Template:Falling

Falling (Athletics)

Characters who fall onto a hard surface suffer levels of bashing damage equal to half the number of yards fallen, rounded down. This damage is considered piercing, though terminal velocity prevents damage from rising above 25B. Falling damage can be soaked normally, but a character soaks it completely, the minimum damage is simply reduced to one die rather than one level. Falling onto spikes, jagged surfaces and the like converts the damage from bashing to lethal. If the terrain is particularly soft or yielding, such as falling into deep water, halve the damage or (if the character is particularly lucky) assign no damage at all besides cosmetic bruising.

Players of heroic characters should receive a reflexive (Wits + Athletics) roll when their characters fall to save them from certain doom, typically by them grabbing onto the edge of a cliff or pit or snagging some outlying rock or flagpole on the way down. For a particularly long fall, a successful roll might mean the character bounces off the side of a wall and takes standard damage for falling that far but doesn't continue falling any farther. If it is absolutely impossible for a character to grab hold of anything mid-plummet, every success on the roll provides an additional point of soak as the character tumbles and rolls to absorb the shock of impact. Minor characters seldom receive such protection.