PDA

View Full Version : Is Falling Blunt Damage?



LibraryOgre
2009-09-12, 12:42 PM
If I have a DR of 3 against blunt attacks, would that apply against falling damage?

Milskidasith
2009-09-12, 12:44 PM
Wait, is this DR 3/Blunt or DR 3/Something other than Blunt?

DR 3/Blunt doesn't even apply against blunt damage.

Volkov
2009-09-12, 12:46 PM
Wait, is this DR 3/Blunt or DR 3/Something other than Blunt?

DR 3/Blunt doesn't even apply against blunt damage.
He means that he only gets his DR against blunt attacks.

Siosilvar
2009-09-12, 12:46 PM
Wait, is this DR 3/Blunt or DR 3/Something other than Blunt?

DR 3/Blunt doesn't even apply against blunt damage.

I'd assume that it's DR 3/slashing or piercing.

Seffbasilisk
2009-09-12, 12:47 PM
RAW AFAIK doesn't specify, just lethal and nonlethal. I suppose it'd be dependant upon what surface you're falling on.

So for the most part, yes, it would be bludgeoning damage.

Milskidasith
2009-09-12, 12:48 PM
Ah. Well, falling is untyped damage, so no, it probably isn't affected, but I'd probably call it blunt as a DM.

Sharkman1231
2009-09-12, 12:57 PM
I would have to say falling damage is definitly bludeoning damage, as long as you are falling on flat objects like the ground or water, if for example you fall in a spike pit, that would totally be pierceing damage.
My 2 cp.

LibraryOgre
2009-09-12, 01:02 PM
Wait, is this DR 3/Blunt or DR 3/Something other than Blunt?

DR 3/Blunt doesn't even apply against blunt damage.

Ironically enough, I phrased it the way I did to avoid this confusion.

PinkysBrain
2009-09-12, 01:06 PM
It's not (it doesn't really break the abstraction either ... a sudden momentum change affects your entire body, whereas you can imagine DR as being skin deep).

Volkov
2009-09-12, 01:06 PM
I would have to say falling damage is definitly bludeoning damage, as long as you are falling on flat objects like the ground or water, if for example you fall in a spike pit, that would totally be pierceing damage.
My 2 cp.

If you fell on spikes, you'd probably receive a good deal more damage than falling on the ground. I'd say one should increase the die size by one to represent the spikes.

kjones
2009-09-12, 01:08 PM
AFAICT, falling damage is untyped and thus not subject to DR. This is how I've always played it.

Starbuck_II
2009-09-12, 01:13 PM
DR doesn't care about non-weapons actually (natural weapons are a type of weapon).

So Falling is not affected by DR for that reason.
The exception is psionic powers that aren't weapons can still be affected by DR according to Complete Psionics (another reason why everyone ignores that book).

Leon
2009-09-12, 02:25 PM
No, its Falling damage (Untyped but named as such)
You'd probably do Blunt damage if you fell onto something depending what you where wearing/carrying at the time

Shpadoinkle
2009-09-12, 03:14 PM
Falling damage is falling damage. It has it's own type.

Rixx
2009-09-12, 03:16 PM
From a physics standpoint, there's no difference between the force of hitting the ground and the force of some flying ground striking you, which I think would be bludgeoning damage.

pres_man
2009-09-12, 03:16 PM
Energy damage bypasses DR. Falling damage is Potential Energy damage. :smallbiggrin:

only1doug
2009-09-12, 03:28 PM
If you fall in a pit the damage from the fall is untyped so you take all of it regardless of DR.

If there are also spikes at the bottom of the pit they are piercing damage and DR that reduces piercing will apply.

Doc Roc
2009-09-12, 03:54 PM
RAW AFAIK doesn't specify, just lethal and nonlethal. I suppose it'd be dependant upon what surface you're falling on.

So for the most part, yes, it would be bludgeoning damage.

What? I drop my players on spikes ALL the time.

ZeroNumerous
2009-09-12, 04:08 PM
It's not (it doesn't really break the abstraction either ... a sudden momentum change affects your entire body, whereas you can imagine DR as being skin deep).

Unless it's magical.

Epinephrine
2009-09-12, 04:22 PM
From a physics standpoint, there's no difference between the force of hitting the ground and the force of some flying ground striking you, which I think would be bludgeoning damage.

Totally. I'd apply DR to falls. If you get DR when a colossal creature flattens you with a club the size of a locomotive, you get DR when you hit the ground.

only1doug
2009-09-12, 04:28 PM
What? I drop my players on spikes ALL the time.

don't they get tired of it and ask to play DnD instead? :smalltongue: or did you mean your players PC's? Even if you did, they might like to do other thinks than fall onto spikes occasionally.

