Falling Damage
When a Character falls (or is thrown by a large creature) they will take damage proportional to the speed of impact. This is detailed on the following table:
| Falling & Speed Damage Table | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | Speed | Damage | Distance | Speed | Damage | |
| 5 - 10 | 2 - 4 | 1d6 | 555 - 660 | 32 - 34 | 11d6 | |
| 15 - 30 | 5 - 7 | 2d6 | 665 - 780 | 35 - 37 | 12d6 | |
| 35 - 60 | 8 - 10 | 3d6 | 785 - 910 | 38 - 40 | 13d6 | |
| 65 - 100 | 11 - 13 | 4d6 | 915 - 1050 | 41 - 43 | 14d6 | |
| 105 - 150 | 14 - 16 | 5d6 | 1055 - 1200 | 44 - 46 | 15d6 | |
| 155 - 210 | 17 - 19 | 6d6 | 1205 - 1360 | 47 - 49 | 16d6 | |
| 215 - 280 | 20 - 22 | 7d6 | 1365 - 1530 | 50 - 52 | 17d6 | |
| 285 - 360 | 23 - 25 | 8d6 | 1535 - 1710 | 53 - 55 | 18d6 | |
| 365 - 450 | 26 - 28 | 9d6 | 1715 - 1900 | 56 - 58 | 19d6 | |
| 455 - 550 | 29 - 31 | 10d6 | 1905 - 2100 | 59 - 61 | 20d6 | |
| All distances in feet, all speeds in terms of PMR | ||||||
The damage due to falling assumes a landing on soil or grassy ground. For other surfaces, modify the damage done by the following factors:
| Surface Modifier | |
|---|---|
| Fluid (churned water, thick snow) | x0.5 |
| Soft (still water, sand, loose earth) | x0.75 |
| Resistant (normal ground) | x1.0 |
| Tough (rocky ground) | x1.5 |
| Hard (stone, metal) | x2 |
EXAMPLE - Argus the thief slips on a waxy spot on a rooftop and falls off. The building is 20' high, and he falls onto hard cobblestone. 20' will produce 2d6 damage. He rolls a 3 and a 5, for 8. Cobblestones are a hard surface (x2), so the damage done (before armor) is 16.
A character with Acrobatics or climbing may use their skill to reduce the amount of damage taken. Using Acrobatics to break their fall, the damage taken may be reduced by the EL. Characters with climbing may reduce the falling distance by EL/3. In any case, the minimum damage done (before armor) is 1 per die rolled.
EXAMPLE - Fortunately, Argus is skilled in acrobatic tasks, and his EL10 in Acrobatics reduces the damage done to 6. Even if he had EL16, he could not reduce the damage below 2.
For damage due to speed, determine the Phase Movement rate (Turn movement DIVIDED by 4) and use the SPEED column to determine damage.
EXAMPLE - Gioni is riding his horse at full speed in an attempt to escape a pursuing bandit. His horse stumbles, and failing his Horsemanship roll, he is thrown. At the horses speed of 32, he has a resulting PMR of 8. This translates into 3d6 damage as Gioni slams into the ground and tumbles end over end.
If both speed AND distance apply, add the damage dice for speed and distance together.
EXAMPLE - Vlad has been picked up by a giant and thrown. Combining the giant's height and reach, his falling distance is 27'. The force of the giant's throw sends him flying at a rate of 80' a turn (PMR 2). Since a PMR 2 is on the low end of the speed, we assume a "distance" add of 5'. This makes the total effective distance 33', for a damage roll of of 3d6.
When rolling damage, any 6's rolled will do that damage, plus requires the roll of another die. Continue to roll damage until no 6's are rolled. If the surface has a slight chance of impaling the character (i.e. ground covered with sharp rocks and sticks) the dice should be added on rolls of 5 or 6. Instances where there is almost certain impalement (i.e. pit full of spikes) should force additional rolls on 4, 5 and 6.
EXAMPLE - Vlad lands on hard soil and rolls his damage -- 2, 3 and 6. The 6 adds another die, which is also a 6. The fifth die added is a 4, ending the damage roll. Vlad takes 2+3+6+6+4, or 21 damage (x1, landing on normal ground), which may be reduced by armor.
Any distance above 2100' on the table is considered to be 2100' due to wind-resistance and terminal velocity. Each 1d6 of falling represents 1 second of time -- every additional 200' of height above 2100' will add another second.
EXAMPLE - Thulos was pitched off his flying mount while fighting in the air. He is about 3500' up, which is (3500-2100)/200 (RU), or 7+20 seconds of fall time, or about 9 phases. He has that long to get some sort of flying spell going.