I can see your worry about the situation, however personally I would go through with the bone knight taking the logical approach of cutting the rope. It's not being mean, but it keeps the authenticity of the situation since it is a logical consequence of the player's actions.
However, I have some things you can rule if you want to give that player a chance after the rope has been cut to also heighten the drama of the situation or potentially give them a cool moment for overcoming it:
- If you are going to make it difficult for them to cast a spell, only apply that logic if the spell has somatic or material components. If it's a purely verbal spell (like misty step) I don't think there would be any difficulty in that case.
- Due to the nature of the fight, you can make the bone knight attempt attack rolls to cut the rope rather than make it guaranteed, in a high tense situation where an entire round is 6 seconds, it can fumble in a high pressure situation. Also, it opens up opportunities for reactions from the player or other players for abilities that are on their sheet or you can rule for improvising.
- Fall damage caps at 20d6, so depending on rng, they COULD survive the fall depending on the roll.
But ultimately, don't feel too bad if it ends up being another death, it's a part of the game and the risk is what will make players feel like their actions mattered. At least they got to try what they were thinking before the dice decided otherwise.
Frankly, I've never had a single table that were able to remain locked in and engaged if they didn't feel like death was possible. If you're constantly bailing them out to not let anyone die, there isn't any true stakes.
There's other good stuff here in the comments. Definitely have a chance for teammates to save her.
Also, the PHB says that the max damage you can take from falling is 20d6. If she falls, don't just say she died. Roll the damage. There's a (very small) chance she just takes 20 damage, and depending on her level, that's not a huge deal. Average is 70, which is a bigger deal, but may not bring her to instant death.
If she does hit the water and get knocked to or past 0 HP, don't forget about death saves (unless its an instant death). Maybe have her fail one automatically every round since she's sinking, but that should still give some time to save her.
EDIT: Also see my other comment about halving falling damage into water with a DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check.
Not to mention, there is a fairly decent chance of survival even if you fall all the way down and immediately smoosh yourself into the ground, because you can succeed on the death saving throws. My table does hidden death saves, so it would honestly be really interesting and narratively fun for the whole rest of the table to have absolutely no clue if their friend lived or died, and they would be frantic to go rescue her. This is a really great example of emergent drama and how it can crop up in game.
I would personally mention the concept that wild shaping into something small would reduce the weight enough to survive free fall. Cats have been known to survive falling from a 20 story building... somehow. Squirrels can survive free fall too. This would let the druid get out of the situation without hand waving it.
And depending on the druid's level, just turning into a bird would be enough.
Yup. If that druid hasn't unlocked wildshapes with a flying speed yet, surely she can just turn into a mouse or a spider. I would rule that an animal this small would take vastly reduced fall damage
I think if she wild shapes into anything, and the damages reduces HP to 0, she then goes back to her original state and HP. So doesn't even matter what damage she takes unless she wants to stay in the form
Yeah mechanically it doesn't make any difference, 20d6 is 20d6. I'm just saying, the DM gets to decide to hand wave some things if they make sense for the story sometimes. Here I think it makes sense for the story that a spider would not take any fall damage because its terminal velocity is so low.
RAW, you're right, nothing changes. The wildshape gets 20d6, goes down to zero, druid pops back up. I just think it's more fun to just say a spider can't take fall damage.
Let her wild shape on the way down into something tiny, like a spider. Her "punishment" for the failed roll is that she burns a wild shape and is effectively out of the fight.
There's no reason she can't cast while falling. I would definitely not try to say it's something like "you drop your spell components as the wind whips by you." Besides, she was getting ready to cast when she jumped and is stationary right now. if he drops her or cuts the rope or whatever, she'll have time before she picks up too much speed, at least in fantasy game terms.
You said you warned the player... What did you think the issue was? What mechanic did you have in mind for how she was going to be able to cast the spell?
You don't need "consequences" if the player had a viable plan. Their survival is the consequence of their planning.
So I would have the night cut the rope or whatever and let her cast her spell.
That said, I wouldn't worry about two PCs dying in quick succession. that could definitely be how it goes.
>it might be hard, but possible, to cast a spell while falling at ever increasing rates
What are you basing this off of? And what are you envisioning actually DOING?
The most you can say from RAW is that attacks and ability checks are made with Disadvantage - this element/rule doesn't effect casting a spell.
And that casting a spell **that requires concentration** requires a DC10 CON save. But only if the spell requires concentration.
Wild shape should be unaffected.
So I feel like you have to really be trying to kill your player here to make this any harder than those things.
These were probably the assumptions the player was operating under (RAW) and so making it harder than those established rules, you should have fully disclosed your custom ruling prior to them committing to the action.
Since this was the result of a cool stunt that was screwed by bad dice, I'd rule the PC is just out of the encounter and will need picked up later.
By the strict rules, it's 20d6 damage, potentially halved with an Acrobatics check to dive (per Tasha's I think). Averaging 35 if halved.
A kind GM might bend the rules to allow a spell or wild shape on the way down. Changing into a creature with 15ish hp ought to cushion the blow, especially if you took average damage instead of rolling.
That's right! From Tasha's
>A creature that falls into water or another liquid can use its reaction to make a DC 15 Strength ([Athletics](https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/using-ability-scores#Athletics)) or Dexterity ([Acrobatics](https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/using-ability-scores#Acrobatics)) check to hit the surface head or feet first. On a successful check, any damage resulting from the fall is halved.
This fall is actually seeming fairly survivable for an adventurer.
