[3.PF] Is there a way to do more damage while falling?

[N. Jolly]

Hey, I was planning a character who jumps right into the middle of things, a Warblade who doesn't mind hurting himself. And so something I wanted to work on was a way to possibly fall from great heights onto opponents to add additional damage to my blows. If there would be a way to mitigate falling damage for myself, that'd be great too, but I'd mostly like to be adding damage for falling from great heights onto opponents.

[Jormengand]

Drop tons of pebbles on them as free actions while you're doing this. Each pebble has no weight, cost, or volume and is generally considered to have a D2 or D3 damage die. Of course, it's an improvised weapon, has a low range increment and so on, but it doesn't really matter if you're dropping infinite numbers of them. You can draw them as a free action (because they're throwing weapons, hence the ability to make a FRAA with throwing weapons) and drop them as a free action. Thus, infinite damage before you even land.

If you want to be less silly, just chuck some alchemist's fire down before impact.

[Keneth]

Free action doesn't actually mean you have an infinite amount of them. Never mind explaining how you have an infinite amount of pebbles on your person, the RAW specifically states that the number of free actions is limited by reason.

Years ago, I saw a 3.5 build that relied on falling damage. It didn't actually add any damage to attacks, it was literally a build that dealt falling damage by jumping (or rather teleporting) into the air and falling onto opponents. It was more of a joke build and relied on stretching the rules a bit to allow for creatures dealing damage in a similar fashion as falling objects, but it seemed fun. Sadly, I believe it was on the WotC forums, so it's unlikely it can still be found there.

[BWR]

Step 1. get people with some basic knowledge of mechanics
Step 2. convince your DM that some house rules need to be implemented wrt terminal velocity.
Step 3. Remind the DM of Newton's 3rd law.
Step 4. maximize your height advantage.
Step 5. profit!

We convinced our DM that falling damage should cap out around 50d6 (can't remember the exact number since it was others who did the actual math and I'm too lazy to redo the calcs now). So far it's been purely academic, but I foresee much pain at some point in the future.

[Allanimal]

as was mentioned in the dysfunctional rules thread, only falling objects do damage, not falling creatures. So by RAW, there is no mechanism to hurt someone by falling on them...

[BWR]

Which is why you bring up Newton's 3rd law and convince your DM that physics is awesome.

[Mutazoia]

Hey, I was planning a character who jumps right into the middle of things, a Warblade who doesn't mind hurting himself. And so something I wanted to work on was a way to possibly fall from great heights onto opponents to add additional damage to my blows. If there would be a way to mitigate falling damage for myself, that'd be great too, but I'd mostly like to be adding damage for falling from great heights onto opponents.

cast a bunch of delayed blast fireballs timed to go off at the same time you hit your target (centered on you)....

[Cirrylius]

Wasn't there a discussion on-forum about how to build a FF-type Dragoon just last month? Not exactly falling, but pretty close.

[N. Jolly]

Wasn't there a discussion on-forum about how to build a FF-type Dragoon just last month? Not exactly falling, but pretty close.

Honestly, this was kind of the inspiration, although I didn't see the thread. If you know it, could you link it to me?

I was mainly wondering if there was a mechanical way to do this, because the GM I'm playing with would probably let me get away with "6d6+ damage for you and him, but no acro check to see if you reduce the damage" for this.

[ArcanistSupreme]

Piercer cloak (MIC 118) adds 1d6 if attacking from higher ground and 2d6 if charging from at least 10 ft above.

[Cirrylius]

Honestly, this was kind of the inspiration, although I didn't see the thread. If you know it, could you link it to me?
Google can't seem to find it; probably it's confused by the difference between "dragoon" and "dragon", and I can't -dragon or nothing d&d shows up at all.:smallannoyed:

Best I could do (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224430).

[Averis Vol]

Why not use battle jump and dungeoncrasher. Battle jump says if you fall on an enemy from atleast 10 ft above them, you can initiate a charge for double damage. Remember, you can bullrush as part of a charge, it's important for step 2.

Step two is dungeoncrasher fighter ACF. Which says if you bullrush an enemy into a wall, you deal something like 4d6+twice your strength score. With a reasonable DM you should be able to use the ground as an impromptu wall. So something like warblade1/fighter2/swordsage1(for shadow jaunt mega awesomeness)/warblade x. If you are human you can take dreadful wrath, so you can send your foes fleeing after you turn their use to be ally into a pink misty crater.

[Slipperychicken]

Every 200lb that falls on your enemy is another 1d6. I'm going to assume the DM isn't a complete tool.


Carry more weight. So you could also figure out a trick involving a sack of rocks inside your Bag of Holding or some shenanigan involving Shrink Item. Or you can grab a Muleback Cords (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/m-p/muleback-cords) and a Heavyload Belt (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/belt-heavyload) to vastly increase carry capacity (and thus your weight while falling).

