from high to ground, It should get same damage from objects falling on them from same high...

Now very specific situation: Tabaxi Monk with Mobile feat have insane move, reduce falling dmg, can move on vertical surfaces or have climbing speed...
So use move, dash, step of the wind for next dash and have enemy near some vertical surface (cliff, or just a high tree) can use it for Climb, fall on enemy, climb, fall on enemy, for total something between 150 to 250 ft. -> 15d6 to 25d6 to enemy without hurting self (when you doesn't overcome reducing falling dmg)

I hope I wrote it understandably.

 

[Flamestrike]

If the Tabaxi takes no damage from landing (on account of slowing its fall), why should the thing it lands on take damage?

 

[delph]

If the Tabaxi takes no damage from landing (on account of slowing its fall), why should the thing it lands on take damage?

good point. Depends on mechanic behind this monk ability.

 

[Xeviat]

Just thinking about the physics here, I'd say if the Monk takes no damage from falling, then the person they fell on would take no damage. Granted, when my cat jumps on me from a high place, it hurts, but I don't know what the difference between real world pain and D&D hp loss is.

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

As a DM I would never allow some exploit where a monk can suddenly do 15d6 damage. That must have a downside, or it breaks the game.

I would probably rule that the damage that the target takes is coincidentally identical to a regular attack by the monk - so all the climbing and falling is nice flavoring.

 

[DND_Reborn]

How does he get to automatically fall on the enemy?

Now, I would treat this maybe as improvised damage or the effects of a trap maybe? Being hit by a falling bookcase (presumably with a reasonable amount of books), is 1d10 damage. So, maybe 1d10 per tier for the maneuver--up to 4d10 at tier 4?

Also, falling damage is a lot because you are landing on the hard ground/stone/etc. Living creatures, by comparison, are squishy, so damage would be less in that respect as well IMO.

Depending on the STR of the enemy (and its size), the damage (if any) could be pretty low.

 

[Dausuul]

My general rule is that if you make a jumping attack from above, and hit, falling damage is split half and half between you and the target. Then you do your regular damage as normal. If you miss, of course, you keep all the falling damage for yourself.

But I'm with the other posters - any reduction to the falling damage is applied before the split, not after.

 

[jasper]

Sounds Cheesy. I would go with Dausuul answer if I was nice. But I am rotten. So falling damage applies is not split. You both take it.

 

[Laurefindel]

There are plenty of precedents in popular culture where the hero uses one of the bad guys to break their fall, defeating the said bad guy in one swift hit while allowing to hero to survive the fall unscathed.

In D&D, stuff happens, and hit points mitigate the severity of the consequence on an individual basis. Translated into D&D: both hero and bad guy would take the same damage from the same situation and both would lose hit points. If the damage is high enough to dispatch the bad guy without killing the hero, we stay true to the common hero trope. But that's how D&D simulates reality/narrative.

With the monk, we have a case where a character can mitigate the loss of hit points further, but i don't see why it should reduce the severity of the attack for the one on the receiving end of the fall. Similarly, a barbarian would take half damage if raging, but not the bad guy they'd fall on.

I would still expect a successful attack roll from the monk however, probably with disadvantage for "long range" if done over 60 feet.

Also, falling damage is capped at 20d6.

 

[BluejayJunior]

I generally agree with most other people.
I am also of the opinion that at a certain point, you just die from falling. Excluding using feather fall, etc. Ignore the 20d6 damage and the character just dies. At some height (and this will differ for each person), surviving a fall becomes too fantastical even for D&D. I don't care if your character can likely survive the 20d6 damage, jumping form 1000 ft just means you're dead.