Jumping vs Falling - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Jumping vs Falling

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Endarire
Oct 26, 2008 21:33:34 Jumping costs movement as normal, but what about falling? How far can I fall in a round? If I instead jump off a very high platform and let gravity drag me down, how far do I fall in a round?
#2
pithica
Oct 27, 2008 7:13:33 Assuming we're using real life math, 138feet per second/per second, with a terminal velocity of roughly 120mph assuming your 'flat'. It's slightly higher if you stay vertical, but that's hard to maintain over distance. You'll reach Terminal Velocity (mostly) after falling a little less than 1900 feet, which takes about 14 seconds. If you want easy math you can do in your head as a DM, 750 feet in a combat round (roughly 6 seconds) is about right.

Now if the air in your campaign world is thicker or thinner, or gravity works differently, all bets are off.

I think there was a sage article about this at some point, but I don't have the link.
#3
rambaldi
Oct 27, 2008 8:24:42 Okay that didn't go so well, umm here it is summarised again:

you reach maximum velocity in 4.97 seconds according to http://www.geocities.com/operation_rising_star/mis.tve.htm

max damage is 20d6 for a fall (not sure where i got this from sorry)
therefore max fall speed is reached after 200 ft of falling

to make the numbers easy you fall at 200 ft/round
#4
idontmuchcareforit
Oct 27, 2008 9:33:14 138 ft/second/second? did you just make that up? not even close
32.2 feet/second^2 (9.81m/s^2) that's acceleration due to gravity
unless greyhawk is on jupiter let's go with 32.2

also, your math is clearly ridiculous.
Acceleration is the time rate change in velocity, not position. You need calculus or the work of someone else's calculus to calculate distance travelled, you can't just divide random numbers by 138 (not even right) which is pretty clearly what you did. You're applying it as though it were a velocity, which it's not.

Unless a player is really really high up, we're talking hundreds of feet, you can bet that they'll hit the ground within 6 seconds.
#5
pithica
Oct 27, 2008 9:52:46 You're correct, it's 32 feet(ish). I don't know where I got 138 feet, other than that I answered that after just waking up. Thank you for correcting me.

The rest of the math wasn't mine, I got it from Google Answers...

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=124248

It is estimated that the human body will reach 99% of terminal
velocity after falling 1,880 feet (573 meters) which takes anywhere
from 10-14 seconds. With normal posture and normal atmospheric
pressure, this is a speed between 117 and 125 miles per hour, or
approximately 54 meters per second. Another source I found stated
that a human would have to fall over 400 yards (1,200 feet) prior to
achieving terminal velocity.

#6
Endarire
Oct 27, 2008 15:59:23 If I'm walking along a ceiling via Up the Walls or spider climb then make a Jump check to fall toward the ground, does that movement count against my normal limit? What about if I fall without making the Jump check?
#7
jaronk
Oct 27, 2008 23:30:14 According to the FAQ, after you fall your movement simply ends.

JaronK
#8
Endarire
Oct 28, 2008 1:03:05 Can I act after I fall assuming I survive, am conscious, and land on my feet?
#9
jaronk
Oct 28, 2008 1:45:28 According to the FAQ, you just end your turn where you land, but the answer is pretty clearly pulled out of, well, you know where. If you read the entry, the author clearly was saying "damn, I can't think of a rule for this, so I'm going to make one up."

JaronK
#10
reis
Oct 28, 2008 2:12:43 what about taking actions while falling?
#11
muertog
Oct 28, 2008 14:51:57 Pretty much the only actions you can take while falling would be immediate ones (such as casting featherfall), assuming you have immediate actions available.
#12
jaronk
Oct 28, 2008 14:54:40 The FAQ doesn't go into what you could do while falling. If you fell long enough, I don't see why you couldn't use longer actions.

JaronK

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Endarire Oct 26, 2008 21:33:34	Jumping costs movement as normal, but what about falling? How far can I fall in a round? If I instead jump off a very high platform and let gravity drag me down, how far do I fall in a round?
#2 pithica Oct 27, 2008 7:13:33	Assuming we're using real life math, 138feet per second/per second, with a terminal velocity of roughly 120mph assuming your 'flat'. It's slightly higher if you stay vertical, but that's hard to maintain over distance. You'll reach Terminal Velocity (mostly) after falling a little less than 1900 feet, which takes about 14 seconds. If you want easy math you can do in your head as a DM, 750 feet in a combat round (roughly 6 seconds) is about right. Now if the air in your campaign world is thicker or thinner, or gravity works differently, all bets are off. I think there was a sage article about this at some point, but I don't have the link.
#3 rambaldi Oct 27, 2008 8:24:42	Okay that didn't go so well, umm here it is summarised again: you reach maximum velocity in 4.97 seconds according to http://www.geocities.com/operation_rising_star/mis.tve.htm max damage is 20d6 for a fall (not sure where i got this from sorry) therefore max fall speed is reached after 200 ft of falling to make the numbers easy you fall at 200 ft/round
#4 idontmuchcareforit Oct 27, 2008 9:33:14	138 ft/second/second? did you just make that up? not even close 32.2 feet/second^2 (9.81m/s^2) that's acceleration due to gravity unless greyhawk is on jupiter let's go with 32.2 also, your math is clearly ridiculous. Acceleration is the time rate change in velocity, not position. You need calculus or the work of someone else's calculus to calculate distance travelled, you can't just divide random numbers by 138 (not even right) which is pretty clearly what you did. You're applying it as though it were a velocity, which it's not. Unless a player is really really high up, we're talking hundreds of feet, you can bet that they'll hit the ground within 6 seconds.
#5 pithica Oct 27, 2008 9:52:46	You're correct, it's 32 feet(ish). I don't know where I got 138 feet, other than that I answered that after just waking up. Thank you for correcting me. The rest of the math wasn't mine, I got it from Google Answers... http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=124248 It is estimated that the human body will reach 99% of terminal velocity after falling 1,880 feet (573 meters) which takes anywhere from 10-14 seconds. With normal posture and normal atmospheric pressure, this is a speed between 117 and 125 miles per hour, or approximately 54 meters per second. Another source I found stated that a human would have to fall over 400 yards (1,200 feet) prior to achieving terminal velocity.
#6 Endarire Oct 27, 2008 15:59:23	If I'm walking along a ceiling via Up the Walls or spider climb then make a Jump check to fall toward the ground, does that movement count against my normal limit? What about if I fall without making the Jump check?
#7 jaronk Oct 27, 2008 23:30:14	According to the FAQ, after you fall your movement simply ends. JaronK
#8 Endarire Oct 28, 2008 1:03:05	Can I act after I fall assuming I survive, am conscious, and land on my feet?
#9 jaronk Oct 28, 2008 1:45:28	According to the FAQ, you just end your turn where you land, but the answer is pretty clearly pulled out of, well, you know where. If you read the entry, the author clearly was saying "damn, I can't think of a rule for this, so I'm going to make one up." JaronK
#10 reis Oct 28, 2008 2:12:43	what about taking actions while falling?
#11 muertog Oct 28, 2008 14:51:57	Pretty much the only actions you can take while falling would be immediate ones (such as casting featherfall), assuming you have immediate actions available.
#12 jaronk Oct 28, 2008 14:54:40	The FAQ doesn't go into what you could do while falling. If you fell long enough, I don't see why you couldn't use longer actions. JaronK