Hero's Epic Fall Damage (5e Variant Rule)
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Hero's Epic Fall Damage
Earlier attempts to fix fall damage failed to render anything remotely close to real world falling. No worries. Hero‘s Epic Fall Damage renders accurate fall time, maximum velocity, force at impact, and terrain resistance. Fall saves are logical and realistic. Gravity based traps and who knows what else can be created ad hoc. Any fall scenario you can come up with is supported. By a simple cube root formula you will able to reproduce the full range of real world fall outcomes.
It actually simplifies your search and ensures accurate results. You can’t even find solutions like these in a physics forum or using air resistance calculators. They don’t have these answers. This has more versatility than you can shake a stick at. There simply is no better way to go, without massively sacrificing consistent real outcomes for no good reason. Never go back to making all falls from any height, onto any terrain, and for any size object or creature all cause 70 damage. Learn it, love it. You will forget all about anything that came before.
Finding a Fall Difficulty Class (DC)
There are several factors to consider related to falling, each of which alter the effect of impact.
- Elevation gives space for acceleration; thereby, increasing the speed at impact.
- Mass gives equal acceleration to all falling objects; however, being heavier generates greater impact shock and higher terminal velocity.
- Body position also affects the speed, location, and angle of an impact; it can also lengthen the deceleration window and shield your vital organs.
- Location means a slope and surface strength that reduce or increase the forces felt at impact.
- Health is the final ingredient, which among other things may increase the risk of injury.
- Combined, these equally important factors add a healthy dose of excitement to fall damage and replace the linear fall damage formula with:
- Fall DC = Fall Height^1/3 × Weight^1/3
Choosing a Terrain Die
Selected for a range of likely hazards specific to each area.
Terrain Materials:
(d1)Waterfall: wax, snow, rubber, perlite
(d2)Moorland: sand, gravel, gypsum, balsa
(d3)Tundra: clay, dolomite, ice, cedar
(d4)Forest: travertine, cypress, hickory, elm
(d6)Urbana: sandstone, ironwood, soil-cement
(d8)Cavern: rhyolite, shale, limestone
(d12)Labyrinth: granite, slate, marble, basalt
(d20)Treasury: sapphire, gold, porcelain, coral
Rolling a Fall Save
Preparation is rewarded with advantage.
Encountering interference during a fall triggers a new roll, with disadvantage.
- Acrobatics/Athletics
Reduce the Fall DC by an amount equal to your roll.
- Survival/Investigation
Reduce the Terrain die once every 10 points of your roll.
Time is needed after investigating to adjust the impact site, while an Athletics check can not be made prior to impact.
One skill may replace another during a multi-round fall but they do not stack. Your chosen skill represents your focus, but not the totality of your effort.
Generating Fall Damage
Roll the Terrain Die a number of times equal to the remaining Fall DC.
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