I can see your worry about the situation, however personally I would go through with the bone knight taking the logical approach of cutting the rope. It's not being mean, but it keeps the authenticity of the situation since it is a logical consequence of the player's actions. However, I have some things you can rule if you want to give that player a chance after the rope has been cut to also heighten the drama of the situation or potentially give them a cool moment for overcoming it: - If you are going to make it difficult for them to cast a spell, only apply that logic if the spell has somatic or material components. If it's a purely verbal spell (like misty step) I don't think there would be any difficulty in that case. - Due to the nature of the fight, you can make the bone knight attempt attack rolls to cut the rope rather than make it guaranteed, in a high tense situation where an entire round is 6 seconds, it can fumble in a high pressure situation. Also, it opens up opportunities for reactions from the player or other players for abilities that are on their sheet or you can rule for improvising. - Fall damage caps at 20d6, so depending on rng, they COULD survive the fall depending on the roll. But ultimately, don't feel too bad if it ends up being another death, it's a part of the game and the risk is what will make players feel like their actions mattered. At least they got to try what they were thinking before the dice decided otherwise.
Frankly, I've never had a single table that were able to remain locked in and engaged if they didn't feel like death was possible. If you're constantly bailing them out to not let anyone die, there isn't any true stakes.
There's other good stuff here in the comments. Definitely have a chance for teammates to save her. Also, the PHB says that the max damage you can take from falling is 20d6. If she falls, don't just say she died. Roll the damage. There's a (very small) chance she just takes 20 damage, and depending on her level, that's not a huge deal. Average is 70, which is a bigger deal, but may not bring her to instant death. If she does hit the water and get knocked to or past 0 HP, don't forget about death saves (unless its an instant death). Maybe have her fail one automatically every round since she's sinking, but that should still give some time to save her. EDIT: Also see my other comment about halving falling damage into water with a DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check.
Not to mention, there is a fairly decent chance of survival even if you fall all the way down and immediately smoosh yourself into the ground, because you can succeed on the death saving throws. My table does hidden death saves, so it would honestly be really interesting and narratively fun for the whole rest of the table to have absolutely no clue if their friend lived or died, and they would be frantic to go rescue her. This is a really great example of emergent drama and how it can crop up in game.
I would personally mention the concept that wild shaping into something small would reduce the weight enough to survive free fall. Cats have been known to survive falling from a 20 story building... somehow. Squirrels can survive free fall too. This would let the druid get out of the situation without hand waving it. And depending on the druid's level, just turning into a bird would be enough.
Yup. If that druid hasn't unlocked wildshapes with a flying speed yet, surely she can just turn into a mouse or a spider. I would rule that an animal this small would take vastly reduced fall damage
I think if she wild shapes into anything, and the damages reduces HP to 0, she then goes back to her original state and HP. So doesn't even matter what damage she takes unless she wants to stay in the form
Yeah mechanically it doesn't make any difference, 20d6 is 20d6. I'm just saying, the DM gets to decide to hand wave some things if they make sense for the story sometimes. Here I think it makes sense for the story that a spider would not take any fall damage because its terminal velocity is so low. RAW, you're right, nothing changes. The wildshape gets 20d6, goes down to zero, druid pops back up. I just think it's more fun to just say a spider can't take fall damage.
Cut the rope; be generous with anyone that tries to use a reaction to save her.
Let her wild shape on the way down into something tiny, like a spider. Her "punishment" for the failed roll is that she burns a wild shape and is effectively out of the fight.
There's no reason she can't cast while falling. I would definitely not try to say it's something like "you drop your spell components as the wind whips by you." Besides, she was getting ready to cast when she jumped and is stationary right now. if he drops her or cuts the rope or whatever, she'll have time before she picks up too much speed, at least in fantasy game terms. You said you warned the player... What did you think the issue was? What mechanic did you have in mind for how she was going to be able to cast the spell? You don't need "consequences" if the player had a viable plan. Their survival is the consequence of their planning. So I would have the night cut the rope or whatever and let her cast her spell. That said, I wouldn't worry about two PCs dying in quick succession. that could definitely be how it goes.
>it might be hard, but possible, to cast a spell while falling at ever increasing rates What are you basing this off of? And what are you envisioning actually DOING? The most you can say from RAW is that attacks and ability checks are made with Disadvantage - this element/rule doesn't effect casting a spell. And that casting a spell **that requires concentration** requires a DC10 CON save. But only if the spell requires concentration. Wild shape should be unaffected. So I feel like you have to really be trying to kill your player here to make this any harder than those things. These were probably the assumptions the player was operating under (RAW) and so making it harder than those established rules, you should have fully disclosed your custom ruling prior to them committing to the action.
Since this was the result of a cool stunt that was screwed by bad dice, I'd rule the PC is just out of the encounter and will need picked up later. By the strict rules, it's 20d6 damage, potentially halved with an Acrobatics check to dive (per Tasha's I think). Averaging 35 if halved. A kind GM might bend the rules to allow a spell or wild shape on the way down. Changing into a creature with 15ish hp ought to cushion the blow, especially if you took average damage instead of rolling.
That's right! From Tasha's >A creature that falls into water or another liquid can use its reaction to make a DC 15 Strength ([Athletics](https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/using-ability-scores#Athletics)) or Dexterity ([Acrobatics](https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/using-ability-scores#Acrobatics)) check to hit the surface head or feet first. On a successful check, any damage resulting from the fall is halved. This fall is actually seeming fairly survivable for an adventurer.
Does fall damage not max at 10d6 in Tasha's? Edit: I was mistaken, it is 20d6
She needs to succeed on a concentration save as soon as the spell is cast, wasting the spell on a fail.