Questions tagged [falling]

For questions about mechanics for physically falling over a vertical distance (and directly related issues) in a given RPG system.

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If you are falling, can you Misty Step to the ground to avoid damage?

If I fall off a cliff - say, 1000 feet - can I wait (readied action?) until I am near enough to the ground (my understanding is you fall 500 ft/round) then misty step safely to the ground? Or, does ...
Rosco.p.coltrane's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
5k views

Is fall damage only calculated on vertical distance?

From this answer to Is damage taken when falling off a mount?: The minimum distance to take fall damage is stated as 10ft. However, if you are on a fast mount, you could potentially fall off while ...
Bilkokuya's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
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Is damage taken when falling off a mount?

The mounted combat rules provide a few scenarios for falling off a mount: If your mount is knocked prone, you can use your reaction to dismount it as it falls and land on your feet. Otherwise, you ...
Vigil's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
2k views

How fast does Watery Sphere fall over open air?

This question speaks of watery sphere as a replacement for feather fall because of this line: If [the sphere] moves over a pit, a cliff, or other drop-off, it safely descends until it is hovering ...
Blake Steel's user avatar
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12 votes
1 answer
3k views

Can Watery Sphere protect against fall damage?

The description for watery sphere says: If [the sphere] moves over a pit, a cliff, or other drop-off, it safely descends until it is hovering 10 feet above the ground. Any creature restrained by ...
Youjay's user avatar
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43 votes
4 answers
9k views

Can a monk, falling with an enemy they have grappled, use their slow fall ability to reduce their falling damage and not that of the enemy?

This came up as a controversial topic at my table with a player creating a Zangief playstyle. The player uses an aarakocra monk that flies up with a grappled enemy, then ends his movement to fall to ...
Tommy's user avatar
  • 958
1 vote
1 answer
431 views

Fall as a free action and then use fly skill to end falling as free movement

I had a character flying at 100 feet. I knocked an enemy to the ground. Their now farther away than a charge action could get me. Is it possible to start falling as a free action, and then resume ...
Fering's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Can an Eldritch Knight use their Arcane Charge feature before falling?

This Q&A establishes that if you suddenly find yourself mid-air (e.g. by teleportation), you only have time to use a reaction before starting to fall (examples include casting feather fall, or ...
Vigil's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
3k views

What happens if I Blink while in free fall?

Scenario I have cast Blink on a previous turn and am falling from a height of 510 feet. After having fallen 500 feet, my turn ends and I vanish into the ethereal plane. What happens when I reappear? ...
Yannick MG's user avatar
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17 votes
3 answers
18k views

Are there creatures that are resistant/immune to falling damage?

From my experience in 5th edition D&D, I've seen many creatures resist or be immune to bludgeoning damage from weapons, but never to bludgeoning damage from falling. The only instance I know is a ...
Gael L's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
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If you misty step 30 feet straight up do you have time to attack a foe next to you before you start falling?

On your turn, you misty step 30 feet straight up. Can you make an attack before you start falling, or will you immediately begin to fall? For example, a player wants to reach a flying enemy to knock ...
Kakiko's user avatar
  • 141
22 votes
4 answers
14k views

Does deliberately falling cost movement?

If you willingly fall on your turn does it cost movement? As a DM I'm thinking about how to handle things such as creatures who are immune to being prone, diving into the water from a height, or a ...
Chaosweapon's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is it possible to make multiple grapple attempts while falling?

Situation: A PC with Extra Attack is standing on a raised platform. Below and slightly to the side is a Wizard NPC floating mid-air under the effects of Fly. The PC wants to (on their turn) jump off ...
Vigil's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
210 views

How much time does it take to take a move and immediate action when falling out of combat? [duplicate]

My character has a Handy Haversack that contains a wand of featherfall. Taking the wand out of the haversack is a move action. Activating the wand is an immediate action. How many seconds would it ...
JoshuaD's user avatar
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15 votes
1 answer
888 views

Will a Readied Attack hit someone mid-fall (less than 500 feet)?

The scenario: An enemy is atop a 499 foot cliff. A hero is at a place where he can stand and move freely (enough), let's say in the middle (around 250ft). Immediately after the hero's turn, the enemy ...
goodguy5's user avatar
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9 votes
6 answers
68k views

Does the rule on falling damage only apply to Small and larger creatures?

Does the rule on falling damage (1d6 damage for every 10 feet fallen) only apply to Small and larger creatures? Suppose flying insects with 1 hit point attack the party, and a caster casts sleep into ...
Skidnsf's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
4k views

What are all the rules that refer to the rate of falling?

