Falling down stairs?

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Unless they were literally sharpened, I wouldn't think so. Think of them as Blunt Claws -- extra damage due to being "edged and hard", but not enough to change it to cutting damage. I'd say that, compared to wooden stairs, your typical industrial/metal stairs would do +1/die of damage. (Not that we've established exactly how one should calculate "falling down stair damage", of course. I'm mulling it over...)

Gives me an idea for a dungeon's trap stairs.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Gives me an idea for a dungeon's trap stairs.

Will they be more blade-like than a flanged mace?

With a DF mechanical/magical trap that transforms the staircase into a mass of blades, that might work, but I don't think simply sharpening the corners of the steps is enough.

[Gnomasz]

I'd add a roll for mental stun at the start of fall. Slippery stairs are surprising and a couple of seconds, when you can't try to stop could be important.

[Maz]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Gives me an idea for a dungeon's trap stairs.

What you want is horizontal blades as stairs that then on a trigger mechanism turn vertical, hopefully just as one person is taking a step down.

so from
_
___
_____

to

|
| |
| | |

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Unless they were literally sharpened, I wouldn't think so. Think of them as Blunt Claws -- extra damage due to being "edged and hard", but not enough to change it to cutting damage. I'd say that, compared to wooden stairs, your typical industrial/metal stairs would do +1/die of damage. (Not that we've established exactly how one should calculate "falling down stair damage", of course. I'm mulling it over...)

The danger of falling down stairs is due to the distance as much as the harsh striking surfaces: your fall from an upright standing posture to a head-downward sprawl lets your head travel about 70% farther down before your body begins to retard its downward motion, compared to a fall onto level ground. It can be double or close to tripple for parts of your spine and ribcage. You've also got much farther to go before you can attempt to break your fall with your hands if you lose contact with the handrail.

[Jasonft]

Remember that most likely you are going to be taking a point or two of damage every round (non lethal or lethal depends on the die rolls), so you need to apply shock penalties to your skills for whatever you try whilst rolling and bouncing.

[Flyndaran]

As a clumsy forgetful person that has fallen down more than his share of stairs let me throw my 2 cents in.
Height of person is very important. A toddler falling over a single concrete step every day for over a month will only suffer bruises on head and arms, while an adult suffers mild to severe concussions.
No, despite my parents early fears, I am neither mentally handicapped or neurologically impaired, technically. Just hard headed, clumsy, and forgetful. :)

[Jeminai]

Metal grating stairs doing a pip mor edamage is reasonable. high rolls on damage can be said to be "catching a corner". Rolling random hit location makes good sense.

I think i would calculate base damage on a 2 or 3 yard fall (kind of averages the distance of the head to the legth of the body over the stairs that you could potentially fall)

speaking of stairs...has anyone considered how much damage a curbing should cause?

[JMD]

Originally Posted by Jeminai

speaking of stairs...has anyone considered how much damage a curbing should cause?

Depends if your biting it. A curb otherwise is treated just like normal ground for falling damage. Unless it's especially high and narrow, then you could justify more damage.