Falling distance

[Waldmarschallin]

I've been through the DM guide and I can't find any place where it describes the distance fallen each round. Once you're pushed off the cliff, how far do you fall? I know max falling damage is 20d6 which suggests that velocity terminates somewhere around 200 feet per round, but it has to take some time to accelerate this high, doesn't it?

[Duke of Urrel]

I use numbers from the Tactical Aerial Movement (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/movement.htm#tacticalAerialMovement) section of the SRD. They appear in the following passage.


Minimum Forward Speed

If a flying creature fails to maintain its minimum forward speed, it must land at the end of its movement. If it is too high above the ground to land, it falls straight down, descending 150 feet in the first round of falling. If this distance brings it to the ground, it takes falling damage. If the fall doesn’t bring the creature to the ground, it must spend its next turn recovering from the stall. It must succeed on a DC 20 Reflex save to recover. Otherwise it falls another 300 feet. If it hits the ground, it takes falling damage. Otherwise, it has another chance to recover on its next turn.

I consider 300 feet to be a falling creature's terminal velocity in ordinary air. The same numbers also appear in my Manual of the Planes v. 3.0, in a description of subjective directional gravity on the Elemental Plane of Air.

[Curmudgeon]

That's only the falling distance if you've got wings (and therefore wing drag). If you're an ordinary non-winged creature you fall about 500' in the first round, reaching terminal velocity near the end of that round. You fall about 1200' each round thereafter. See the FAQ, where this is all calculated.