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Mulletmanalive
2010-01-17, 09:45 AM
A simple question for homebrewing GMs: How would you adjudicate a character being dragged behind a wagon or a horse?

My initial thought is that they would suffer damage as if they had fallen a similar distance, but this seems extreme for a mere horse pull [20d6 damage available to 1st level characters with a lasso seems silly].

1d6 per 20ft? 1d10 + 1 per 10ft?

My main thought is sourced from the idea of summoning a CorruptedBoVD PsuedonaturalCA Destrican carrying a CorruptedBoVD PsuedonaturalCA Advanced Choker on its back as a type of villain monster in a coming game...

Admiral Squish
2010-01-17, 09:57 AM
A simple question for homebrewing GMs: How would you adjudicate a character being dragged behind a wagon or a horse?

My initial thought is that they would suffer damage as if they had fallen a similar distance, but this seems extreme for a mere horse pull [20d6 damage available to 1st level characters with a lasso seems silly].

1d6 per 20ft? 1d10 + 1 per 10ft?

My main thought is sourced from the idea of summoning a CorruptedBoVD PsuedonaturalCA Destrican carrying a CorruptedBoVD PsuedonaturalCA Advanced Choker on its back as a type of villain monster in a coming game...

Personally? I'd call it as 1d6/ten or twenty feet. Maybe require a strength/grapple check every unit of damage to keep dragging them? I'd probably say no double-move or run actions while dragging, too.

Honestly, though, this would probably fit better in roleplaying games.

Debihuman
2010-01-17, 10:59 AM
Actually being dragged behind a horse would cause damage. I rather like the rules from Sidewinder Recoiled by Dog House Rules (and yes, this is open game content)



Being Dragged Behind a Mount: As with the classic staple of lynch mobs throughout time, when a character is attached to a mount by a rope or chain and is dragged along the ground, he or she takes damage each round according to the mount’s speed and the terrain. A mount that takes a single move, a double move, or a run inflicts 1d6, 2d6, or 3d6 respectively. If the ground is relatively smooth and slippery (a dusty road for example), the damage is halved. If the ground is rocky, sharp, rough, or heavy with brush the damage is doubled. Each round a character is allowed to make a DC 15 Reflex save. If the save succeeds, only one-half damage is taken.

This is where having the Escape Artist skill would come in handy to untie the rope and prevent further damage.

Debby

Mulletmanalive
2010-01-17, 11:49 AM
Thanks Debi. Simple answer and not too extreme.

I hereby declare my question answered to my satisfaction.

Lord_Gareth
2010-01-17, 11:50 AM
Not quite to mine - is the damage bashing, slashing, or piercing?

Zeta Kai
2010-01-17, 11:51 AM
It depends upon the speed of the mount, really. For instance, here's a possible model, based on per/round movement & damage:

{table=head]Mount’s Movement|30’/[br]Round|40’/[br]Round|50’/[br]Round|60’/[br]Round|70’/[br]Round|80’/[br]Round|90’/[br]Round|100’/[br]Round|120’/[br]Round|140’/[br]Round
Walk (Single Move)|1*|1d2*|1d2|1d4|1d6|2d4|2d6|2d8|3d6|4d6
Hustle (Double Move)|1d2*|1d4*|1d4|1d6|2d4|2d6|2d8|3d6|4d6|6d6
Run (×3)|1d4*|1d6*|1d6|2d4|2d6|2d8|3d6|4d6|6d6|8d6
Run (×4)|1d6*|2d4*|2d4|2d6|2d8|3d6|4d6|6d6|8d6|10d6[/table]
* = Non-Lethal Damage

Now, this model (which I just made up) assumes that you're on gravelly terrain, like a scrub plain or the packed earth of an arena. A softer terrain, like grass or sand, would deal damage as if your mount were 1-2 categories slower. A harsher terrain, like bare rocks or broken glass, would deal damage as if your mount were 1-2 categories faster.

So, from this model, you can see that being dragged by a mount is not like falling into lava. It's not an instant death sentence, but it will hurt, it may knock you out, & it will eventually kill you, but it's a slow death. The danger is not the damage/round, it's that you can't really do anything about it. You need an ally to catch the mount & stop it before it kills you. And the faster the mount, the harder it is to catch, & the more damage it does per round. Some of the faster mounts could kill even high-level characters.

