I am curious about people's thoughts on the falling damage mechanics in this system. Each time this comes up, my group agrees that they are too harsh and punish fun ideas due to one bad roll. Should falling from a short distance really be 10 wounds AND 10 soak? Beyond short distance it is almost guaranteed to K/O the player, or party if it is several characters. And that is even with the rules to use athletics/coordination to dampen the blow. I'm conflicted, because it does introduce an (in my opinion) exciting dynamic in terms of setting high stakes, and falling to one's presumed death is a very Star Wars trope (Darth Maul, the Emperor, Han Solo, nearly Luke, etc.)

How have you felt about it or used it when it comes up in your games?

Throw yourself off a second story roof and let me know how you feel. It's 20ish feet, that's a pretty healthy drop.

You don't have to use them if you don't agree with them. In my games, If a player missed an Athletics check trying to Neo from one roof to another, I would probably have them take a flat 5 unsoaked wounds and allow the to catch a fire escape on the adjacent building.

I also think part of the problem is you're setting up a dice pool chokepoint. If the consequences are too harsh for a failed roll, don't roll the dice. I mean honestly what is the point of risk of failure if you don't want to suffer the consequences.

Plus, don't set up the result of a failure to mean they automatically fall from the max distance. If it's just a failure with no real super ugly results, then you just interpret the dice to mean they slipped as soon as they started climbing from like 3 feet. Save the falling from the full 20ish feet for a Despair result on a failure, with multiple Threats meaning whatever you like.

Okay, we've got a couple of things to unpack here, so bear with me.

The first is this: falling from a short-range distance means you take 10 wounds and 10 strain. While very painful, keep in mind that this is by no means guaranteed to be fatal, or even to incapacitate someone. An average human (PC), unless they've already been in a scuffle, will still have 5 wounds and 3 strain left to take before they're even over their threshold. Which means you can still act, and you don't take a Critical Injury. And since they only way to die is through a Critical Injury of 151 or more, there's no way a fall by the book can kill a PC unless they are already severely injured. Incapacitate? Yeah, sure, but not kill.

A fall from Medium range is much worse (considering it could be a couple dozen meters or more, it definitely should be!), but still unlikely to kill the PC. Incapacitate? Definitely: 30 wounds and 20 strain means that anyone is out, and most likely at double their threshold, taking a Critical Injury in the process. But even with my person houserule that every wound over 2x your wound threshold adds +1 to the Crit you take, you're still unlikely to kill a PC, unless they're running around Jason Bourne style with five Critical Injuries still untreated. You need a fall from Long range or higher to have a good chance at that.

Second, as our friendly neighborhood pirate said, failure and Despair are different things. Remember, this isn't d20 where it's binary, we've got some wiggle room. Success means you did what you were trying to do; Failure means you didn't do what you were trying to do; Despair means that the worst possible outcome of what you were trying to do happens. In mot cases, falling is the worst possible outcome, so it should be reserved for a Despair. If the character failed, then they didn't make it to the other side in the manner they were hoping for . Maybe they were a little short and are hanging from the wall (or a fire escape, as previously mentioned). If it was a chase, pulling themselves up took so much time that the perp got away. But they don't fall unless they fail with a Despair, and even then it's not likely to be to their death unless it's a really really long way down.

Throw yourself off a second story roof and let me know how you feel. It's 20ish feet, that's a pretty healthy drop.

20ish feet is a 3rd story. second story is 10-ish

Throw yourself off a second story roof and let me know how you feel. It's 20ish feet, that's a pretty healthy drop.

20ish feet is a 3rd story. second story is 10-ish

The roof of the second floor I believe is what I said gotcha guy, which would be the third floor if you built it.

I remember playing an old Star Wars video game around the time of Episode I. The droids never killed me, the tanks never killed me, but those falls off the bottom of the screen from a missed jump were lethal every time. Maybe this is the thought that devised the FFG falling rules.

Are these damage values too harsh? I don't know. Consider that falling damage is also a pretty good way to kill a well-constructed nemesis, but does so in a manner that allows them to return if it serves the story.

It is also great for killing minions, rivals, monsters and walkers.

Also, a chasm only exists if the story puts it there. A boring module does away with this element of danger entirely. A destiny flip opens it up or puts handrails on it, etc.

Considering an unplanned fall from 10-20ft can cause you to break a leg/arm/collar bone. This is a crit, so I see no problem with the dmg caused. Its hardly lethal, unless you are carrying previous wounds. Also I would call a fall on a despair only anyway, failure as pointed out only means you failed your objective, and despair will only occur on an upgraded check.

Success means you did what you were trying to do; Failure means you didn't do what you were trying to do; Despair means that the worst possible outcome of what you were trying to do happens. In mot cases, falling is the worst possible outcome, so it should be reserved for a Despair. If the character failed, then they didn't make it to the other side in the manner they were hoping for . Maybe they were a little short and are hanging from the wall (or a fire escape, as previously mentioned). If it was a chase, pulling themselves up took so much time that the perp got away. But they don't fall unless they fail with a Despair, and even then it's not likely to be to their death unless it's a really really long way down.