Get fat. Opt for the maximum starting weight for your species (unless your DM makes you roll), then take the Obese flaw from Dragon Magazine, and the [Vile] Willing Deformity (Obese) feat from BoVD. Both of those multiply your weight, but I don't think they reduce move speed. Willing Deformity (obese) is -2 Dex, +2 Con, but the flaw doesn't have a stat adjustment IIRC. See if severe in-game overeating will increase your weight at all. Being a heavy race doesn't hurt

Get big. Going up a size category multiplies your weight. Enlarge person is a x8 weight, so you could apply that reasoning to other size increases too, I think. A size-increasing template like Half-Minotaur wouldn't go amiss.


When applying multipliers to real-world values (such as weight or distance), normal rules of math apply instead. A creature whose size doubles (thus multiplying its weight by 8) and then is turned to stone (which would multiply its weight by a factor of roughly 3) now weighs about 24 times normal, not 10 times normal. Similarly, a blinded creature attempting to negotiate difficult terrain would count each square as 4 squares (doubling the cost twice, for a total multiplier of ×4), rather than as 3 squares (adding 100% twice).

I don't remember if "D&D multiplication" applies to character weight, but if it doesn't.... then daaaamn, you heavy, son. If you build it right, you can get a serious pile of dice going, even at level 1.

Something like an Evil-aligned Warblade with max ranks in Jump, Sudden Leap maneuver, Leaping Dragon Stance, Obese flaw, the prereq Vile Deformity, and Vile Deformity (Obese). Then carry whatever load will permit you to reliably execute the jump. Pick up the two items I listed above with a good Strength score, and load up on firewood or something junk food so you can crush your enemies under your thousands of pounds of equipment and fat. As a Swift action.

[Squirrel_Dude]

I give you the Roof Jumper Feat (http://dndtools.eu/feats/cityscape--53/roof-jumper--2469/). A fall of 20ft+ counts as a charge attack, and for every 10ft beyond the first 10ft, you add an extra 1d6 to your damage.


Yes, the prerequisites are indeed terrible.

[NeroMcNamara]

I give you the Roof Jumper Feat (http://dndtools.eu/feats/cityscape--53/roof-jumper--2469/). A fall of 20ft+ counts as a charge attack, and for every 10ft beyond the first 10ft, you add an extra 1d6 to your damage.


Yes, the prerequisites are indeed terrible.

I dunno dude, Dodge is pretty awesome and the roof based tactical feat is pretty neat. Mobility isn't exactly useful unless you plan on getting spring attack but ehh. I'd say the pre-reqs are pretty reasonable.

[Squirrel_Dude]

Are we talking 3.5 Dodge or Pathfinder Dodge? I ask because one of them is mediocre and the other one sucks.

[SciChronic]

dodge is known as one of the biggest junk feats in all of D&D.

by normal progression you get 7 feats by level 18. spending 1 of these feats to get 1 AC only while you have your dex modifier, to 1 opponent, is pretty junky

[NeroMcNamara]

The way I build my characters is to buff their AC to hell and back and then worry about dealing damage after. You can call a +1 dodge bonus junky all you want. But on more than 1 occasion that +1 bonus has saved my ass against my DM's uber bosses. Many conversations have ended the same way, he assumed he got my AC on the nose, I asked if he factored in my Dodge bonus, he then he grumbles and puts down his damage dice.

Also one of my favorite PrC (Drunken Master) gives a +2 bonus instead of +1. Still "junky" by your standards I'd assume, but I honestly love that minor bonus.

[N. Jolly]

I give you the Roof Jumper Feat (http://dndtools.eu/feats/cityscape--53/roof-jumper--2469/). A fall of 20ft+ counts as a charge attack, and for every 10ft beyond the first 10ft, you add an extra 1d6 to your damage.


Yes, the prerequisites are indeed terrible.

Okay, this is more what I was looking for. Although talking with my GM, I might be able to use the weight increase stuff might help. I'm pretty sure if I showed him this, he'd just let me do it without the feat, since we were looking for some precedence in the rules for something like this. Now I just need to find a way to get a platform to teleport onto with Shadow Jaunt that I can remove as a free action.

[Slipperychicken]

Okay, this is more what I was looking for. Although talking with my GM, I might be able to use the weight increase stuff might help. I'm pretty sure if I showed him this, he'd just let me do it without the feat, since we were looking for some precedence in the rules for something like this. Now I just need to find a way to get a platform to teleport onto with Shadow Jaunt that I can remove as a free action.

Why not just use the Sudden Leap maneuver to get above your opponent? You're already a Warblade...