KillianHawkeye
2009-09-12, 04:56 PM
Technically, I think falling onto spikes is usually represented by the falling damage + an attack made by the spikes for their own damage, so they're seperate.

Curmudgeon
2009-09-12, 04:57 PM
The answer is yes, according to Complete Warrior:
Anti-Impact: Armor with the anti-impact quality is designed to cushion the blow from massive blunt traumas. Anti-impact armor doesn’t give extra protection against weapon damage (beyond its AC bonus), but bludgeoning damage that affects all or most of the entire body (such as constriction and falling damage) is halved.

Kalirren
2009-09-12, 05:10 PM
Anti-Impact: Armor with the anti-impact quality is designed to cushion the blow from massive blunt traumas. Anti-impact armor doesn’t give extra protection against weapon damage (beyond its AC bonus), but bludgeoning damage that affects all or most of the entire body (such as constriction and falling damage) is halved.

Arguably not, according to the same source. "Bludgeoning damage" in general has to be differentiated from "bludgeoning damage that affects all or most of the entire body." Note how the Anti-impact magical property doesn't give extra protection against weapon damage - presumably this would include weapon damage from bludgeoning weapons, such as that from a warhammer, since no exception is made for this.

Volkov
2009-09-12, 05:15 PM
Energy damage bypasses DR. Falling damage is Potential Energy damage. :smallbiggrin:

If that's the game you want to play, then all conventional weapons and pretty much every natural weapon deals kinetic energy damage.

Curmudgeon
2009-09-12, 05:24 PM
"Bludgeoning damage" in general has to be differentiated from "bludgeoning damage that affects all or most of the entire body." Not to answer the OP's question, it doesn't. Anti-impact armor is limited to a specific type of bludgeoning damage. Falling damage happens to be that specific type of damage. The fact that it has other characteristics doesn't change the fact that falling damge is bludgeoning damage.

Thurbane
2009-09-12, 08:27 PM
Assuming the floor isn't Evil, adamantine or silver, do these DR types apply against falling as well?

Roog
2009-09-12, 08:32 PM
From a physics standpoint, there's no difference between the force of hitting the ground and the force of some flying ground striking you, which I think would be bludgeoning damage.

From a physics standpoint, there is a large difference between some flying ground striking you and being hit with a hammer.

Starbuck_II
2009-09-12, 08:49 PM
Assuming the floor isn't Evil, adamantine or silver, do these DR types apply against falling as well?

Until the DM redefines falling as a weapon attack: you can't gain DR against it. It is immune being not a weapon.

jiriku
2009-09-12, 09:24 PM
Lacking a specific rule, this is a matter for DM adjudication, but I totally would give you DR/evil or good or whatever against falling damage.

Suppose a high level barbarian in invulnerability plate, DR 10/-, jumps off a ledge and drops ten feet to the floor below. No damage, his DR soaks it. Next, an iron golem jumps off a ledge in hot pursuit. The floor cracks and buckles under the golem's weight, perhaps, but the golem is fine; its DR 10/adamantine soaks the impact. Now, an ally polymorphed into a planetar or solar jumps the ledge in pursuit of the golem, following the melee. The DR 15/evil is likewise stout enough to protect against the ten-foot drop.

Conceptually, each of these creatures is phenomenally tough. They can shrug off blows that would eviscerate a normal man without taking a scratch. Isn't it also reasonable that such mighty characters could handle a lengthy drop?

If you're on the fence, consider the coolness factor you add to the game by encouraging heroes with high DR to make great leaps - it's just like in all the action movies.

Starbuck_II
2009-09-12, 09:27 PM
Damage Reduction
A creature with this special quality ignores damage from most weapons and natural attacks. Wounds heal immediately, or the weapon bounces off harmlessly (in either case, the opponent knows the attack was ineffective). The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. A certain kind of weapon can sometimes damage the creature normally, as noted below.

The entry indicates the amount of damage ignored (usually 5 to 15 points) and the type of weapon that negates the ability.

Some monsters are vulnerable to piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing damage.

Some monsters are vulnerable to certain materials, such as alchemical silver, adamantine, or cold iron. Attacks from weapons that are not made of the correct material have their damage reduced, even if the weapon has an enhancement bonus.

