---
title: Falling
description: "When a character falls or jumps from a high place, they risk serious injury. The level of risk depends on how far the character falls and the outcome of a [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check. The standard abstract distances used in the Core…"
url: "https://openadventurerpg.com/coc/falling/"
updated: "2026-04-27"
category: Rules Modules
---

# Falling

When a character falls or jumps from a high place, they risk serious injury. The level of risk depends on how far the character falls and the outcome of a [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check. The standard abstract distances used in the Core Rules, however, are too broad for determining the risk of damage from a fall, so measured distances are used in these situations.

## Avoiding Fall Injury

Falling characters must make a [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check to avoid taking damage when they hit the ground. The base [Difficulty Score](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/difficulty-score/) is 0 if the character purposely jumped or 2 if the character fell unexpectedly. For every yard the character fell, add a [Drawback](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/drawback/) to the [Difficulty Score](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/difficulty-score/).

```
Ezarel and Spyder are fighting a fiendish giant ape near the edge of a 15-foot cliff. The ape slams into Ezarel and pushes them off the cliff. Ezarel must make a Coordination Check to avoid injury, but since they weren’t expecting to go over the cliff, the base Difficulty Score to avoid damage is 2. Since they are falling 5 yards, the Adventure Guide adds 5 Drawbacks to the Difficulty Score for a final Difficulty Score of 7. Spyder, not wanting to remain alone on the cliff, decides to leap off the cliff. Spyder makes a Coordination Check AS well. Since Spyder is purposefully jumping off the cliff his base Difficulty Score is 0, but Spyder still has 5 Drawbacks for the height, giving him a final Difficulty Score of 5.
```

If the [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check succeeds, the character lands safely and avoids injury. If the [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check fails, the character loses a number of [Body Points](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/body-points/) equal to the amount they rolled under the [Difficulty Score](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/difficulty-score/). Only Armor with the [Padded](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/padded/) trait reduces falling damage. Characters reduced to 0 [Body Points](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/body-points/) suffer a [Wound](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/wound/) normally. When the character makes a [Death Check](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/death-check/), apply a number of [Drawbacks](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/drawbacks/) to the [Death Check](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/death-check/)’s [Difficulty Score](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/difficulty-score/) equal to the number of yards the character fell.

## Stunts: Assisting the Check

One way to avoid injury from a potentially deadly fall is by performing a [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) [AS](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/as/) an Assist to the character’s own [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) Score for the [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check (see **Assist** in Appendix B: [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) Library). [AS](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/as/) with all Stunts, the player must describe an [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) that is plausible, even if it is highly improbable. Examples include aiming for branches to break the fall, using a sword to cut through a ship’s sail to jump safely from the crow’s nest, bouncing off an awning, or landing in a pile of straw. A success increases the [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) Score for the character’s [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check, but the character must still make the [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check.

## Stunts: Stopping the Fall

Characters may also use Stunts to arrest or prevent the fall. These include Stunts performed by the person falling, such [AS](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/as/) grabbing a protruding ledge [AS](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/as/) they fall past, or by other characters, such [AS](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/as/) swinging out with a [Rope](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/rope/) to [Grab](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/grab/) the falling character or dashing over and grabbing their hand at the last moment.

If the character is performing a [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) to stop their own fall, the Adventure Guide sets the [Difficulty Score](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/difficulty-score/) based on the [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) the character describes. If the [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) succeeds, their plan works and they stop their fall. If the [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) fails, the character suffers the normal loss of Points for a failed [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/). In addition, the character may not make a [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check to slow their fall.

If another character performs a [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) to stop the falling character’s fall, on a success the [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) succeeds and the fall is stopped. If the [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) fails, the character making the [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) Check suffers the normal loss of [Body Points](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/body-points/). The falling character, however, may still attempt their own [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) to stop the fall or Assist their [Action](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/action/) Check if the Adventure Guide approves. In addition, the falling character may still make their [Coordination](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/coordination/) Check at the end of the fall if another character’s [Stunt](https://openadventurerpg.com/glossary/stunt/) to stop them fails.