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Falling Damage Comparison

Mikael E said on 08.06., 19:32

Humm are you sure the statistics are right about the new falling rules? You said that the max and minimum where the same but the maximum damage one can take from falling damge is 20x6=120 damage.

This would have instantly killed Drooma i think, but think he said he got 300 damage.

Sandra said on 08.06., 22:37

No, I didn't mean to say that the maximum is the same!

The maximum is much more with the Veins falling rules, and the minimum is much less. The average is the around the same but it's much swingier and more unpredictable, that's kind of the point of them. So that a weak hero might survive a big fall but a strong hero might die.

8.75 12.25 15.75 19.25 22.75 36.75 89.25 176.75

Here's a table with the average, it's like one or two hp off usually.

DistanceOldNew
101d6 (3.5) 1d6 (3.5)
202d6 (7) 1d6 × 1d4 (8.75)
303d6 (10.5) 1d6 × 1d6 (12.25)
404d6 (14) 1d6 × 1d8 (15.76)
505d6 (17.5) 1d6 × 1d10 (19.25)
606d6 (21) 1d6 × 1d12 (22.75)
707d6 (24.5) 1d6 × 1d20 (36.75)
808d6 (28) 1d6 × 1d50 (89.25)
909d6 (31.5) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
10010d6 (35) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
11011d6 (38.5) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
12012d6 (42) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
13013d6 (45.5) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
14014d6 (49) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
15015d6 (52.5) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
16016d6 (56) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
17017d6 (59.5) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
18018d6 (63) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
19019d6 (66.5) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)
20020d6 (70) 1d6 × 1d100 (176.75)

But comparing the average, the minimum, or the maximum isn't really the most relevant thing when discussing this because the two falling damage algorithms are per definition different in how wild & unpredictable & swingy they are. So none of those previously mentioned metrics matter.

You want to know one thing.

You want to know if you're going to die.

What's so interesting with this rule is that let's say you have 8 hp and you fall 30 feet. You're taking 3d6 damage. The average is 10.5 damage so chances are you're gonna die. But what does 10.5 mean to you? You have 8 hp! You care about what is the exact chance that you are going to die on 8 hp when taking 3d6? It's 83%.

But what are the chances that your gonna die in the Veins system when 30 feet means 1d6 × 1d6 and you have 8 hp? It's 61%. So for someone with 8 hp remaining, falling in Veins is less dangerous than falling normally.

If you have 15 hp remaining, taking 3d6 damage (avg 10.5), it's more likely that you're gonna survive than die. But what's the exact chance of dying in that scenario? 9%. And, for 15 hp remaining in Veins, when fall 30 and take 1d6 × 1d6? 36%. So for someone with more HP, Veins suddenly became more dangerous than the classic system.

In both systems, it's the case that the more HP you have remaining, you are more safe than someone with fewer HP remaining. 83% is more than 9%. 61% is more than 36%.

But the Veins system makes falling always scary.

Dom har Cure Wounds till rekryt och kommendant.

Even at 20 feet it CAN bork out if you are unlucky, and give you 24 damage instead of the 12 that's the max normally. Or it can give you just one damage if you roll snake eyes and multiply one by one.

So what are the hp thresholds where the Veins system becomes more brutal?

If you have 8 or more hp and fall 20, Veins is scarier than classic.
If you have 6 or less hp and fall 20, Veins is safer than classic.
If you have 7 hp and fall 20, they're about the same.

DistanceHP brutality threshold
207
3011
4014
5018
6022
7024
8023
9025

In the end, this choice comes down to…

Do we want falling down 110 feet to be something you can just walk off as if nothing had happened or not?

If Drooma really had 120 hp, he had 33% chance of surviving with the Veins falling damage system.

He had 100% chance of surviving with the normal system since the max damage on 11d6 is 66 and it's a 110 feet fall.

33 meter är inte helt ovanligt att man överlever irl men man kan också dö.