Falling

A fall is a collision with an immovable object: the ground. 

Find your velocity when you hit using the Falling Velocity Table.

Example: Bill is pushed out a fifth-story window. He falls 17 yards. When he hits the street, his velocity is 19 yards/second. Bill has 10 HP, but he uses twice this because he hit a “hard” surface. Damage is (2 x 10 x 19)/100 = 3.8d, which rounds up to 4d crushing.

Falls and Armor:
All armor, flexible or not (but not innate DR), counts as “flexible” for the purpose of calculating blunt trauma from falling damage. Thus, even if the victim has enough armor DR to stop the falling damage, he suffers 1 HP of injury per 5 points of falling damage. See Flexible Armor and Blunt Trauma (p. 379). 

Controlled Falls:
If you are free to move, you can use Acrobatics skill to land properly. On a success, reduce falling distance by five yards when calculating velocity. If falling into water, you can do this or attempt a proper dive (see above) – decide which first! 

Terminal Velocity:
“Terminal velocity” is the maximum speed a falling object can achieve before air resistance negates further acceleration under gravity. Air resistance is relatively negligible for distances shown on the table, but increases drastically for longer falls. Terminal velocity varies greatly by object. For human-shaped objects on Earth, it is 60-100 yards/second. Use the low end for a spread-eagled fall, the high end for a swan dive. For dense objects (e.g., rocks) or stream-lined objects, it can be 200 yards/second or more!

The terminal velocity rules assume Earth-normal gravity (1G) and atmospheric pressure (1 atm.). Multiply terminal velocity by the square root of gravity in Gs. Then divide it by the square root of pressure in atm. Thus, gravity under 1G, or pressure above 1 atm., reduces terminal velocity; gravity over 1G, or pressure below 1 atm., increases it. Note that terminal velocity is unlimited in a vacuum!

Damage from Falling Objects

If an object falls on someone, find its velocity on the table above and calculate damage as for an ordinary collision. To hit someone with a dropped object, use Dropping skill (p. 189). Most dropped objects will have Acc 1. Your target cannot avoid the object unless he knows it’s coming. If he’s aware of it, he can dodge.

A falling object with a Size

Modifier equal to or greater than that

of whoever it lands on impedes the

victim’s movement. He may move only

one yard on his next turn, and his

active defenses are -3. These penalties

result from bulk, not mass, so ST is

irrelevant.