Houserules: Falling Down ...

Watching The Ruins the other day (a mediocre horror which was more 'extended Dungeons & Dragons encounter' than plotline; however, all being well, more on that later this week), there were several scenes of people, basically, falling down 'pit traps' and every time they busted themselves up worse than the traditional 1d6/10 foot we all know.

Which got me thinking - that no-one ever breaks a bone when they are suddenly dropped down 30 foot shafts... which in turn made me think (a) a houserule is called for and (b) it needs a table.

So this is what I have come up with - trying to keep it as simple and intuitive as possible:

For the "save versus broken bones" characters may add their Level to their DEX score for their target number. (Also use of a Hero Point - for any depth of fall - negates the chance of broken bones and halves the damage)

To determine which bones are broken roll your handy-dandy hit location die, or if you are lucky enough to own Booty and The Beasts roll on the hit location chart there, or simply roll a d12 and consult below.

Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

NB. With leg/foot breaks running is impossible. With a skull fracture there is a 25 per cent chance of brain damage (-1d3 INT and -1 WIS).

As always, comments and constructive criticisms are welcome - consider this a work-in-progress (especially when it comes to the effects of broken bones as I have no medical background or personal experience with broken bones).