No magic damage for climbimg fail

[Knight Of Pentacles]

Two words: Safety Hats

[Ebok]

I'm hearing two things in this suggestion. First that magic dmg needs to be replaced. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen.

Second, that climbing is too hard (dmg needs to be lowered, dc rolls changed, etc). This is a better suggestion in my mind. The idea of a reflex save on a roll of one is probably the least difficult to implement. However, I don't think that because it is difficult for certain classes to climb that the whole system needs to be altered. Wizards are frail, maybe they shouldn't be climbing up mountains? Maybe that's too harsh?

How about this idea? A new item or piece of equipment to "replace" the climbing claw for those characters that might need it. I know there are harnesses etc around. This item could only be used while climbing and offer 5DR magic dmg. I don't know if that is even possible given the system. The important part being the item could only be used while climbing.

I don't think an item use can give DR against magic damage. Even if so, I'd be worried about any item potentially preventing bleeding or drowning damage, even if by bugging out. You might be able to script a different type of claw that changes the damage formula used on the fall...

You could also reduce the falling damage taken by the efuss climbing skill.

However, as the fall is suppose to represent Risk... What if a fall attracted nearby monsters (like the shrieking mushroom but within closer range) and you were dazed rather then taking damage. That way its still very risky, no one wants to be dazed in the underdark, and trying to climb up a wall isnt killing you...

It would also be nice if you could have a second use on a rope to pull someone up. Strength roll, or a test against your encumbrance. More cooperation is always a cool thing to see.
 

It does feel that the damage is more of quick fix to make climbing dangerous... and really... none of the cliffs we can climb IG would be all that dangerous to climb by anyone that took even halfway sensible precautions. Climbing harnesses for one are designed to prevent people from really hurting themselves... and those are simply pitons and a safety rope.

It could be neat to see huge cliff-faces that could be scaled with great climbing rolls however, like DC 30+. They would transition you a long way up or down, or on a miss drop you into another area.  We had suicide point on EFUa and EFUm, which seemed a more productive narrative use of falling damage.

[LiAlH4]

Climbing is a dangerous activity, especially free-climbing as most PCs are. If you wanted to roleplay extremely careful, harnessed climbing in a DM quest, I am certain we would take that into account. Foot and hand holds aren't always stable and most characters are climbing with heavy packs on their persons. Some misguided notion of realism would dictate some consequences for a slip-up in such an activity; falling on your head isn't outside the realm of possibility.

Exciting climbing opportunities are in the works, with much more to come. It will not get easier, however, and the damage will remain magic damage.

[Aefar]

Is there failure on 1 when using ladder? I think that there should be much smaller probability of fall than when climbing without a ladder and rope.

My suggestion is removing it from ladders. And the sorcerors has to find strong warriors who can carry their ladder ;)