I've been trying to figure out a consistent metric for gravity but am having trouble gathering the necessary information. I've identified two rules that are relevant: Long range weapon attack ...
David Coffron's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

Aarakocra dive attack damage? [closed]

If you look at the Aarakocra's dive attack it deals +1d6 damage for every 30 ft. in the air. If every 10 ft. does 1d6 fall damage to something that is falling, shouldn't a character be able to use ...
Liga's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can Earthbind be used for a Feather Fall type effect?

According to Crawford on Twitter, Earthbind causes the effected creature to descend not fall: Q: do flying creatures affected by Earthbind (Elemental Evil) take falling damage if they reach the ...
Evan Gregory's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
504 views

How do I resolve keeping a character tied to a rope from falling?

I have run into this a lot recently. PCs walking over a bridge or a log or whatever over a chasm will tie a rope around one of the characters and the rest will hold the end of the rope as he crosses, ...
Critical Crafting's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

What is falling damage into water?

I want to create a scenario where PCs might fall from a height, let’s go with 80 ft., into the ocean. How is falling damage handled if they fall into the water from let’s say a bridge? What if we ...
FrancisJohn's user avatar
  • 8,796
12 votes
4 answers
5k views

Do you take fall damage while inside Otiluke's Resilient Sphere?

If a creature inside Otiluke's Resilient Sphere falls do they still take fall damage? (As an aside I'm assuming that the sphere can and will fall because it does in fact have weight per this Q&A) ...
Rubiksmoose's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
838 views

Can you cast a spell with a Doss lute while falling?

Can you cast a spell while falling? So let's say I'm falling roughly 50ft and I have a Doss lute (instrument of the Bards) with which I want to cast fly so I can stop my fall. Would this work?
rpgstar's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Does falling through an enemy's threatened area trigger an attack of opportunity?

More specifically, if you fall off of a gargantuan dragon would it get an attack on you while you are falling?
Maiko Chikyu's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Do oozes take falling damage?

As there is no rule that I can find stating an ooze does not take falling damage I assume that they do. However, I did note that an ooze is amorphous, has no bones or internal organs, and should be ...
Critical Crafting's user avatar
40 votes
2 answers
8k views

Do you suffer fall damage while inside a Bag of Holding?

You take your gnomish friend and cram him in a Bag of Holding. You then throw that same bag off a 120 foot cliff. The bag lands on dirt ground. What happens to the bag, and the gnome?
Xynene's user avatar
  • 433
5 votes
2 answers
5k views

When a creature with non-magical flying speed is knocked prone and falls, how do I determine the falling damage?

Xanathar's Guide to Everything provides new (optional) rules regarding Falling Assuming I want "a flying creature to have a better chance of surviving a fall than a non-flying creature does" how does ...
Thyzer's user avatar
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35 votes
4 answers
22k views

Can a character survive a fall from 2 miles up?

By the rules as I understand them, the maximum damage for falling is 20d6. Does this mean that characters with enough hit points (above 70 on average) can simply leap off airships or cliffs (no ...
Imaginary's user avatar
  • 3,056
7 votes
1 answer
831 views

Falling from low heights; how does 1d6 per 10ft round up/down?

I have been reading over the falling rules in Pathfinder and one thing that is unclear to me is how falling damage works between 10ft intervals. Is it that everything up to the first 10ft takes 1d6 ...
Barker's user avatar
  • 2,703
14 votes
3 answers
14k views

Can Monk's Slow Fall Be Used to Carry/Catch Someone?

The description for Slow Fall is bare boned: Slow Fall Beginning at 4th level, you can use your reaction when you fall to reduce any Falling damage you take by an amount equal to five times your monk ...
Basement Cat's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
5k views

Would a winged Aasimar fall if it could not flap its wings?

I have a player who has an Aasimar character. My player argues that the book does not state the Aasimar has to flap its wings, and instead can hover because the wings don't use concentration. This ...
Skeither7's user avatar
  • 1,099
22 votes
1 answer
4k views

Do I have to land at the end of my turn?

I was told by my AL DM that when you fly at the end of your turn you must return to the ground or at the end of the round take falling damage. I can't find this rule set anywhere. All I can find is: ...
V Rodg's user avatar
  • 891
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is there a 'catch hold' rule when falling in 5e, similar to 4e?

Is there anything in 5e similar to the 'catch hold' in 4e when falling? We've been house ruling, but I can't find anything in the core books.
Raymond C's user avatar
  • 860
3 votes
5 answers
3k views

Does casting Fly on a creature who is falling cause fall damage?

