D&D 5E Windows
- Thread starter Grimsaber
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iserith
Magic Wordsmith
The rules give you some tools to use to resolve any uncertainty if players employ this tactic, specifically, the rules for shoving (Basic Rules, page 74) and falling damage (Basic Rules, page 65). Depending on the specific approach a player describes to achieve this goal, plus the particular circumstances in the scene that is unfolding, you might say that, yes, pushing an enemy out of the window is effectively instant death (or at least puts them out of position to retaliate in the near term). In other cases, it might not be so certain, thus the rules I mentioned could be of some use to you.
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
Defenestration has a long standing tradition in RL combat. 
Is it too early in the 5E OGL era for a full supplement on this subject alone?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration
Is it too early in the 5E OGL era for a full supplement on this subject alone?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration
AaronOfBarbaria
Adventurer
Throwing someone through a window is not avoiding a fight, it is a fight. Grappling is a special kind of attack.
As for "instakill," that is entirely within your control as the DM, since you get to determine how long of a fall and what sort of surface wait outside a window, and thus how much damage can actually be inflicted by tossing someone out.
Also, I suggest you go right ahead and answer any failed attempt for a PC to throw an NPC or Monster out a window (or to a similarly dangerous fall) with that NPC or Monster taking their next turn to try and throw the PC out the same window.
As for "instakill," that is entirely within your control as the DM, since you get to determine how long of a fall and what sort of surface wait outside a window, and thus how much damage can actually be inflicted by tossing someone out.
Also, I suggest you go right ahead and answer any failed attempt for a PC to throw an NPC or Monster out a window (or to a similarly dangerous fall) with that NPC or Monster taking their next turn to try and throw the PC out the same window.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
In urban environments I’ve had this trouble as well. I’ve especially had this trouble in a campaign that heavily featured airships, where going overboard is practically certain death.
Once in a while, a defenestration is awesome. But every time, not so much.
I generally started giving monsters and PCs a saving throw to determine how far they fall before catching themselves on the side of the building/airship. They still take damage, and are stuck climbing back up, but they’re rarely dead from it, unless they were on the ropes already.
I also started including more monsters that can fly. And villains on airships started wearing safety harnesses.
If I’m feeling nasty, though, I might give the monster the chance to grab the PC and send them over the side as well.
Once in a while, a defenestration is awesome. But every time, not so much.
I generally started giving monsters and PCs a saving throw to determine how far they fall before catching themselves on the side of the building/airship. They still take damage, and are stuck climbing back up, but they’re rarely dead from it, unless they were on the ropes already.
I also started including more monsters that can fly. And villains on airships started wearing safety harnesses.
If I’m feeling nasty, though, I might give the monster the chance to grab the PC and send them over the side as well.
The Crimson Binome
Hero
If throwing someone out of a window is substantially more effective than stabbing someone with a sword, then people won't stand near windows.
Past a certain point, throwing someone from an airship is just an easy way of letting them escape. It's virtually impossible for a fall to kill anyone over level 7.
Past a certain point, throwing someone from an airship is just an easy way of letting them escape. It's virtually impossible for a fall to kill anyone over level 7.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Pushing things off cliffs is about the most fun you can have with your Athletics skill. During the Chapter 1 fight with the Quaggoths in Out of the Abyss, I adapted the OotA rules for defenestration (ruling: if you're pushed off a cliff but still within 5' reach of the edge, you get to make a DC 10 Dex save per OotA to catch the ledge; if you make it you are Prone but not falling; if you're pushed 10' or more off the edge you are out of range of the edge and so just fall to your death) and since the players fought the quaggoths on the edge of a cliff, there was a whole lot of pushing going on, on both sides. It was quite exciting for everyone but no PCs died.
Anyway, if your players are trying to defenestrate things, I would come up with balanced rules that prevent it from being a dominant tactic (saving throw as above; also remember geometry, and apply Shove-Aside rules per DMG if they are trying to push someone sideways instead of directly away) for either the players or the monsters. Other than that, I would encourage them to exploit the environment in exactly this way whenever it makes tactical sense. Even if shoving someone out of a window does only 1d6 damage, it's still a form of battlefield removal, therefore useful for defeating an enemy in detail. If the enemy isn't highly-motivated he may not even try to re-enter the battlespace; he may just lie there on the ground moaning. (It depends on the scenario and the goals which are bringing the PCs and NPCs/monsters into conflict.)
Anyway, if your players are trying to defenestrate things, I would come up with balanced rules that prevent it from being a dominant tactic (saving throw as above; also remember geometry, and apply Shove-Aside rules per DMG if they are trying to push someone sideways instead of directly away) for either the players or the monsters. Other than that, I would encourage them to exploit the environment in exactly this way whenever it makes tactical sense. Even if shoving someone out of a window does only 1d6 damage, it's still a form of battlefield removal, therefore useful for defeating an enemy in detail. If the enemy isn't highly-motivated he may not even try to re-enter the battlespace; he may just lie there on the ground moaning. (It depends on the scenario and the goals which are bringing the PCs and NPCs/monsters into conflict.)
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Also, the continued use of the word “defenestration” in this thread makes me very happy. When I was a librarian, one of my tests for the quality of a dictionary was whether it had that word in it or not.
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