Crowheart
2008-03-26, 09:12 AM
I have always felt that the current falling rules in D&D are too lenient. I understand that the idea behind the rules is to be fast and easy and not to distract from the game, but still, the rules have never sat well with me. So I decided to try and come up with my own alternate rules for falling to make it a little more scary a prospect. Please understand that I still want to keep falling somewhat of an abstract and do not want to delve too far into the realm of realism. I've seen plenty of threads discussing how falling should work physically and am not interested in being that precise. I only wish to make falling more dangerous, not real. So here it is:
First off, the damage from a fall is still 1d6 per 10 ft. fallen. Now with the changes/additions:
One: The damage cap for falling is increased to 50d6. I figure that after 500 ft. one has probably reached terminal velocity, and even if they haven't, I didn't want to stray too far away from the abstract.The reason I changed the damage cap is because I have always been dissatisfied with the 20d6 cap. It seems so small when compared to the kind of HP higher level characters will possess. The current system caps out a maximum of 120 damage. Now, while that certainly is nothing to scoff at, it really isn't very scary after, say, Level 10. While even very high level characters will eventually be able to shrug off this damage, it is likely still high enough to provoke concern.
Two: Institute death by massive damage ruling. I'm not sure if death by massive damage applies to falling or not per actual rules, I decided to enforce it here as follows:
If character takes 50 points of damage or more, they must make a Fort Save DC 15 + 1 for every additional 10 damage taken or die from system shock of the fall. I figure that with the risk of real death, falling becomes a lot more scarier.
I do recognize that this scaling of the Fort save may be a bit too much, especially if I'm also allowing a higher damage cap from falling, and am thus open to the possibly of being more lenient here. Perhaps DC 10 + 1 for every additional 10 damage? Or perhaps DC 15 + 1 for every 20 damage? Or even increase the threshold from 50 to, say, 60? 70?
Three: Falling from great heights is traumatizing to the body, no matter who you are, and so I added the following to simulate the shock:
If a character falls 200 ft. or more, they must make a Fort save DC 20 + 1 per every additional 10 feet fallen (DC 21 at 210 ft, DC 22 at 220 ft. etc).
On failure, character is nauseated for a number of rounds equal to the DC minus 19 (1 round at DC 20, 2 rounds at DC 21, etc) and then sickened for twice that length.
On success, character is only sickened for a number rounds equal to the Fort DC minus 19 (like above).
Why nausea and sicken? I believe that these conditions can adequately simulate the shock one's body takes from falling so far without delving too deep into realism. I wanted to remain somewhat abstract concerning falling and I feel these conditions do a decent job of representing that without going into things like ability damage (something I was trying to avoid). After all, if you really fell from such a distance, chances are you would be in shock for a lot longer than just a minute or two, so I'm still being somewhat lenient here.
---
So there it is, part and parcel. Tell me what you think of it or tell me to go home, I'll appreciate either. :)
First off, the damage from a fall is still 1d6 per 10 ft. fallen. Now with the changes/additions:
One: The damage cap for falling is increased to 50d6. I figure that after 500 ft. one has probably reached terminal velocity, and even if they haven't, I didn't want to stray too far away from the abstract.The reason I changed the damage cap is because I have always been dissatisfied with the 20d6 cap. It seems so small when compared to the kind of HP higher level characters will possess. The current system caps out a maximum of 120 damage. Now, while that certainly is nothing to scoff at, it really isn't very scary after, say, Level 10. While even very high level characters will eventually be able to shrug off this damage, it is likely still high enough to provoke concern.
Two: Institute death by massive damage ruling. I'm not sure if death by massive damage applies to falling or not per actual rules, I decided to enforce it here as follows:
If character takes 50 points of damage or more, they must make a Fort Save DC 15 + 1 for every additional 10 damage taken or die from system shock of the fall. I figure that with the risk of real death, falling becomes a lot more scarier.
I do recognize that this scaling of the Fort save may be a bit too much, especially if I'm also allowing a higher damage cap from falling, and am thus open to the possibly of being more lenient here. Perhaps DC 10 + 1 for every additional 10 damage? Or perhaps DC 15 + 1 for every 20 damage? Or even increase the threshold from 50 to, say, 60? 70?
Three: Falling from great heights is traumatizing to the body, no matter who you are, and so I added the following to simulate the shock:
If a character falls 200 ft. or more, they must make a Fort save DC 20 + 1 per every additional 10 feet fallen (DC 21 at 210 ft, DC 22 at 220 ft. etc).
On failure, character is nauseated for a number of rounds equal to the DC minus 19 (1 round at DC 20, 2 rounds at DC 21, etc) and then sickened for twice that length.
On success, character is only sickened for a number rounds equal to the Fort DC minus 19 (like above).
Why nausea and sicken? I believe that these conditions can adequately simulate the shock one's body takes from falling so far without delving too deep into realism. I wanted to remain somewhat abstract concerning falling and I feel these conditions do a decent job of representing that without going into things like ability damage (something I was trying to avoid). After all, if you really fell from such a distance, chances are you would be in shock for a lot longer than just a minute or two, so I'm still being somewhat lenient here.
---
So there it is, part and parcel. Tell me what you think of it or tell me to go home, I'll appreciate either. :)