Falling onto Trees

[BrockNicholson]

Thanks for all the thoughts guys. I really appreciate it.

I ended up not having to use the information because the players took a moment to check for traps in their airplane.

[Anders]

Well, now you know... and knowing is half the battle!

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Well, now you know... and knowing is half the battle!

The other half is guns... lots of guns.

[bjork]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

There are people who have survived falls at terminal velocity because they hit trees which broke the impact (and often soft ground or snow), and people who fall onto a tree and are impaled, so I think it would be hard to have a fixed rule whether the tree changes the damage type to something worse or reduces the damage.

Some Wikipedia links about this:

Nicholas Alkemade apparently fell 5500 meters in WWII without a chute and survived by landing in pine trees and snow.

See this Wikipedia section on free falling for other examples, including landing on snowy slopes and glass roofs of railway stations...

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by bjork

Some Wikipedia links about this:

Nicholas Alkemade apparently fell 5500 meters in WWII without a chute and survived by landing in pine trees and snow.
.

It helps that pine trees have very flexible branches to shed snow overburden.

[ClayDowling]

Pine trees also have their branches angled down and are covered in very soft needles. Oak, on the other hand, has plenty of branches pointing up, and it's hard enough that it's used for making tools. Landing on an oak isn't recommended.