A large creature (say 1000 lbs) is polymorphed into a tiny creature. The tiny creature (2 lbs) is lifted into the air and dropped from a height of 200 feet to do 20d6 damage. The rule is that it receives this damage until it is reduced to 0 hp, and then the damage carries over to the original form. However, if you know anything about physics the amount of Force generated by the tiny creature would be equivalent to the large creature falling from a height of 5 feet... eg no damage. I will be running my games like this and suggest that to do the proper fall damage that the creature should be polymorphed back before it is dropped.
My homebrew rule would be that the carryover is halved for each size difference between the crearures. Eg 20d6 on a tiny, would be reduced to 10d6 for small, 5d6 for medium and 2d6 for large, etc.
The player is rewarded for novelty of the idea but not overly so that it becomes a cheap tactic.
Falling damage generally feels wrong when applied to anything but small/medium creatures. If you're going to adjust it, I would apply the change to falling damage before it occurs rather than just to the carryover damage.
I'm also in the camp of just doubling/halving fall damage in general according to size. Tiny creatures typically have very little HP and larger creatures typically have much more, so I think it will equal out anyway.
You're going to use that statement in conjunction with a magic spell that can turn a T-Rex into a turtle? Falling damage is broken, the spells are broken.... it'll be much funner to just go with it and enjoy your game. Your table, your rules though. At my table, we don't sweat this kind of crap and instead just roll dice, drink beer, laugh, and let the fun wash over us.
You can impart as much or as little "reality" as you want into your game.
If you want to figure out how much potential energy is in every object of every weight falling from every distance into every kind of surface, taking into account atmospheric pressure, wind resistance and cross wind. GO FOR IT! If it's fun for you and doesn't damage somebody else's fun go for it =)
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You're going to use that statement in conjunction with a magic spell that can turn a T-Rex into a turtle? Falling damage is broken, the spells are broken.... it'll be much funner to just go with it and enjoy your game. Your table, your rules though. At my table, we don't sweat this kind of crap and instead just roll dice, drink beer, laugh, and let the fun wash over us.
Yes, I am! I was trying to do in this relation to a combat encounter which could be broken but otherwise very fun with the alternate rule. My theory would be that the mass is shunted to another dimension, until the polymorphed creature is killed, wherein the spell is dispelled, by the disruption of the mass' connection to the alternate dimension, and then the additional mass is shunted back to the prime dimension. Physics works as normal with mass in this dimension, so that fall damage is really just a disruption of the incoming mass from the alternate dimension.
If you're main concern is that the party can use Polymorph to shrink something big and kill it, don't be. It's perfectly reasonable, in-game, for a T-rex to be polymorphed into a turtle and then dropped 200 feet. The resulting damage to the turtle would be structurally catastrophic, and it would surely die. But even at max damage only a bout 100-110 would be passed on to the T-rex, which would leave is massively messed up (as a fall from that height should), yet still alive and in the fight. It also got a saving throw. And you're not always gonna find 200 foot cliffs around. And you're rarely gonna roll max damage. And things substantially smaller than a T-rex, either in size, weight or both, can easily be killed by a drop from that height. So if you're going to let them use other forms of magic to push/move/drop the original monster off a cliff, why not allow them to use magic to make it small and chuck it off a cliff? Seems pretty reasonable.
I'm with TransformerDDS. It seems like your players will just drop concentration on polymorph shortly after the fall begins, so this would really only be a positive change for creatures that can fly.
This change feels like an unnecessary knee jerk reaction. How do your players feel about it?
@Rynegade I agree with your stance as DM. The fall damage in published material does not make sense applied to Tiny, Large and larger creatures.
Also keep in mind that this adjustment to fall damage rules would benefit some of your more wily Druid players. As a frequent Druid player myself, I would be all for it.
A large creature (say 1000 lbs) is polymorphed into a tiny creature. The tiny creature (2 lbs) is lifted into the air and dropped from a height of 200 feet to do 20d6 damage. The rule is that it receives this damage until it is reduced to 0 hp, and then the damage carries over to the original form. However, if you know anything about physics the amount of Force generated by the tiny creature would be equivalent to the large creature falling from a height of 5 feet... eg no damage. I will be running my games like this and suggest that to do the proper fall damage that the creature should be polymorphed back before it is dropped.
My homebrew rule would be that the carryover is halved for each size difference between the crearures. Eg 20d6 on a tiny, would be reduced to 10d6 for small, 5d6 for medium and 2d6 for large, etc.
The player is rewarded for novelty of the idea but not overly so that it becomes a cheap tactic.
Falling damage generally feels wrong when applied to anything but small/medium creatures. If you're going to adjust it, I would apply the change to falling damage before it occurs rather than just to the carryover damage.
I'm also in the camp of just doubling/halving fall damage in general according to size. Tiny creatures typically have very little HP and larger creatures typically have much more, so I think it will equal out anyway.
You're going to use that statement in conjunction with a magic spell that can turn a T-Rex into a turtle?
Falling damage is broken, the spells are broken.... it'll be much funner to just go with it and enjoy your game.
Your table, your rules though. At my table, we don't sweat this kind of crap and instead just roll dice, drink beer, laugh, and let the fun wash over us.
...cryptographic randomness!
You can impart as much or as little "reality" as you want into your game.
If you want to figure out how much potential energy is in every object of every weight falling from every distance into every kind of surface, taking into account atmospheric pressure, wind resistance and cross wind. GO FOR IT! If it's fun for you and doesn't damage somebody else's fun go for it =)
"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
Yes, I am! I was trying to do in this relation to a combat encounter which could be broken but otherwise very fun with the alternate rule. My theory would be that the mass is shunted to another dimension, until the polymorphed creature is killed, wherein the spell is dispelled, by the disruption of the mass' connection to the alternate dimension, and then the additional mass is shunted back to the prime dimension. Physics works as normal with mass in this dimension, so that fall damage is really just a disruption of the incoming mass from the alternate dimension.
Personally, I'm of the mindset that turning something back as its falling is funnier, so physics or not, it's probably still the better option :P
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If you're main concern is that the party can use Polymorph to shrink something big and kill it, don't be. It's perfectly reasonable, in-game, for a T-rex to be polymorphed into a turtle and then dropped 200 feet. The resulting damage to the turtle would be structurally catastrophic, and it would surely die. But even at max damage only a bout 100-110 would be passed on to the T-rex, which would leave is massively messed up (as a fall from that height should), yet still alive and in the fight. It also got a saving throw. And you're not always gonna find 200 foot cliffs around. And you're rarely gonna roll max damage. And things substantially smaller than a T-rex, either in size, weight or both, can easily be killed by a drop from that height. So if you're going to let them use other forms of magic to push/move/drop the original monster off a cliff, why not allow them to use magic to make it small and chuck it off a cliff? Seems pretty reasonable.
I'm with TransformerDDS. It seems like your players will just drop concentration on polymorph shortly after the fall begins, so this would really only be a positive change for creatures that can fly.
This change feels like an unnecessary knee jerk reaction. How do your players feel about it?
@Rynegade I agree with your stance as DM. The fall damage in published material does not make sense applied to Tiny, Large and larger creatures.
Also keep in mind that this adjustment to fall damage rules would benefit some of your more wily Druid players. As a frequent Druid player myself, I would be all for it.