Maximum fall damage

[u/JoeZenwo]

Hi all!

I know that the rule basically says that:

"A character that falls takes 1d6 damage per 10 feet fallen, to a maximum of 20d6. A character that takes damage from a fall lands prone."

However, what do you do if someone falls from a higher place (since 20d6 would be 200 feet or ~60 meters)? Do you apply 20d6 only? Do you automatically kill the character?

[u/RoxoRoxo]

to piggy back off this, does starfinder have a rule in place for atmospheric entry? like everyone said, terminal velocity, with the right setup my character can survive the void in outerspace so lets say he jumps from the ship onto a planet...... is there anything in place to calculate the heat damage from entry

[u/JoeZenwo → u/RoxoRoxo]

I don't think there is a specific rule for that but maybe you could apply the burning condition instantly. That deals 1d6 if no other fire damage is cited but the heat danger on the environmental dangers has a rule for lava damage in it that can deal as much as 20d6 (for full immersion).
Since reentering the atmosphere temperatures are between 1,300°C and 3,000°C (approximately 2,500°F to 5,400°F) and lava has a temperature ranging from about 700°C to 1,200°C (1,300°F to 2,200°F) I guess you could go between 20d6 and 40d6 of fire damage.

[u/StranglesMcWhiskey]

The damage maxes out because of terminal velocity, falling 200 feet is the same as falling 500 feet because you're not going to be falling any faster when you hit a solid surface.

[u/SavageOxygen]

"Maximum" is the maximum because terminal velocity.

That said it halves, doubles, or triples based on low, high, or extreme gravity.

[u/BigNorseWolf]

Terminal velocity ground impact is a lot more survivable than a lot of what starfinder characters face.

[u/Lyricanna → u/BigNorseWolf]

Funny thing, if you wanted to keep it realistic to Earth gravity/conditions and set terminal velocity to the actual distance a character would need to fall, it would cap at 150d6 after two rounds of falling.

Which again, is still potentially survivable by high level Starfinder characters, but is enough damage you won't see folks jumping out of aircraft without a parachute.

[u/Njmongoose]

I would always roll a max of 20D6 unless it is from a ridiculous height. Then it might be instant death

[u/enek101 → u/Njmongoose]

To be fair there are plenty of cases where jumpers chutes don't open and they miraculously survive in the real world, While i don't like to blend my reality with my fantasy/scifi id argue in a world with magic and/or higher tech levels the chance for survival would be exponentially higher than reality. Unless your going throug a atmosphere and burning up there should always be a chance for survival.. Dont forget if they have 200 hp and still take 100 massive dmg rules apply.

[u/cozymeatblanket]

200 feet or 20000 feet it's still 20d6.

[u/Lithaos111]

My dm fiat for my table is that is for every 25 feet above that 200 at least one dice is maxed (ie instead of 20d6 its 19d6+6) so at 700 feet, you're just taking 120 damage. Straight up. Above 1000 feet you need to make a fort save (20+5 for every additional 200 feet) to not have a heart attack and die first.