No. Terminal velocity is defined as the velocity at which the force pulling you downward (gravity) is equal to the force pushing you upward (air resistance). Air resistance for spreading out and wearing baggy clothing is considerably more than for "diving", which means that the terminal velocity is less.slingbld said:
Why a 20-die cap on falling damage?
- Thread starter Quasqueton
- Start date
MerakSpielman
First Post
Wouldn't this definition have you floating in mid-air, neither falling nor rising? If the forces are truly "equal"...Staffan said:
MerakSpielman
First Post
Terminal Velocity: The speed at which drag matches the pull of gravity, resulting in a constant fall rate. Typical terminal velocity for formation skydiving is in the 120 to 135 mile per hour range, but speeds as high as 300 miles per hour have been reached.
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Quasqueton
First Post
As I tried to explain in my opening post, I didn't want this to turn into a discussion of physics and reality in the game. I was wanting to know why the 20 dice cap existed for something that theoretically could be infinite dice. Most spells stop at 20 dice or less, but some go higher.
The immersing in lava is a good addition to the discussion. But that I can see having *some* cap. I mean, once you are completely immersed, how can you take more damage.
But falling 200 feet can be made worse by falling 300 feet, or 1,000 feet. I don't mind the 1d6 per 10' (versus the 1d6 per 10' per 10'), as I wasn't asking to make falls more deadly. I was just wondering why the deadliness stopped at 20d6. Is that a magic number for D&D?
Quasqueton
The immersing in lava is a good addition to the discussion. But that I can see having *some* cap. I mean, once you are completely immersed, how can you take more damage.
But falling 200 feet can be made worse by falling 300 feet, or 1,000 feet. I don't mind the 1d6 per 10' (versus the 1d6 per 10' per 10'), as I wasn't asking to make falls more deadly. I was just wondering why the deadliness stopped at 20d6. Is that a magic number for D&D?
Quasqueton
Quaseqton, if you actually read those posts, you'll see that it shouldn't be infinite dice because a person can't fall infinitely fast in an atmosphere. If you want to go ahead and deal 1000d6 to the player who falls two miles from the castle of the cloud giants, go right ahead. No one here is stopping you.
20d6 after 200' is sort of a 'magic number' leftover from previous editions. Yes, it is a lot easier to survive it these days than it was in those editions. Maybe it should be changed; personally, I think it's pretty convenient, and doesn't slow down gameplay, and I don't really have a problem with someone surviving that kind of fall when they can also survive being immolated in a dragon's fiery breath or being ground to hamburger in the teeth of a shredding column trap.
20d6 after 200' is sort of a 'magic number' leftover from previous editions. Yes, it is a lot easier to survive it these days than it was in those editions. Maybe it should be changed; personally, I think it's pretty convenient, and doesn't slow down gameplay, and I don't really have a problem with someone surviving that kind of fall when they can also survive being immolated in a dragon's fiery breath or being ground to hamburger in the teeth of a shredding column trap.
Actually, I am remembering something from the Wilderness Survival Guide, for those who remember the old AD&D1E book. If anyone has one to look at, I believe it talked about stepping the dice type up for extraordinary falling distances, though I don't recall the sequence off the top of my head, I seem to recall it capping out at 20d20 at a 1 mile fall. Anyone out there remember this one, or is my memory failing me and a DM houseruled me?
The Souljourner
First Post
Quasqueton said:
Here's your problem - the answer requires a little physics, and the answer is that a 500' fall *isn't* any worse than a 1,000' fall. At some point, you stop speeding up, due to wind resistance.
That's the reason it stops getting bigger. Why it stops at 20d6 is probably just an artifact from older versions of D&D.
-The Souljourner
dcollins
Explorer
Gnimish88 said:
I've tried researching this in the past. Falls are always situational -- you'll find specific incident reports, but no overall compiled percentages (because, apparently, they just don't work that way).
But here's one resource: the Las Vegas Search & Rescue incident reports (a lot of nearby mountain climbing accidents). From my persusal, it seems that very healthy outdoorsy people seem to survive, even if totally crippled, by a 20 ft. fall. It seems like if the fall is 40 ft. or more, no one survives: http://www.lvmpdsar.com/1999rprts.html
The other site I use is the skydiving fatality reports site, for whatever that's worth: http://www.skydivenet.com/fatalities/
Gnimish88 said:
Not quite. The 1st Ed. WSG specifies the cumulative-damage falling rules (as does Unearthed Arcana and the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide; 20 ft=3d6, 30 ft=6d6, etc.). For people who are tumbling down a slanted slope, there are rules to reduce the damage die down from d6's (possibly d3's). That's on WSG p. 35-36.
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rkanodia said:
I'd hafta agree here. My earlier post showed how little I know of the deffinition of terminal velocity
But I think that for teh most part & without getting bogged down with rules. it's safe to say that the average joe character will hit terminal velocity at or close to 200' of freefall.But I can also see no reason why a GM can stated that terminal velocity is not reached untill 250' (ala 25D6) or 300' (ala 30d6).
Remember the golden rule of pen and paper gaming.
"It's your world and your game. Modify it and enjoy it"
