No magic damage for climbimg fail

[Knight Of Pentacles]

Because I don't understand why a fall would count as "magical" (aka, piercing every form of resistance)

[Ebok]

It really should just be bludgeoning damage.

The ground isn't magical. The hit can be for so hard that a fall could still one-shot a wizard or sorcerer even with blur up. Barbarians with their massive DI/DR and such /should/ legitimately be more resilient to falling. Successive falls can wreck an entire healing supply.

If this isn't desired by the team, I would honestly like to know why magic damage was selected originally.

Contrarily... if things don't get changed, >_> Then make some feather fall potions.

[Vlaid]

It is kind of crazy that if you have a low HP pool, even if you are a good climber you can easily one shot yourself climbing small ledges. Nothing you can really do about it either, 1's happen

[Paha]

Magic damage is there because it's a fairly reliable manner of showing damage coming out of a fall. We do not want blur or damage resistance to block that damage. That is what would not make sense.

We could argue about density of people with more muscular build, being more resistant but that's nitpicking. It is not worth it to make elaborate scripts or mechanics by trying to bend the engine to handle such checks. So this is how it is right now.

When it comes to the damage, you can take a good hit of damage, but rarely would you one shot and kill yourself, unless you are very low with max hp and had the worst rolls.

It's a thing we discuss in the team often all the same, and it may change, it may not. For now it has remained this way, and it's likely to continue so. We are aware of all the opinions, but that won't sway mechanic changes on it's own.

[Jayde Moon]

D20 SRD rules on Damage Reduction

"A creature with this special quality ignores damage from most weapons and natural attacks."

Regardless of how far you fall, the ground/floor is not attacking you.  Nor is it a weapon.

Many 'House Rules' probably apply DR to falling, but by the wording of the rules, DR doesn't necessarily apply to falling damage.

In NWN, the best way to represent this sort of true damage is with 'Magic' damage.

[Merrick4]

I would agree that in my perspective, falling onto the ground, or a cliff would likely be bludgeoning physical or piercing physical, depending on the ledge. Why would spells, effects etc that block physical damage not block this kind of damage? I agree also from the perspective of making it slightly easier for weaker characters in this magical setting.

If you look up the word physical... Not trying to be contrarian actually, just saying from my perspective...

1
a :  of or relating to natural science
b (1) :  of or relating to physics (2) :  characterized or produced by the forces and operations of physics
2
a :  having material existence :  perceptible especially through the senses and subject to the laws of nature
b :  of or relating to material things
3
a :  of or relating to the body
b (1) :  concerned or preoccupied with the body and its needs :  carnal (2) :  sexual
c :  characterized by especially rugged and forceful physical activity :  rough
— phys·i·cal·ly  adverb
— phys·i·cal·ness  noun

[Paha]

As much as we appreacite the details and matters, we could discuss topics of what should be and what shouldn't be, forever, really.

If we wanted everything to be as proper and real, logical as we just possibly could, we should have instant kill throat slicing, ability to break a neck when you slip up and all sort of elaborate tricks and tweaks. We consider other options, but amount of opinions will not sway the outcome of whether we make changes or add some mechanics, based on suggestions. It will depend solely on basis and idea, and whether we think it's worth it over something else. Some aspects are there because we want it to be, for the sake of the game and consequences. Not even always that logical.

Read the suggestions guidelines. We consider the suggestions, and they may end up being added, or we may end up changing something. Or we may not.

[Pup]

What the DMs are getting at in the details of the problems with this is that a 250 lb. fat priest of Sharess would most likely receive far greater damage from a fall than a 90 lb. halfling rogue, but there is no easy way to implement this.  So everybody, regardless of size, weight, skill, or magical aid all get hurt the same.  Thankfully some of these still reduce the risk considerably.

[Pigadig]

Well the climbing scripts can already detect weight levels, so that's not true.

I'm pretty sure they just want it to be unblockable damage, rather than anything more complex than that.

[VanillaPudding]

The main issue is and has been the damage received from falling. Whether it is intended to detect areas, terrain, or other things really is irrelevant. It quite simply does too much damage and does not provide any true value to the server, only a penalty, and has become boring and random aspect of the server rather than a true addition towards additional flavor or otherwise.

Having a 5% chance of instant death at all times as a low HP class somewhat deters from motivating players towards exploring content and being proactive, especially when it is an event that can happen prior to even scraping at those agendas,  and I do believe that is exactly what we try to promote around here.

In short: Lower the damage taken overall, add a save for reduced damage, and make the system a -fun- tool for exploration, not a required risk of boring death.

[Nekhranokth]

^I second this. And third this. Two thumbs up to the poster above me.
((I died twice in a row on a level four sorcerer a couple of days ago. She had a maxed skill in climbing, and the ledge was barely taller than she was. She was using a climbing claw, too, if that makes a difference. Both times, I believe she was at full health. Both times, she died pretty much instantly. What I took from it? "Rocks fall, everyone dies."
That's not a very satisfying ending. Quite random. lol.

[Pup]

Pigadig:

Thankfully some of these still reduce the risk considerably.

I included variables in the examples for a reason.

While I agree mostly with VP and had written a long explanation as to why it should be changed I realized by the sheer length of my diatribe it would be rather untenable and time-consuming.

Frankly we're lucky to have such a system at all.

[Pup]

Pigadig:  I included specific variables for a reason.

As to VP's point, perhaps it could be switched to a percentile system rather than a d20 skill roll.  If you're a master climber you're not going to fall from a prepared rope 5% of the time.  Most things are fine with d20 rolls, but as VP pointed out this is a rather important skill in this new setting.

[Gippy]

Magic damage is simply used to represent unblock able damage in the engine. Bleeding is also magic damage, for instance.

[Tyshalle]

Damage type doesn't matter to me so much, as I mostly agree that armor would only minimally protect against falls, and so it doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is that I can have a master climber with a +20 roll and he's still gonna take a fall an unrealistic amount of the time. Knowing that even the best climber in the world is statistically likely to fall on every expedition is a difficult thing to understand, or be in favor of.