Making falling damage more lethal

[Anthony]

Part of the problem is that falling damage isn't uniformly low -- it's low for long falls. If you fall 3' (basically, your falling distance if you trip and fall), your falling velocity is 5, which for a 10 hp person falling onto a hard surface translates as 1d6 damage. That's already probably unrealistically high, while you can get significantly hurt by a fall of that distance, you have a pretty substantial chance of not more than scrapes and bruises. Thus, anything that boosts falling damage should really only do so for longer falls. One idea: a fall has a 'ST' of (HP x Velocity / 10, or /5 for hitting a hard immobile surface; it does Thrust damage for that ST). That would convert a terminal velocity fall (move 60, HP 10) to 13d, while the 1 hex fall (move 5, HP 10) would be 1d-2.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Part of the problem is that falling damage isn't uniformly low -- it's low for long falls. If you fall 3' (basically, your falling distance if you trip and fall), your falling velocity is 5, which for a 10 hp person falling onto a hard surface translates as 1d6 damage. That's already probably unrealistically high, while you can get significantly hurt by a fall of that distance, you have a pretty substantial chance of not more than scrapes and bruises. Thus, anything that boosts falling damage should really only do so for longer falls. One idea: a fall has a 'ST' of (HP x Velocity / 10, or /5 for hitting a hard immobile surface; it does Thrust damage for that ST). That would convert a terminal velocity fall (move 60, HP 10) to 13d, while the 1 hex fall (move 5, HP 10) would be 1d-2.

Good points. I'd also consider allowing a parry to represent getting your arms or legs into an advantageous position before you hit the ground. Maybe for parrying falls, allow one point of damage reduction for every point by which the parry was made. You might allow Acrobatics and Jumping skills to use the parry mechanic in this situation.