How to calculate fall damage in DND

Some might say the most dangerous part Dungeons & Dragons is the Dungeon Master, but arguably the more dangerous part is the player. Many campaigns have ended up with good ideas gone wrong, bad ideas gone well, or simply bad ideas gone wrong.

Related

Dungeons & Dragons: Tips for dungeon masters on how to balance encounters

As a DM, you probably want your encounters to be challenging, but not impossible. Here are some tips to ensure they are balanced.

The stronger the player character becomes and the more powerful equipment and skills they acquire, the more they turn into a walking glass case of nitroglycerin. One of the ways players usually get injured beyond recognition is by falling, but there are several factors to consider when calculating fall damage.

Updated January 13, 2025 by Jack Filsinger: With the release of the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, additional instructions were provided on how to improvise damage, including fall damage. We have updated this guide to reflect these changes.

How to define fall damage

A magic user in Dungeons & Dragons spells.
Magic User by Tuan Duong Chu

Unlike most video games, Dungeons & Dragons players take realism very seriously, aside from all the fantastical elements that define it. Although there is a wide variety of species, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, most of them will still be badly damaged by the fall long way to earth

Player characters and NPCs are entitled to fall damage once they fall more than ten feet. However, use equipment, racial bonuses, class bonuses, passive skills, and active magic before you deal the damage dice.

How to calculate fall damage

A Dungeons & Dragons adventure party climbs a tower using a rope.
Infiltration by Craig J Spearing

Based on the current version of Dungeons & Dragons, characters take falling damage in ten-foot bursts. After falling the first ten feet, the character has a chance to take 1d6 damage when falling. Every additional ten feet adds another d6, up to a maximum of 20d6.

This has a max damage 120 hit pointswhich is enough to kill most player characters.

Depending on the type of terrain (rocky, spiky, grassy, ​​etc.) you can add or subtract damage as you see fit. If it exceeds the 20d6 limit, you do not add any additional damage diceso this leads to an interesting scenario where a bulky character can fall thousands of feet and still take just over 100 points of damage.

For flying creatures, the calculations are a little different. If anything happens to a flier that causes it to stop flying (knocked down on its belly, stunned by an attack, etc.) it begins to fall from the distance it was when it was stopped.

However, for the sake of realism, most fliers will react in some way to reduce speed when falling, such as flapping. To calculate this, subtract the speed the flyer was traveling from the drop height get the right amount of d6s.

If it's a fall during combat, you can discuss how to best treat it. General the rule of thumb is to treat the fall as immediate. As an example, imagine a battle where two players are fighting a goblin archer stationed on a watchtower. One player casts a spell on the orc, causing him to lose his balance and fall.

The watchtower is 30 feet (so the orc would take 3d6 falling damage), but an orc can hit the ground the moment he falls, or the group can discuss a scenario where player two tries to somehow stop his descent.

However, falls from extreme heights cannot be considered instantaneous. If a creature falls from a greater than 590 feet (the distance he would fall in six seconds, which is the time represented in one round of combat), you will need to determine how long it will take to reach the ground. This is only really relevant when falling from a flying kite or hot air balloon or something.

How to improvise fall damage

In Dungeons & Dragons, a large rock-like fortress falls from the sky in flames.
Flying Fortress by Calder Moore

Sometimes in the heat of battle it can be difficult to stop the flow of things and calculate the damage caused by the fall. If you need to quickly improvise fall damageThe DM 2024 guide offers instructions on how to do this come up with damage numbers on the spot.

They exist two things keep in mind here. Character Level and Consequence Level you want to impose on your players. See the chart below for reference.

Character level

Difficulty

Deadly

1-4

5 (1d10)

11 (2d10)

5-10

11 (2d10)

22 (4d10)

11-16

22 (4d10)

55 (10d10)

17-20

55 (10d10)

99 (18d10)

What affects the fall damage calculation?

A large giant holds a rock so the adventurers can escape.
D&D Bigby Presents: Glory Of The Giants by Jonas Ronnegard

There are a number of spells, items, and abilities that can affect fall damage. Essentially, anything that allows flight prevents fall damage (assuming the creature is still actively flying), a anything that provides resistance or immunity to strikes also prevents fall damage. Some of these sources are listed below.

Class Abilities

Class

Ability

Description

Monk

Slow fall

Reduces fall damage to five times your monk level.

Barbarian

Rage

Grants impact damage resistance that halves fall damage.

Charms

Magic

Level

Description

Feather fall

1st level spell

Reduces the descent of falling creatures to 60 feet per round, taking no fall damage upon reaching the ground.

Levitate

2nd level spell

The target levitates 20 feet above the ground and gently floats to the ground after the spell ends.

Fly

3rd level spell

Provides a flight speed of up to 60 feet. Lasts 10 minutes (at which point the creature falls if not on the ground).

Items

Name

Rarity

Description

Winged shoes

Less common

Grants flight speed equal to walking speed. After the duration expires, descend at 30 feet per round.

Wingwear

Less common

Gain a flight speed of 30 feet. At the end of each round, your height drops by five feet.

Ring of Feather Falling

Less common

Grants Feather Fall effects when worn.

Broom flying

Less common

Provides a flight speed of up to 50 feet.

Species abilities

Species

Ability

Description

Aarakocra

Flight

Flight speed equal to walking speed.

Aasimar

Heavenly Revelation – Radiant Soul

Flight speed equal to walking speed.

Air Genasi

Blend with the wind

Cast Feather Fall, Levitate spells once per long rest.

Villa

Flight

Flight speed equal to walking speed.

Owlin

Flight

Flight speed equal to walking speed.

Other

Classic puzzles used by every good DM in Dungeons & Dragons

These classic D&D puzzles will bring humor, mayhem, intrigue and more to your tabletop campaigns.

Leave a Comment