The rulebook says that if water is at least 10' deep, the first 20' of a fall does no damage. What if the water is less than 10' deep? I don't think the rules for falling onto soft ground or mud would apply.
My apologies if this has been asked already. I did a search on this topic, but didn't see a previous posting. Thanks for any help.
BTW, for those Maptool users out there, I've written a macro to calculate falling damage onto land:
http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=5475&start=1485
The rulebook says that if water is at least 10' deep, the first 20' of a fall does no damage. What if the water is less than 10' deep? I don't think the rules for falling onto soft ground or mud would apply.
My apologies if this has been asked already. I did a search on this topic, but didn't see a previous posting. Thanks for any help.
BTW, for those Maptool users out there, I've written a macro to calculate falling damage onto land:
http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=5475&start=1485
I believe that it is the same as hitting the ground. It would be like diving into the shallow end of a pool because you still might potentially break your neck.
I believe that it is the same as hitting the ground. It would be like diving into the shallow end of a pool because you still might potentially break your neck.
After I posted my question, I was thinking it'd be NLD (non-lethal dmg), perhaps as much as 1d6. If you think about it, it seems odd that a 10' fall into 9' of water would do more damage (1d6) than a 10' fall into soft ground or mud (1d6 nld).
However, if you strictly interpret the rules, it seems to agree with what you posted.
*bump*
Anyone else got any idea about this? How do you do damage for a fall into water < 10' ?
I would make it lethal damage because, speaking from experience of doing something similar but not a broken neck, it hurts like heck when the ground rushes up to meet you before your momentum is broken. I'd say 1d4 lethal damage would be reasonable no?
I would make it lethal damage because, speaking from experience of doing something similar but not a broken neck, it hurts like heck when the ground rushes up to meet you before your momentum is broken. I'd say 1d4 lethal damage would be reasonable no?
So, why would this be lethal, but falling onto soft ground would inflict non-lethal damage? I don't get it.
I would make it lethal damage because, speaking from experience of doing something similar but not a broken neck, it hurts like heck when the ground rushes up to meet you before your momentum is broken. I'd say 1d4 lethal damage would be reasonable no?So, why would this be lethal, but falling onto soft ground would inflict non-lethal damage? I don't get it.
Water is not soft when hit at high speed.
Yeah. Try belly-flopping from a high dive board. Actually, don't; I don't want to get sued if you break anything. It's entirely possible to break bones just from falling into water without ever touching the bottom, if you don't fall properly.
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This all has to do with campaign flavor. At terminal velocity, the difference between hitting concrete and hitting water is minimal. Never done the math on this, just quoting a firend of mine who is a SEAL.
I'd say structure the damage to the campaign that you have.
If your campaign is more Black Company, than Discworld, then the damage should be more severe.
If you are looking for a more "swashbucklery feel" then make water into a big old flufferly feather matress...
If you want hardcore realism, well, falling is bad! The rules land somehwere in between.
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Yeah. Try belly-flopping from a high dive board. Actually, don't; I don't want to get sued if you break anything. It's entirely possible to break bones just from falling into water without ever touching the bottom, if you don't fall properly.
You don't even need a high board. Back in my high school coed PE class, we guys were all showing off at the pool, and I made a bad flip off of a lower board. No more than 3 ft + bounce. Landed on the side of my face and shoulder. There was blood, bruising, lots of pain. From a high board, I would have been in serious trouble.
You have to know how to create an air bubble at the initial entrance, or water will ruin your day. That's why I think it takes successful swim check to make a dive and have water no kill you in d20, if I recall.
Water is not soft when hit at high speed.
This isn't making any sense. Let me re-ask the question I asked at the top of the thread. If I fall from a height of 10' into 9' deep water, that's not nearly high enough to get the kind of high-impact from one's velocity I think you're referring to.
The rules say that if I fall from 10' height into mud or soft ground, that's NLD (non lethal damage). If I fall from 10' height into water that's 10' deep or more, that's zero damage.
And, yet, a fall from 10' into 9' of water is lethal? If I'm hitting water at "high speed", it shouldn't matter what the depth is. It's like smashing into cement ... you're absolutely correct about that. But, we're talking about a relatively minor fall of 10' or 20'. In RPG physics, that's small potatoes.
Yes, in real life, you can get hurt from hopping into your bathtub, but we're talking about heroic fantasy, folks. And, this rule, as written, just ain't consistent. To me, it looks like they forgot to address water depth of less than 10'.
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Water is not soft when hit at high speed.This isn't making any sense. Let me re-ask the question I asked at the top of the thread. If I fall from a height of 10' into 9' deep water, that's not nearly high enough to get the kind of high-impact from one's velocity I think you're referring to.
The rules say that if I fall from 10' height into mud or soft ground, that's NLD (non lethal damage). If I fall from 10' height into water that's 10' deep or more, that's zero damage.
And, yet, a fall from 10' into 9' of water is lethal? If I'm hitting water at "high speed", it shouldn't matter what the depth is. It's like smashing into cement ... you're absolutely correct about that. But, we're talking about a relatively minor fall of 10' or 20'. In RPG physics, that's small potatoes.
Yes, in real life, you can get hurt from hopping into your bathtub, but we're talking about heroic fantasy, folks. And, this rule, as written, just ain't consistent. To me, it looks like they forgot to address water depth of less than 10'.
And as I say, I think that water depth of under 10' means that you should look at the bottom of the water. Is it mud underneath the water? Or stone? I think that if there is more then 10' the game assumes that you have enough depth to slow down and bob back up, but when it is under 10' you hit the bottom.
And as I say, I think that water depth of under 10' means that you should look at the bottom of the water ... I think that if there is more then 10' the game assumes that you have enough depth to slow down and bob back up, but when it is under 10' you hit the bottom.
That makes sense, and the assumption in your last sentence is probably correct. If the water depth is > 10', then yes, the rulebook is explicit that damage = 0 for the 1st 20' of falling.
But, my point in raising this question is this: the core rulebook left a big ol' gaping hole in regards to water depth < 10'. Every condition for falling on land or water is precisely spelled out, except for this one scenario: falls into water with depth < 10'.
The reason I was asking is because I wrote a macro in Maptool to calculate falling damage. I've got the first part finished, falling onto land, and now need to do the 2nd part, falling into water. Your point is very logical ... damage would depend on the bottom of the water for shallow depths. But, that ruling is fairly subjective and open to interpretation. And, I can hear the howls of protest from my players already.
There's no real consensus on how to handle this, from what I can gather on this thread. Damage could be lethal, it could be non-lethal. It could be nothing. Would a totally random roll be reasonable? Something like a d20 roll:
1-10 - take this amount of nld per 10' fallen
11-20 - take roll - 10 amount of regular damage per 10' fallen
So if you roll 10 or less, you hit a soft patch of mud or whatever ... roll higher and you hit a nasty pile of jagged rock.
It would be non lethal damage. No damage If you make the acrobatics check.