Reducing Falling Damage with Skill [3.5]

[Duke of Urrel]

I have two questions.

1. The SRD is a little confusing about whether you must jump deliberately down from a height in order to make a Tumble check reduce the falling damage that you take when you land.

On the one hand, the discussion of falling (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#falling), which is echoed by the Rules Compendium, seems to indicate that you must jump deliberately down in order to reduce your falling damage with a Jump or Tumble check.


If a character deliberately jumps instead of merely slipping or falling, the damage is the same but the first 1d6 is nonlethal damage. A DC 15 Jump check or DC 15 Tumble check allows the character to avoid any damage from the first 10 feet fallen and converts any damage from the second 10 feet to nonlethal damage.

On the other hand, the discussion of Tumble skill itself (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/tumble.htm) is ambiguous, stating in one place that Tumble checks are "part of movement" and in another place that a Tumble check to reduce falling damage is "an instant reaction."


Action

Not applicable. Tumbling is part of movement, so a Tumble check is part of a move action.

Try Again

Usually no. An audience, once it has judged a tumbler as an uninteresting performer, is not receptive to repeat performances.

You can try to reduce damage from a fall as an instant reaction only once per fall.

What do you think? Can you make a Tumble check to reduce damage from a fall as a reaction – that is, even if you fall accidentally and even if you fall while you are caught flat-footed – or can you make this Tumble check only if you deliberately jumped?

2. I have another related question. If you do jump deliberately down from a height, can you make both a Jump check and a Tumble check to reduce falling damage? The text doesn't mention this possibility but doesn't explicitly preclude it, either.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ive always ruled it that you can always make the tumble check to reduce falling damage (unless you can't tumble at the bottom for some reason) regardless of the nature of the fall. Like tumble says, it's an instant reaction.
I *also* allow Jump to reduce falling damage if you intentionally jump off.

So if it's an intentional jump, you can reduce falling damage with both checks, removing 20 ft (or more, if you do really well on tumble) worth of damage. Note that if you take any fall damage at all, you land prone, so reducing it is important for more reasons than just saving 3 more hp.

I do ignore the nonlethal d6 and such, if only because it's too complex for me to remember when running the game and I don't feel it adds much to the game. :smallsmile:

[SirNibbles]

PHB 84

"Check: You can land softly when you fall"
"Tumble DC 15 | Treat a fall as if it were 10 feet shorter than it really is when determining damage."

There is no mention of intentionally falling being a requirement to gain the benefit of Tumble.

Jump appears to be different.

SRD
"Jumping Down
If you intentionally jump from a height, you take less damage than you would if you just fell. The DC to jump down from a height is 15. You do not have to get a running start to jump down, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.

If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did."

Note that jumping down intentionally automatically converts the first 1d6 damage to nonlethal damage regardless of the result of your jump check.

[MisterKaws]

Specific trumps general, so Tumble when falling is an instant reaction, but a Move Action on any other situation.

[Duke of Urrel]

Thank you for your responses!

Until recently, I assumed that a Tumble check could be used as a reaction to avoid damage from an accidental fall. I like letting mundanes have nice things. But then I looked at the Rules Compendium and couldn't find any evidence that Tumble checks could represent anything but modifications of deliberate moves. So I got worried.

I am happy to see that three of you so far judge that a Tumble check can be used as a reaction to avoid damage from an accidental fall. I think your justification also makes sense, MisterKaws.

I also like the judgement that you can make both a Tumble check and a Jump check to avoid damage when you jump deliberately, so thanks for that, StreamOfTheSky. If a Jump check represents a modification of a deliberate move whereas a Tumble check represents a reaction, there's no reason why you can't make both checks when you jump deliberately down from a height.

[KillianHawkeye]

You can count me as another who agrees with that interpretation.

[HurinTheCursed]

We apply the same rules at my table.

[StreamOfTheSky]

I also like the judgement that you can make both a Tumble check and a Jump check to avoid damage when you jump deliberately, so thanks for that, StreamOfTheSky. If a Jump check represents a modification of a deliberate move whereas a Tumble check represents a reaction, there's no reason why you can't make both checks when you jump deliberately down from a height.

I mean...look at pretty much any parkour video where they're dropping down from a height. They always both jump off and do a rolling landing, obviously doing both makes a difference compared to not doing one or the other.