For the record, the damage is bludgeoning, & damage reduction/hardness applies. Also, any armor or natural armor should count towards damage reduction.

Debihuman
2010-01-17, 12:39 PM
Thanks for the chart Zeta Kai. I was quoting from the book. Unfortunately, it didn't actually mention the type of damage, but bludgeoning makes the most sense.

Debby

Mulletmanalive
2010-01-17, 12:59 PM
I class Falling/crushing seperately because of the way it interacts with armour when it grants DR...

Eldan
2010-01-17, 01:13 PM
Well, 1d6 already means that two times that distance kills the average level 1 commoner... 4d6 kills probably the average citizen most of the time.

Harperfan7
2010-01-17, 01:13 PM
Whoa fellas, being dragged by a horse is not like being stabbed with a sword every round, your damage for this is way too lethal.

Make it 1d2, 2d2, 3d2 subdual damage for smooth ground & make that lethal for rough rocky ground.

Admiral Squish
2010-01-17, 02:11 PM
I class Falling/crushing seperately because of the way it interacts with armour when it grants DR...

I just had an image of a guy in full plate just skidding along the road behind a horse. Typing this, I had another image of a man in full plate 'water skiiing' behind a horse on a gravel road.

lightningcat
2010-01-17, 02:29 PM
I would go with bludgeoning/slashing for the damage type of gravelly or rougher terrain, and bludgeoning for smoother ground.

Demented
2010-01-17, 02:29 PM
Typing this, I had another image of a man in full plate 'water skiiing' behind a horse on a gravel road.

In theory, you could do it standing on a heavy blanket, if the bumps aren't too large.

That reminds me...

A whip deals nonlethal damage. It deals no damage to any creature with an armor bonus of +1 or higher or a natural armor bonus of +3 or higher.
Seems relevant.

imp_fireball
2010-01-18, 11:47 PM
Treat it like being grappled... except the person performing the grapple on the victim cannot be damaged (since the victim is being dragged by a rope). Opposed grapple checks can be made by the victim to move the guy with the rope (or horse, whoever), or to escape (and as usual rules, escape artist check, etc.). Conditional penalty modifier if victim is taking damage while being dragged.

Depending on how the victim is bound, they can make a balance check to stand up and skid on their feet (or run with the person dragging them, up to and including punching them in the face). If the victim is running with the person with the rope, the dragger can make a check to trip the victim as per the rules for tripping with a weapon (wherein he can drop the rope upon a failed check), but as a swift action (since all it takes is a yank of the rope, not an actual precision strike at the legs).

Being dragged depends on speed. Because merely sliding on rough ground doesn't hurt or kill unless it's been done for hours. Unless you have very soft sensitive skin. :smallyuk:

For slow dragging, treat it as nonlethal damage (fort save every hour or non lethal damage). Once victim passes out, they begin suffering lethal damage each hour. If the dragger is somehow able to move at full speed over very rugged terrain, then the victim suffers damage as if the dragger was moving faster (since sharp rocks and things hurt).

For base movement < 50ft., victim does not immediately suffer lethal damage.

For base movement greater than or equal to 50ft. done when running full out (200ft./round), victim suffers 1d6 bludgeoning (and slashing, depending on terrain) damage per 50ft.

For every 200ft. greater than 200ft./round movement, victim suffers an additional 1d6 damage.

Thus, a horse running full out for two rounds deals an average of 24 damage - enough to incapacitate a first level barbarian. Realistic at all?

Compare this to falling damage, where tripping over a ledge and landing 10ft. down (unprepared, no landing on your feet which = DC 15 jump check) could break your leg or cause a serious sprain in real life.

Whereas dragging results in terrible scrapes and bruises. None of which is lethal or immediately painful but could be eventually. 200ft./round movement quickly kills because of its tendency to turn you into a red smear on pavement.

About Zeta-kai's table - I think all of that damage should be non-lethal unless you're being dragged over rough terrain (in which case a bit of lethal slashing damage applies... it's not like sharp rocks are hitting you everywhere, just some places). Non-lethal becomes lethal once you pass out.

Zeta Kai
2010-01-19, 12:14 AM
About Zeta-kai's table...
...Non-lethal becomes lethal once you pass out.

That's not a bad idea. It's kinda like the Old World of Darkness system, where bashing damage would knock you out, but further bashing damage while you were unconscious would count as lethal damage.