I don't think any character is ever going to think falling to their death is a viable option. Unless the character has reason to believe that the villian WANTS the character to come along for some nefarious purpose, no reasonable person would arrive at the conclusion that death is superior to life.
In tier 3 and 4, falling to your death is absolutely a viable option; it's when you start getting into things like soul eaters that you have legitimate worries.
that's using metagame knowledge. When a person falls out of a tree, they never think, ah this is ok I only take a little fall damage. While it might be a viable option for game mechanics, a character shouldn't use that meta knowledge to make decisions
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
that's using metagame knowledge. When a person falls out of a tree, they never think, ah this is ok I only take a little fall damage. While it might be a viable option for game mechanics, a character shouldn't use that meta knowledge to make decisions. If that's how your table plays, I suppose that's cool but I'd find it interferes with my suspension of disbelief.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Healing magic up to and including being revived from the dead isn't really metagaming knowledge though. Granted most of the common folk in a given D&D setting can't afford to have a healer come set their broken bones or revive a family member who met an unnatural end. But for player characters - most of whom could be broadly described as professional adventurers - healing and resurrection magic are not just well-known but actively sought as something necessary in their line of work.
So for PCs who know someone in their party is an accomplished healer, taking a dive from an absurd height is a valid and rational, albeit unpleasant, strategy within the context of their story. Knowing a fellow adventuring party member's capabilities that have been demonstrated within the world isn't really meta knowledge, it's just... knowledge.
My first instinct is to treat this as a false dilemma. Credit to GnollItAll and Wysperra for mentioning Feather Fall and Counterspell. This also feels like the perfect situation for Winged Boots. But without knowing if the character has any of these tools at their disposal it's hard to say what I would do in the moment.
If the character had any of those options I would have mentioned them (also, not a planned dilemma at all).
If not planned, then you stumbled into a dilemma anyway. Or at least that's the perception based on the given information. I'm tempted to call it a Morton's Fork, since the choices appear to be either fall to a likely death or be spirited away to a likely death. And now you're saying if there were options to cut the Gordian knot you would have mentioned them, which reinforces this being a dilemma.
I'm still not able to confidently given an answer as to what I would do in the situation because I haven't played through the whole series of events leading to this moment. I don't know the party or their capabilities. I don't know what sort of character you have stuck on the horns of this dilemma or their capabilities. I don't know enough about the villain - you seem to be indicating they're on the cusp of a heel-face turn, though I don't know if I'd know or understand that in the moment.
I'm curious what you're looking to get out of asking this here. Is this a situation you as the DM put your player(s) into? Are you trying to understand why they made the choice(s) they made? Are you trying to justify why they should have chosen the option you wanted them to choose?
I'm curious what you're looking to get out of asking this here. Is this a situation you as the DM put your player(s) into? Are you trying to understand why they made the choice(s) they made? Are you trying to justify why they should have chosen the option you wanted them to choose?
I'm curious about understanding their choice, yes. I don't believe that worrying about falling was a major factor in their decision.
that's using metagame knowledge. When a person falls out of a tree, they never think, ah this is ok I only take a little fall damage. While it might be a viable option for game mechanics, a character shouldn't use that meta knowledge to make decisions
I don’t know if it’s really meta game knowledge to be aware that your cleric friend can raise the dead. At that point in the game, they’ve probably been shopping for 500 gp diamonds together. So even if the fall might kill you, it will only be temporary.
I suppose it also depends on whether the PC has actions or reactions.
The smart thing to do would be to refuse the teleport and hope for the best. At least you will still be with your companions. If you take the teleport and even if you win the fight you don't know where you are at.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
for context in a shadowrun game while fighting a insect queen, my character held a kilo of c14, wrapped a belt of lmg amor around that arm, then shoved that arm down the insects queens mouth knowing it would almost certainly get bit off. relying on her barrier like skin and the chunky salsa rules to make the power of the explosive large enough to kill her.
I'd go with them.
side note I survived(deadly+5 wound) ran the character for a full real life year of weekly playing before I saved up enough to replace the arm, shooting with my off hand all the time. Dang that was fun.
In tier 3 and 4, falling to your death is absolutely a viable option; it's when you start getting into things like soul eaters that you have legitimate worries.
that's using metagame knowledge. When a person falls out of a tree, they never think, ah this is ok I only take a little fall damage. While it might be a viable option for game mechanics, a character shouldn't use that meta knowledge to make decisions
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
that's using metagame knowledge. When a person falls out of a tree, they never think, ah this is ok I only take a little fall damage. While it might be a viable option for game mechanics, a character shouldn't use that meta knowledge to make decisions. If that's how your table plays, I suppose that's cool but I'd find it interferes with my suspension of disbelief.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Healing magic up to and including being revived from the dead isn't really metagaming knowledge though. Granted most of the common folk in a given D&D setting can't afford to have a healer come set their broken bones or revive a family member who met an unnatural end. But for player characters - most of whom could be broadly described as professional adventurers - healing and resurrection magic are not just well-known but actively sought as something necessary in their line of work.
So for PCs who know someone in their party is an accomplished healer, taking a dive from an absurd height is a valid and rational, albeit unpleasant, strategy within the context of their story. Knowing a fellow adventuring party member's capabilities that have been demonstrated within the world isn't really meta knowledge, it's just... knowledge.
We're talking characters who have died before, they're not going to have the same perspective.
If not planned, then you stumbled into a dilemma anyway. Or at least that's the perception based on the given information. I'm tempted to call it a Morton's Fork, since the choices appear to be either fall to a likely death or be spirited away to a likely death. And now you're saying if there were options to cut the Gordian knot you would have mentioned them, which reinforces this being a dilemma.
I'm still not able to confidently given an answer as to what I would do in the situation because I haven't played through the whole series of events leading to this moment. I don't know the party or their capabilities. I don't know what sort of character you have stuck on the horns of this dilemma or their capabilities. I don't know enough about the villain - you seem to be indicating they're on the cusp of a heel-face turn, though I don't know if I'd know or understand that in the moment.
I'm curious what you're looking to get out of asking this here. Is this a situation you as the DM put your player(s) into? Are you trying to understand why they made the choice(s) they made? Are you trying to justify why they should have chosen the option you wanted them to choose?
I'm curious about understanding their choice, yes. I don't believe that worrying about falling was a major factor in their decision.
I don’t know if it’s really meta game knowledge to be aware that your cleric friend can raise the dead. At that point in the game, they’ve probably been shopping for 500 gp diamonds together. So even if the fall might kill you, it will only be temporary.
I suppose it also depends on whether the PC has actions or reactions.
The smart thing to do would be to refuse the teleport and hope for the best. At least you will still be with your companions. If you take the teleport and even if you win the fight you don't know where you are at.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
for context in a shadowrun game while fighting a insect queen, my character held a kilo of c14, wrapped a belt of lmg amor around that arm, then shoved that arm down the insects queens mouth knowing it would almost certainly get bit off. relying on her barrier like skin and the chunky salsa rules to make the power of the explosive large enough to kill her.
I'd go with them.
side note I survived(deadly+5 wound) ran the character for a full real life year of weekly playing before I saved up enough to replace the arm, shooting with my off hand all the time. Dang that was fun.
That Teleport is his action. So I'd go with him. Now it's my turn. I have one chance to kill the bad guy.
If I don't go, then I have no chance to kill the bad guy.
Go. Definitely, go.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.