Falling down stairs

[ewoods]

We've had a couple of interesting situations come up recently. Our group is facing large swarms of enemies that cause paralysis, and retreating from them often involve moving up and down sets of stairs.

First scenario: Suppose one of your allies gets paralyzed while on the stairs. You're on the stairs above him and the party is moving down the stairs, running from a group of enemies. Can you push your paralyzed ally down the stairs? (Obviously they would take damage for this, but assume such damage would be less than being swarmed.) Would that be a free action, or would it be treated as a bull rush? Would they fall all the way down to the bottom of the stairs? Could you continue to run down the stairs after pushing them?

Second scenario: Similar to the first. One of your allies gets paralyzed while on the stairs, but this time, you're below them on the stairs in an adjacent square. Could you grab them and pull them down the stairs? What kind of action would it be? Would they fall all the way? Could you continue running down? Is there a risk of your own ally tripping you while falling behind you?

[Albions_Angel]

While a bull rush is closest to what actually happens, I wouldnt make the check. Frankly, they cant oppose you, none of your party will take an AoO against you, and you dont want to move them more than 5'.

I would say for scenario 1, you can push as part of a move, but must succeed on a balance check (I would say DC10, its harder than walking on ice) or else fall yourself.

For scenario 2, its a standard action and you would typically be braced so no balance check, but then you only have a move action left.