Yesterday in my game, a ninja wearing slippers of spiderclimbing, fighting a number of foes in a narrow but high hallway, wanted to jump onto the ceiling over their heads and drop down into an empty square in their midst, and then make an attack on one of them.
It's my understanding that distance jumped counts as squares of movement, so the ninja, with speed 30 ft., jumped 20 feet onto ceiling, leaving him with 10 feet of movement left in a single move action.
Falling prone or dropping something is usually a free action, but in this case, the ninja was not falling prone, he was landing on his feet. Could he still make an attack in that round, even though he fell further than 10 feet? Or would that be a double move?
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If your understanding is that distance jumped counts as movement (a reasonable understanding, and one that I use as well), then he moved a total of 40 feet and would require a double move to get there. He'd provoke AoOs from the movement into the square "in their midst" from anyone that threatens the squares he exits. He would have no action left to attack with.
From a GM's perspective, this is one of those sorts of things that might not work yet at low level, but would work if the ninja gets some additional speed (haste, etc.). Being able to do something at higher level than was possible earlier is a cool thing, and is more rewarding in the long run. YMMV.
Yesterday in my game, a ninja wearing slippers of spiderclimbing, fighting a number of foes in a narrow but high hallway, wanted to jump onto the ceiling over their heads and drop down into an empty square in their midst, and then make an attack on one of them.
It's my understanding that distance jumped counts as squares of movement, so the ninja, with speed 30 ft., jumped 20 feet onto ceiling, leaving him with 10 feet of movement left in a single move action.
Falling prone or dropping something is usually a free action, but in this case, the ninja was not falling prone, he was landing on his feet. Could he still make an attack in that round, even though he fell further than 10 feet? Or would that be a double move?
This is one the questions that involves more than what is written in the rule books. How much real-world physics do you want to apply to the game.
The short answer:
My on-the-spot ruling ruling would be to allow it. Why? It doesn't has as much to do with the rules as it does to rewarding creative and exciting role-play. If you rule against the player he will likely just go with the old "I walk over next to the enemy and attack him. Yawn."
The long answer:
Right now we have time to consider such a move with respect to the rules. So, if we go by the rule of you can fall no further than you can move in round. If the same player moved 50 feet out on to a bridge over a gaping chasm and fell does he only fall 10 feet this round? Only 60 feet next round? That's silly, so we should rule that he can fall further than 10 feet this round.
Next would be to consider how long it takes to fall. Chances are falling 20 feet takes less time than running 20 feet. Using real-world physics it takes 1.1 seconds. In the game world normal move is 10 ft./sec (30 ft. x2 double move / 6 second round). So, falling 20 feet is roughly equivalent to moving 10 ft. in the game. I'm not sure how far I would let him fall as a free action but 30-40 feet wouldn't be too excessive in my opinion.
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Well, if we're going to apply physics: Let's for the moment assume that he jumps up to the ceiling, where he can stick with the slippers of spider climb, by jumping such that he doesn't bang against the wall and bounce off. Rather, he does so by reaching 0 speed at the ceiling. Under the effects of gravity, it takes him the same time to jump up 20 feet as it does for him to fall 20 feet. Does that change anything? The movement rules and physics don't completely jive.
Thanks, all. FWIW, I ruled that he could drop from the ceiling as a free action, but did provoke a couple AoOs (from 3 witches) on exiting the "square" 5 ft above the floor. If it reoccurs, I'll likely rule as a few of you suggested.