Falling off a moving train, impact speed for falling dam?

[MrFix]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Because the ground is an immovable object, and collisions with hard immovable objects like clay and soil count double the HP of the moving object (page B431).



Ah! I got it right. (I missed the desired velocity of 9 in the original post.) You just use the velocity of the moving object.

A 10 HP person landing on soil: [10 HP]× [2 for hard] × [9 velocity] / 100 = 1.8. I think you're supposed to round down this calculation, since it's not a character point cost, so that's 1d of damage.



You only add falling damage if you're bailing out of an aircraft (and even then, you don't add velocities, only damage dice). 4d for only falling off a vehicle moving 18 mph is obviously excessive.

OP said that the top of the train to ground is a 5 yards fall. That damage doesn't just disappear. But you're right, you add falling damage, not velocities together.

10x2x9/100=1.8 round up to 2d (fractions of 0.5 and more round up to next full die as per B430)
10x2x10/100=2d

2d+2d=4d crushing.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by MrFix

OP said that the top of the train to ground is a 5 yards fall.

That's a pretty tall train!

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

That's a pretty tall train!

Only by a bit (typical height is more like 4 yards), and if it's on an elevated foundation it could easily be five yards total.

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

That's a pretty tall train!

OP said that the tracks were on an embankment, which is very common.

In modern times, almost all of North America has a minimum loading gauge of 15 feet tall, and I suspect that that loading gauge is quite old. (Loading Gauge is what dimentions a train car is allowed to be so it can fit--different from track gauge, which is how far apart the rails are.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loadin...#North_America
It might not be as high in China...haven't been able to quickly find out.

Just as much fun for a traintop fight is a tunnel or bridge. Hope there's a tell-tale on an older railway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell-tale_(bridges)
In the USA, there definitely would be--but in Cliffhangers China?

(If the train is going slowly enough, someone could grab the telltale as a way for cliffhanger-style stunts, like a quick getaway.)

Trains have a lot of fun potential, and I'm always happy to share what I either know or can find out.

[Ultraviolet]

Thank you all.

I'll adress some of the issues:
Yes, the train tracks run on an embankment, but the rest is guesswork. If one is to stand up inside a train carriage, that's a 2 yards clearance at least, maybe 2,5 or 3 tops. Then add the height of the wheels and flooring and roof. I have no idea what the diameter of train wheels are, but I see this adding up towards 5 yards easily.

In my mind, falling off a moving train should be more damaging than falling off a stationary train. But I think I'll just deal with the fall as is, and then assess some "tumbling damage" depending on how the characters land. This train is not meant to be going very fast, and it is Cliffhangers, so I'll allow 'rollin' with it'.

Tell-tales...There will be fighting on top of the trains, and there will be tre occosional bridge or tunnel. In fact one my my events is a group of saboteurs will be boarding from the roof of a tunnel. There may also be a chaotic shanty town creeping right up to the tracks, with improvised walkways, clotheslines, overhanging balconies etc.
But I had never considered tell-tales...there probably shouldn't be any, but using them for stunts seems awesome, so there will be.

Whether or not one realistically should be able to unhook cars from a moving train, this will be possible here. Back years ago in the previois Cliffhangers campaign this was an issue, and the GM back them said you couldn't pull the hitch pin up, because the two cars were exerting too much sideways force.
But cinematically speaking, this should be possible - so it will be for my Chinese trains!

[YankeeGamer]

With a link and pin coupling, I think that uncoupling would be impossible, but with knuckle couplers, it is. The problem is that, without some previous sabotage, uncoupling locks all the brakes. In one game I played, someone took advantage of the way the brakes work to cut the brake line, thus bringing the train to a screeching halt. (Uncoupling snaps the brake line, so the brakes lock.)
If it's an old train, it might have hand brakes instead of air brakes, and uncoupling doesn't lock those.
Unrealistic but very cinematic--shoot the link and pin coupler to break it, (If they're rusty, it might even work.)

With tell-tales--it could be cliffhanger style to use them as you said, or to have one collapse under the weight of the person swinging from it.

[MrFix]

Originally Posted by Ultraviolet

In my mind, falling off a moving train should be more damaging than falling off a stationary train. But I think I'll just deal with the fall as is, and then assess some "tumbling damage" depending on how the characters land.

To specifically reply to this point. Acrobatics (and a few other skills, see Breakfall in MA), on a successful roll, allows you to reduce falling damage. Effectively you subtract 5 yards from distance fallen. This is the RAW way of portraying the difference between bad fall (full damage) and good fall (whatever damage the character receives if he fell 5 yards less/5 yards slower).