Based on this question How would using Thunderwave to stop falling damage work?: Would casting fly on a creature already in the middle of a fall cause it to take fall damage before it was able to use ...
Lino Frank Ciaralli's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
4k views

How would using Thunderwave to stop falling damage work?

Thunderwave, on a failed save, pushes a target 10 feet when it hits them in addition to doing damage. In the event that a party as a whole were falling, a creative Cleric could Ready his spell to be ...
Lino Frank Ciaralli's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does the Hideous Laughter spell make a flying foe prone and cause the foe to fall?

A witch that's using the flight hex to fly 20 ft. up in the air fails her saving throw against my halfling bard's hideous laughter spell. The hideous laughter spell description says that an affected ...
FrancisJohn's user avatar
  • 8,796
13 votes
3 answers
4k views

Do you take damage from falling while wearing Winged Boots?

In 4th Edition the magic item clearly stated that you dont take damage and that you land on your feet while wearing them, but in 5e there is no such language in the description. The description of ...
MC_Hambone's user avatar
  • 7,099
18 votes
3 answers
7k views

Can a flying character choose to fall, and then use a reaction to stop falling before hitting the ground?

As a flying character there are a few scenarios that I'd like to know are valid/RAW, invalid, or up to the DM. Assume in these scenarios that all characters fall at 1000ft/round (this is not up for ...
Al Sun's user avatar
  • 2,661
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

How long do you fall at the end of your turn?

Related to this question: How far do you fall per turn? My friend wants to use the barbarians eagle ability to fly up so high that he would not hit the ground before the end of his turn. Now, Mike ...
Tobias Fizzlewig's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
5k views

What Are The Minimum Stats To Cause Fall Damage When Grappling Plus Jumping?

I came across an interesting guide to combat grapplers. At the second-to-last paragraph, it says this: This particular build is just an introduction to all the other terrible things you can do to ...
user avatar
21 votes
2 answers
7k views

Is my Half Orc Barbarian invulnerable to death by falling?

Forgive me if I've botched any math, but here's the situation I've found myself in (assuming 4th level): Falling damage caps out at 20d6 at terminal velocity. Kronan the Barbarian has 55 Max HP ...
Robert's user avatar
  • 12.8k
34 votes
3 answers
175k views

How far do you fall per turn?

I recently began browsing the 5e PHB when I noticed that there was no distance per round when falling under the Falling category. Is there a set fall speed and if so, what is it?
Tobias Fizzlewig's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
10k views

If a creature is dropped on a monster, how much damage does each of them take?

If a character who was under the effect of a growth potion (double their height and eight times their weight) and weighed 2,400 lbs. was able to use Dimension Door to teleport 400 feet or more into ...
KillerKelly's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does falling damage by weight get limited to 20d6?

I'm trying to build a character that does damage by dropping on people. (It's a baleen whale with grafted wings.) I was reading the SRD on falling damage and it has this very confusing line about ...
Jean-Luc Nacif Coelho's user avatar
38 votes
6 answers
29k views

When does a flying creature start and end falling?

Situation: Alice the Aarakokra sees Bob the Battlemaster coming. She ascends to 605', just out of the 600' range of Bob's longbow. Bob (Str 14) performs a running high jump 5' into the air and ...
Sebkha's user avatar
  • 12.1k
27 votes
5 answers
77k views

How might the weight of a falling object affect the damage it causes?

Fall damage is 1d6 per 10 feet. What adjustments if any should I make for objects falling on a player character? (e.g. a bear) Assuming the objects are meaningful threats but not instant character ...
Quiescat's user avatar
  • 1,837
51 votes
8 answers
63k views

Do you take falling damage after a high jump of over 10 feet?

I have a multiclass Monk / Druid (2 levels of monk). He cast jump on himself, wild shaped into a brown bear, activated step of the wind, then took a high jump with a height of 42': High Jump When ...
briddums's user avatar
  • 10.8k
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is falling damage affected by falling speed?

Supposed you try launching a party member across a 500 feet wide and 50 feet deep gap with a trebuchet. however, something goes horribly wrong and he's launched straight down into the pit (let's just ...
Nzall's user avatar
  • 3,061
3 votes
3 answers
333 views

Plane shifter Hole of Oblivion (patent pending)

A Warlock who takes the Planeshifter paragon path can use an ability at level 12 called Quick Portal. At 15, that same Warlock could learn Create Teleportation Circle and say create a teleportation ...
Masaka's user avatar
  • 151
16 votes
5 answers
5k views

Performing actions while falling

If a character falls from a great height and has a skill or item that may save them if used early enough, how does one determine where in the fall the item is used? Depending on the reason for the ...
anaximander's user avatar
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