How much damage will a player take who boards a siege cannon

[TrollingJoker]

So if a player would act as the cannonball of a siege cannon, what kind of damage would he experience?

I'd imagine the 6d6 of the weapon itself but what about falling damage?

Thanks!

[Anonymous Warrior]

I'd argue at least 6d6 upon launch, and since every action has an opposite and equal reaction: impact deals 6d6 "falling" damage to the "cannonball" with no opportunity to mitigate the damage, and the target hit by this "cannonball" also takes 6d6 damage.

Also, in case there's anyone reviewing this who isn't familiar with it, the "Human Cannonball" stunt is typically done with a spring-based cannon, with the highest distance achieved being between 193 ft. to 200 ft. Hence, it's not a fair comparison.

[Azothath]

UltCmpgn wrote:

Cannon: Cannons are crafted of metal—some are cast in one piece, others welded with iron bands—and mounted either in the ground or on wooden frames. Cannons use black powder to propel their projectiles with great force. A cannon has a misfire range of 1 (20 feet). Cannons have a hardness of 10 and 70 hit points. Cannon balls cost 30 gp each and weigh 25 pounds.

Cannon price:6,000 gp, dmg:6d6, crit:20 @*4, rng:100ft, dmg type:B and P, crew:2, aim:1, load:3r, Spd:10ft.

CRB wrote:

Improvised Weapons

Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons nonetheless see use in combat. Because such objects are not designed for this use, any creature that uses an improvised weapon in combat is considered to be nonproficient with it and takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls made with that object. To determine the size category and appropriate damage for an improvised weapon, compare its relative size and damage potential to the weapon list to find a reasonable match. An improvised weapon scores a threat on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. An improvised thrown weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

damage should be on firing 6d6 rflx for half. Impact damage for improvised weapons is generally based on size, but speed here is high, you can go with the 6d6 again.

Falling damage would net you 20d6 as you've hit terminal velocity.
Then again damage from medium sized falling objects (under Falling Objects) is 3d6. >150ft do double listed damage. Object and target take equal damage. So as a falling object we're back to 6d6.

[Wonderstell]

6d6 of the weapon itself, and then I would consult the Damage from Falling Objects table for the damage dealt/taken upon impact.

Object Size, Damage
Small 2d6
Medium 3d6
Large 4d6
Huge 6d6
Gargantuan 8d6
Colossal 10d6

Falling Objects wrote:

Just as characters take damage when they fall more than 10 feet, so too do they take damage when they are hit by falling objects.

Objects that fall upon characters deal damage based on their size and the distance they have fallen. Table: Damage from Falling Objects determines the amount of damage dealt by an object based on its size. Note that this assumes that the object is made of dense, heavy material, such as stone. Objects made of lighter materials might deal as little as half the listed damage, subject to GM discretion. For example, a Huge boulder that hits a character deals 6d6 points of damage, whereas a Huge wooden wagon might deal only 3d6 damage. In addition, if an object falls less than 30 feet, it deals half the listed damage. If an object falls more than 150 feet, it deals double the listed damage. Note that a falling object takes the same amount of damage as it deals.

[deuxhero]

Firstly: Can he even fit? If we go by civil war cannon weight to barrel diameter (which will be better than anything older thanks to improved metallurgy ect.) a 25 pound cannon (the weight given for the PF weapon) will have less than 7 inches in diameter, while a heavy bombard will be ~8 inches. A small race might meet these, but a medium creature, especially with gear, will have to meet a DC30 escape artist check (average adult male's head is apparently 6 inches).

Secondly: Unless he has some form of sabot, I'd go with damage from the burning, fort save from any gasses he's exposed to and have to climb out. Cannons, like all firearms, work by the burning powder creating expanding gas which then pushes the weakest point of its seal which should be the projectile (If you have a badly made/maintained weapon and the body isn't rated for the pressure, you're going to be losing body parts.). It's not launching something by strength of explosion or anything like that.

If he fits and has some form of sabot or you think it's awesome and don't care, then what the above posters said.

[Dave Justus]

In my games, the cannon would deal at least a 6d6 coup de grace to the helpless person in the cannon.

[Sundakan]

Dave Justus wrote:

In my games, the cannon would deal at least a 6d6 coup de grace to the helpless person in the cannon.

Congratulations, I'm proud to present you with the "Biggest Buzzkill" award.

[Mark Carlson 255]

I would say that you take more then the base weapon damage do to the fact that you are in an enclosed area where an explosion is designed to launch an object at a target.
I think I would double the base damage of the weapon for the explosion or set a specific amount to prevent very tiny creatures from being projected from tiny guns and doing extreme damage.
In fact I might give it a min damage and then a random amount on top of that.
I would also adjust the range as a soft squishy projectile (human) will not carry the energy as well as a hard projectile. In fact if the person did not have some high powered armor or other such protection I might just say most if not all of the explosion energy goes into the person body and they go about 1/10 the max distance.

I think someone needs to get some pig cadavers and do some experiments and report the finding in a article so the rest of us can make informed decisions in our games on this issue.

MDC

[deuxhero]

Mark Carlson 255 wrote:

I would say that you take more then the base weapon damage do to the fact that you are in an enclosed area where an explosion is designed to launch an object at a target.

Again, not how cannons work. The "explosion" doesn't launch the projectile, the created gases do. It's closer to a "burn" than an "explosion".

[Fourshadow]

If it is a true Siege Cannon, it would be able to fit a medium character easily. These things weigh TONS.
As for the human cannonball damage: I would rule an automatic critical due to putting yourself in harm's way with no chance to avoid it. Deafened, too. Perhaps blinded by the burning powder? Perhaps I am laying it on thick, but this is nonsensical, really. Lay on the repercussions.

[Fourshadow]

Sundakan wrote:

Dave Justus wrote:

In my games, the cannon would deal at least a 6d6 coup de grace to the helpless person in the cannon.

Congratulations, I'm proud to present you with the "Biggest Buzzkill" award.

It isn't a wise thing to do, so I would agree with the coup de grace.

[The Sideromancer]

I cast elemental body to make myself immune to fire and precision damage, then i fire myself out of a cannon!

[TrollingJoker]

I really like the ideas! Though I agree with the thought process regarding the coup de grace, I would however rule against it. We always put fun and shenanigans first with my campaigns and the campaigns I'm part of. If a player wants to do this then by all means and remember that you'll get a lot of damage, but insta kill would also kill the fun.

Thanks for all your suggestions! We'll be choosing between the damage from falling objects and receiving the cannon damage twice (once for firing and once for landing). Personally I choose for the latter, mainly because I enjoyed Anonymous Warrior's wording of it.