Falling

[Jesterface]

Last night, in running my game, I found the players attempting to use the environment to their advantage. Flying on an airship, they're beset by two Arrowhawks. One player uses Colour Spray and manages to stun one of them, causing it to plummet towards the ground. No problem. But then I think 'wait, how fast is it falling? will it hit the ground before the next round, when the stunning effect ends and it can begin flaying back up to the PCs?', and in scouring the DMG on falling rules, I couldn't spot anything saying how fast an object falls, or am I being dense and looking in the wrong place.

Could someone clear this one up for me?

[Keneth]

According to the rules (and general physics), a creature falls roughly 500 feet in the first round and 1000 feet in subsequent rounds. Not entirely accurate but close enough to use as a rule of thumb. A diving creature should probably increase the speed to 1500 feet in subsequent rounds, however.

[Jesterface]

Ah, wicked, cheers for clearing that up for us. I'll note that for future reference!