Jumping in Combat

RPGC Community Realm of the Dragons Forum
#1

For Mudcap’s new Campaign that he will be doing soon (which is going to be insane and highly RP based and in 3e if you need a bit of context) I am playing a transmuter (wizard with transmutation specialty) that has, as a result of some hilarious things he did before the start of the campaign, been turned into a half squirrel (he doesnt mind because he thinks hes better this way)

he also let me get a randomly rolled magical item (within fair limits) and I got an improved ring of jumping (+10 to jump checks) but it has some odd curses that I wont get into

now a transmuter with a +10 racial bonus and ignoring height penalties (for being a half squirrel, Mudcap decided on these himself) and a +10 bonus for having the ring plus expeditious retreat (double jump distance) and the jump spell (+30 to jump checks, ignore height limits) both of which are transmutation in addition to his regular jump skill that adds up to +4 as a base means that I can have an effective jump modifier of +54

checking the tables for a running jump that adds up to a max of 69 feet jumping distance which is doubled for expeditious retreat to a maximum jump of 138 feet in a running long jump

for a running high jump I can jump 18 feet in the air, also doubled for expeditious retreat to 36 feet into the air

I checked and double checked my info here and checked the stack/non-stack things and it all checks out and Mudcap really doesnt mind this because its gonna be a crazy and fun campaign anyway and really considering the squirrel stuff and relative sizes it isnt exactly impossible for him to jump that far and keep in mind that this is all magically enhanced to FAR beyond the area of natural physics

so my question is: what effect would charging down on somebody from 36 feet in the air or leaping at them from 138 feet have on combat rolls?

the simplest way would be treating it as a charge but that doesnt really take into account the extreme amounts of height going on in these cases

any ideas?

and would a character doing an intentional jump like this suffer falling damage? because I only have 6 HP so I could die jumping that far if thats how it works :slight_smile:

#2

I imagine that damage received from falling objects would be covered in either the player’s handbook or the DM book. You’ll just need to keep in mind the weight of your mage, what he’s landing on, how fast he’s going, and whatnot.

And if he’s high enough, yes, he should take some damage from falling. So you should be careful about that.

#3

it isnt as much of him falling on somebody as it is his dagger’s point falling on somebody :slight_smile:

#4

Well, I kinda assume that a person hat can junp from that high could land it. I think possible damage should be taken if you miss, like if someone dodges screwing up how you were going to land. Man a rogue with that skill would rule, be all like Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon.

#5

thats what I was thinking on the fall damage, only if I screw up

I would say that you wouldnt take falling damage for simplicity (but on an attack roll of 1 you would prolly fall on your face ^_^)

but its an interesting thing to think about…

#6

Heres his background for laughs, I intend to roleplay his 7 wisdom to the fullest as you can see ^_^:

Allen Crowmint was born in a small village and his mother and father were killed by wolves shortly after he was born. He was raised in a cave by a hermit dragon who found him in the forest. He was fascinated by his changes from dragon to human and asked if he could teach him, he tried to explain all about the fact that they were very different, but because he rarely left the cave Allen just couldnt grasp the concept of the boundaries between species. When he set out on his own at the age of 15 he was mauled by a bear while asking it how it got its claws (because he thought they looked really cool) and he awoke 8 days later in the care of Armid the leader of an order of transmuters. He quickly became fascinated with this man and his ability to change forms and Armid noted that Allen had some huge potential and accepted him as an apprentice. Though he is a little more knowledgeable about certain boundaries he really has no attachment to the ideas of distinct species and likes to “improve” and “diversify” things because he assumes that people have the same opinion on these things as him and he often states that “anything done by magic is for the better, even death magic is good because if you are dumb enough to piss off a strong wizard you shouldnt reproduce.” He is a strong believer in survival of the fittest. When Armid died he instructed Allen to carry out the things stated in his will and give the important items of his order to his other apprentices (who were far more skilled) but Allen just couldnt help playing with the inheritance of the eldest apprentice. He eventually ran off with an orb (the symbol of their order, which he broke trying to focus magic into it which also turned him into a half-squirrel) a wand of polymorph any object, and various scrolls and items. He traveled the land “improving” people with his magic and learning to use it until the items ran out, he left a handful of mutants in his wake wherever he went and they all hunt him seeking cures and revenge. Meanwhile the other members of his order were trying to track him down because the orb that he broke was the symbol of their leader and they couldnt appoint a new one without it.

you really gotta love the insanity and RP opportunities for this character, though I do feel sorry for the players who are with him when he reaches a high level…

“Why wouldnt you want a 3rd arm? Youre better like this!”
“Whats wrong with the tail? it looks great on you!”
“Who wants to be a human? Youre much stronger as a goat.”
“Who DOESNT want a marsupial pouch?”
“Being bipedal is overated, think of this as an opportunity to become closer to the earth.”

#7

Actually, if you read the Sword and Fist handbook, there’s a feat that allows you to make charge attacks when you jump, and without attacks of opportunity, I believe.

It’s Mantis Leap, I think.

#8

make him take a feat for it? sounds good to me. Personally I think that it would be easy to dodge someone coming from that high up so I’d give them bonuses to thier armor class. How about you can jump without hurting yourself but to divebomb someone with your weapon screws up your landing without the feat, and you take some falling damage. Sounds fair, as for how much damage is added to your blow… I’ll figure that one out later.

heh you think his character is messed up? You should see the NPCs, he certainly gives them a run for thier money though. Deedly is supposed to be posting the highlights of this campaign somewhere, you’ll meet them there.

#9

If you jump such a distance in a single round, I suppose you’ll be in a very fast speed. Some weapons may cause double damage.

I remember some lances deal double damage at high speeds. I also remember there is a kind of single-handed weapon that avian creatures (I forgot the name, nut I’ll check in my mounstrous manual 2 ed) use when air-diving on their enemies that also do double damage due to the speed.

#10

I’d be careful with jumping around like that, an evil (or bored) DM might play a little trick on you, your character’s ability to jump very far and high is one thing, but he doesn’t necessaraly have the ability to land safely. Almost all the magical items in D&D that give super jumping abilities have a little note at the bottom of their description, most don’t give one the ability to land safely afterwards, if you’re not careful you might start taking damage from some of these fantastic jumps.

#11

The worst I would do is require two jump checks, one for the actual jump and one for landing. Do note, however, that since the same bonus would apply to both, he’s got a pretty good chance of landing safely.

The Jump skill can be used to ‘jump down from a high place without taking damage.’ It doesn’t take much more reasoning to figure that he is unlikely to take damage from this kind of jumping if that is the way the skill works.