Some monsters are vulnerable to magic weapons. Any weapon with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls overcomes the damage reduction of these monsters. Such creatures’ natural weapons (but not their attacks with weapons) are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

A few very powerful monsters are vulnerable only to epic weapons; that is, magic weapons with at least a +6 enhancement bonus. Such creatures’ natural weapons are also treated as epic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Some monsters are vulnerable to chaotic-, evil-, good-, or lawful-aligned weapons. When a cleric casts align weapon, affected weapons might gain one or more of these properties, and certain magic weapons have these properties as well. A creature with an alignment subtype (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) can overcome this type of damage reduction with its natural weapons and weapons it wields as if the weapons or natural weapons had an alignment (or alignments) that match the subtype(s) of the creature.

When a damage reduction entry has a dash (-) after the slash, no weapon negates the damage reduction.

A few creatures are harmed by more than one kind of weapon. A weapon of either type overcomes this damage reduction.

A few other creatures require combinations of different types of attacks to overcome their damage reduction. A weapon must be both types to overcome this damage reduction. A weapon that is only one type is still subject to damage reduction.

Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).

Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury type poison, a monk’s stunning, and injury type disease. Damage reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack, or energy drains. Nor does it affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact.

Attacks that deal no damage because of the target’s damage reduction do not disrupt spells.

If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.


I don't think this is debateable. It works versus weapons.

Epinephrine
2009-09-12, 09:48 PM
I don't think this is debateable. It works versus weapons.

Improvised weapon. Whenever someone falls, it's just the gods wielding the earth as a giant club.

Tequila Sunrise
2009-09-12, 10:07 PM
If I have a DR of 3 against blunt attacks, would that apply against falling damage?
For the love of simulationism, yes!

Rainbownaga
2009-09-12, 11:51 PM
From a physics standpoint, there is a large difference between some flying ground striking you and being hit with a hammer.

What if the hammer was as big as the ground?

Bandededed
2009-09-13, 12:05 AM
What if the hammer was as big as the ground?

So he was being hammer smite'd by the episode 27 Gurren Lagann?

Roog
2009-09-13, 12:21 AM
What if the hammer was as big as the ground?


And what if you were as big as the moon?



Extraordinary circumstances are not representative.

Sophismata
2009-09-13, 01:08 AM
Conceptually, each of these creatures is phenomenally tough. They can shrug off blows that would eviscerate a normal man without taking a scratch. Isn't it also reasonable that such mighty characters could handle a lengthy drop?

Isn't this what hitpoints are for?

Xenogears
2009-09-13, 01:11 AM
I'd definately hafta say yes to this one. I mean either the DR is because you are so tough hits bounce off of you or some such (Think Collossus from X-Men. Does'nt his armored skin protect against falls too?) or it is that your wounds heal magically after a fall. So even though that succubus' leg shattered upon impact it just reknit itself instantly.

Fizban
2009-09-13, 02:15 AM
So he was being hammer smite'd by the episode 27 Gurren Lagann?

1: the proper name is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

2: it wasn't the size of the ground, it was several times the size of the universe.

3: there is no hammer, only drills.

Keewatin
2009-09-13, 04:22 PM
I once had a level 11 fighter/barbarian fall off a 200 foot cliff and walk away with more then half his hit points :smallbiggrin:

LibraryOgre
2009-09-14, 01:14 PM
In case you're wondering, what brought this one was my playing DDO and realizing I was taking more damage from falling than I was from monsters.

Kalirren
2009-09-14, 05:06 PM
Re: Curmudgeon:

But DR reduces damage from -attacks-. I admit that's not explicitly stated, but the way it's phrased,


A creature with [damage reduction] ignores damage from most weapons and natural attacks.

Falling isn't an attack, so DR doesn't matter. DR doesn't work like energy resistance, which is phrased thus:


A creature with resistance to energy has the ability (usually extraordinary) to ignore some damage of a certain type each round.

Curmudgeon
2009-09-14, 05:14 PM
Re: Curmedgeon:

But DR reduces damage from -attacks-. I admit that's not explicitly stated, but the way it's phrased,

Falling isn't an attack, so DR doesn't matter. DR doesn't work like energy resistance.
I didn't address this point. I just found a source which answered the title question: falling causes bludgeoning damage.

And that's Curmudgeon, with another "u", please. :smallsmile:

Weasel of Doom
2009-09-14, 05:31 PM
RAW it probably shouldn't but I'd say it does because it seems to make sense and I want to ecourage my pcs to make cool leaps of cliffs and stuff

Kalirren
2009-09-15, 07:58 AM
Yeah, well, it may have been the thread title question, but -this- was the OP:


If I have a DR of 3 against blunt attacks, would that apply against falling damage?

I think we're agreed that the answer is no? :smallsmile: