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  #16  
Old Mar 17th, 2015, 02:42 PM
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I'd just like to add something if I may.

I agree with the consensus that you can decide depending on your game but I have found a few occasions where knowing the gravity helped. This was in DnD 4e when a villain was falling off a cliff and had a teleport move but I needed to know if they had fallen too far to recover. Because each square is 5 feet wide and each turn lasts 6 seconds (according to our rules at least, it can vary) we used s=ut+(1/2)at^2 to calculate the distance, assuming an initial velocity of 0m/s and earth like gravity of 9.8m/s, converting to feet and then squares.

It turned out you fall 117 squares per turn due to gravity (the villain did not make it).

If you care about stuff like this you may want to come up with a value for g.

Or not. Again, up to you.

Last edited by summerdruid; Mar 17th, 2015 at 02:42 PM.
  #17  
Old Mar 17th, 2015, 04:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by summerdruid View Post
I agree with the consensus that you can decide depending on your game but I have found a few occasions where knowing the gravity helped. This was in DnD 4e when a villain was falling off a cliff and had a teleport move but I needed to know if they had fallen too far to recover. Because each square is 5 feet wide and each turn lasts 6 seconds (according to our rules at least, it can vary) we used s=ut+(1/2)at^2 to calculate the distance, assuming an initial velocity of 0m/s and earth like gravity of 9.8m/s, converting to feet and then squares.

It turned out you fall 117 squares per turn due to gravity (the villain did not make it).

If you care about stuff like this you may want to come up with a value for g.

Or not. Again, up to you.
Rules are always an approximation. Gravity and falling speed are approximated only loosely in most d20 systems. The distance one falls in one round from a standstill is a lot larger than people realize. But while your approach is a good start, it's not the complete picture.

For instance, a full attack probably doesn't take a full 6 seconds to complete - it's probably two or three seconds of offense in the span of that time, exploiting a minor opening in the target's defensive stance. Similarly, a standard action spell probably takes much less than six seconds to cast - two or three seconds is a decent approximation. Also, as per D&D rules, creatures in combat fall at the beginning of their own turn. The only thing that you can do that takes all six seconds is a full round action, which lasts until your next turn. I expect that a falling wizard could cast his teleport spell well before he fell 117 five-foot squares, but that's still not going to save him.

Why not? Momentum. Teleport doesn't seem to bring all movement of the subject to a halt. He'd still be moving down at high velocity when he teleported to "safety". The only way I'd allow any PC or NPC to survive a fall by teleportation is to teleport Not above. That'd be just as lethal as the ground.into a body of water, and even then they'd take some degree of subdual damage from the rapid and painful deceleration. Probably enough that they pass out and drown.

Moral of the story: Always prepare Feather Fall.
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  #18  
Old Mar 17th, 2015, 05:20 PM
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That's all true. It's up to the players' and DM's imagination to fill out the whole time for each round of combat.

Whether or not you can act before the turn is up is changeable too. Perhaps the falling creature could make some kind of check to see if they can react in time (based on initiative maybe).

But Feather Fall does solve all these problems. That much is certain.
  #19  
Old Mar 21st, 2015, 04:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by summerdruid View Post
I'd just like to add something if I may.

I agree with the consensus that you can decide depending on your game but I have found a few occasions where knowing the gravity helped. This was in DnD 4e when a villain was falling off a cliff and had a teleport move but I needed to know if they had fallen too far to recover. Because each square is 5 feet wide and each turn lasts 6 seconds (according to our rules at least, it can vary) we used s=ut+(1/2)at^2 to calculate the distance, assuming an initial velocity of 0m/s and earth like gravity of 9.8m/s, converting to feet and then squares.

It turned out you fall 117 squares per turn due to gravity (the villain did not make it).

If you care about stuff like this you may want to come up with a value for g.

Or not. Again, up to you.
The second I saw the thread I knew this would be your post.

Couldn't resist another chance to bring up your finest DMing moment eh?
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