Yes, generally this, as the pirate said. However, I'll disagree that Despair is the "worst possible outcome". This is over selling something that happens quite often, never mind that you've left no room for getting two or more despairs. Despair is simply an added challenge or complication, the designers just chose the term for marketing reasons, because "despair" sounds more exciting. So you could use a despair to add wounds or even a crit to a failed roll, representing a partial fall and the injuries sustained scrabbling for purchase.

The other issue is that even if you allow an actual fall (which I would only do during an appropriately cinematic moment), it's really hard to kill the character. Even if they exceed their WT they only take one crit, and unless they have some other crits already, or you intentionally put Vicious 4 spikes at the bottom, they're going to survive. Per RAW, the most damage they can take is 2*WT, so all it really means is a rescue and a lot of bacta. At that point you're in uncharted territory though, so you should feel free to rule that things like stimpacks and "field medicine" are ineffective.

For the OP, one big thing to remember, jumping from 20 feet is different than falling from 20. Parkour runners, and acrobats can easily jump down from those heights without any damage, and most people could do a jump from about 10 feet with no damage. But falling is not landing on your legs and doing a roll to absorb the impact; instead you land on your back, side, or head! When your characters do fall, they can make an acrobatics check to reduce the damage.

I know this is a cinematic game, but in real life a fall of just 4 feet has been proven to be fatal. People can just pass out and fall over and hit their head, resulting in horrible damage. I don't feel the game is being too harsh with the falling damage.

If you don't want your characters to fall, then why build an encounter with the threat of falling is there?

Remember, you apply the character's soak to the wounds taken (but not the strain).

Personally I'll frequently shave off some of the damage based on what the character is landing on, whether the world has lighter-than-standard gravity, and so on. Also, there's nothing wrong with adding a few boost dice to the character's Coordination check to reduce damage if they do things like dangle from their fingertips before letting go, try to pick a good spot to land, and so on.

Remember, you apply the character's soak to the wounds taken (but not the strain).

Personally I'll frequently shave off some of the damage based on what the character is landing on, whether the world has lighter-than-standard gravity, and so on. Also, there's nothing wrong with adding a few boost dice to the character's Coordination check to reduce damage if they do things like dangle from their fingertips before letting go, try to pick a good spot to land, and so on.

Are you sure? I thought you applied Soak to both Wound and Strain damage.

Are you sure? I thought you applied Soak to both Wound and Strain damage.

From the text of all of the core rule books:

"Damage is reduced by soak; however, the strain suffered is not."

I checked all 3 books. Look for "Falling" in the "Environmental Effects" section of the "Combat and Conflict" chapter of any of the books.

I know this is a cinematic game, but in real life a fall of just 4 feet has been proven to be fatal. People can just pass out and fall over and hit their head, resulting in horrible damage. I don't feel the game is being too harsh with the falling damage.

about 18" is all it takes. Hit your head on a curb under no muscle control and it can be fatal. Might not kill you right away, but blood and grey/white brain matter don't mix well.

Remember, you apply the character's soak to the wounds taken (but not the strain).

Personally I'll frequently shave off some of the damage based on what the character is landing on, whether the world has lighter-than-standard gravity, and so on. Also, there's nothing wrong with adding a few boost dice to the character's Coordination check to reduce damage if they do things like dangle from their fingertips before letting go, try to pick a good spot to land, and so on.

Are you sure? I thought you applied Soak to both Wound and Strain damage.

Throw yourself off a second story roof and let me know how you feel. It's 20ish feet, that's a pretty healthy drop.

Counterpoint: Indiana Jones throws himself off (or falls from) tall things all the time and suffers little for it.

Also:

*flips destiny point*

"Thank goodness this Foam Rubber Salesmen convention was in town!"

Advice from a penguin. Words to live by...

Throw yourself off a second story roof and let me know how you feel. It's 20ish feet, that's a pretty healthy drop.

Counterpoint: Indiana Jones throws himself off (or falls from) tall things all the time and suffers little for it.

So do most movie heroes. That's why you see "Harrison Ford's stuntman" and such in the credits at the end. But if we want to use Hollywood in place of reality, then why don't cars explode all the time from getting into accidents? I see 2 or 3 most every week, but they look like crumpled metal and broken plastic, not burnt pieces of shrapnel all over the road.

Ahh I'm so glad 1966 Batman movie is currently on Netflix.

@BatLabels is the second best thing on Twitter.

@BatLabels is the second best thing on Twitter.

Two things:

1) What is the first best thing on Twitter?

2) WHY THE HELL WAS I NOT TOLD ABOUT THIS EARLIER!!!

So do most movie heroes. That's why you see "Harrison Ford's stuntman" and such in the credits at the end. But if we want to use Hollywood in place of reality, then why don't cars explode all the time from getting into accidents? I see 2 or 3 most every week, but they look like crumpled metal and broken plastic, not burnt pieces of shrapnel all over the road.

Wait - we're playing Real Life: The Role Playing Game?

Naw, I'd much rather play a game where I can punch 10 Ninja, get dragged behind a car and then get into a sword fight on top of a out-of-control semi truck with The White Ninja.

And yes. Landspeeders in my game do explode like someone just drove a Pinto full of tissue paper, lighter fluid and case of dynamite into a fireworks factory .

@BatLabels is the second best thing on Twitter.

Two things:

1) What is the first best thing on Twitter?

2) WHY THE HELL WAS I NOT TOLD ABOUT THIS EARLIER!!!

Mark Hamill is the best thing on twitter.