Funny misinterpretation of the rules (any)

[Fhaolan]

Last night (*late* last night, so we were all a bit punchy) one of my gaming groups leveled their characters. One of them was a Monk, and got the 'slow fall' class feature. The players aren't very game-savy, so a lot of this stuff is new to them. This specific player read the feature, and got this confused look on her face. One of the other players asked what was wrong, and she said:

"As long as I'm near a wall, any fall is treated as if it is 20 feet less than it is, right?"

"Somthing like that, yes."

"So if I jump down five feet next to a wall... I'm treated as if I jumped *up* fifteen feet?"

Sudden visions of monks bouncing all over the cityscape like they're on pogo-sticks flashes through my head. "No, *treated* as if the fall is 20 feet less. So you just take less damage."

Here's where the math major got involved.

"Since damage is taken from falling a distance, doesn't that mean you heal damage if you fall a negative distance?"

"That would be like the drowning rule healing a dying man. We'd have monks jumping up and down next to short walls in order to heal themselves..."

"Huh. Tumble has similar text. Treated as if 10 feet less. Everyone could do this, but monks would do it better."

"Hey, the forums are always talking about how monks are sub-par. This could be considered a *feature*!"

So I promised I would post this, for the amusement of all.

[SurlySeraph]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with allowing Monks to jump negative distances to heal themselves. They need all the help they can get, it fits in with their mystical ki weirdness fluff, and attempting to generate a suitable mental image is entertaining as hell.

[Tengu_temp]

Yeah, that's fitting for a monk. Very Zen.

[Keshay]

You know, this could be used to explain the seemingly effortless climbing/ floating/ running over improbable surfaces we see in Wuxia films. The monk can treat a fall of zero as "fall" up 20 feet (or the equivalent horizontally) so long as it does not exceed thier normal movement..

I like it. So much so I'll probably suggest it to our DM.

[Claudius Maximus]

So what happens at level 20? Do they blast into space whenever they trip?

[Kylarra]

So what happens at level 20? Do they blast into space whenever they trip?

that would explain the lack of 20th level monks...

[Zaydos]

Don't they need to be next to a wall? Wouldn't they stop when they outpaced it?

[Sinfire Titan]

So what happens at level 20? Do they blast into space whenever they trip?

...Winsauce. You get 1 cookie.

[Draz74]

So what happens at level 20? Do they blast into space whenever they trip?

And/or heal infinity damage in the process?

[drengnikrafe]

Arguement A) Common sense.
Arguement B) Where in the rules does it say that damage that is negative is actually healing? Most things just strike a minimum of 1. The only exceptions I can think of involve positive energy and negative beings.

Other than that, it's hilarious.

[JeenLeen]

For a minute we misread Abjurant Champion's last ability as giving you a BAB equal to your caster level.

We then misread it as giving you caster level -- with spells/day -- equal to your BAB.

We then read it correctly. The rapid changes in attitude towards the spell caused some humorous reactions.

[RS14]

You know, this could be used to explain the seemingly effortless climbing/ floating/ running over improbable surfaces we see in Wuxia films. The monk can treat a fall of zero as "fall" up 20 feet (or the equivalent horizontally) so long as it does not exceed thier normal movement..

I like it. So much so I'll probably suggest it to our DM.

I like it too. Unfortunately, it's not right. A monk falling n feet still falls n feet. But they are damaged as if they fell
n-20 ft
So a monk jumping down a 5ft wall still falls down 5ft, but is damaged as if he fell -15 ft. A fall of 0ft still doesn't move the monk; he just is damaged as if he fell -20 ft.

[FishAreWet]

{Scrubbed}

[Quellian-dyrae]

My friend once misinterpreted the feinting abilities of the invisible blade as, well, fainting (I guess assuming they let you play dead and then get sneak attack or something).

"I can fall unconscious as a free action!" has since become one of our inside jokes.

[Glimbur]

So, two PC's were duelling at the climax of a Wuthering Heights game. One of them, the nephew of the deceased who came in to town to inherit, wanted a Catholic funeral for his dead uncle. The other, a townsperson, wanted an Anglican funeral for the departed. They could not settle it peaceably so they came to blows.

In their duel, they each rolled over their Rage. In the rules, it states that this means the fight ends and "they become friends, or something like that". I decreed that this inspired the town to hold two simultaneous funerals, one Catholic and one Anglican.

I'm not sure I read the rules wrong there, though.