Need a creative way to drop a player...

[Bad Luck Charm]

....1000+ feet from the air and have them survive it.

I need a fun/creative way to literally drop a character into an environment.

Requirements:

1) They have to start at least 500 feet off the ground
2) They have to get to the ground without dying
3) The entry has to be plausible (i.e. "Poof! You're suddenly 1000 feet in the air with no explanation!" won't work).
4) The game is set in modern day Earth, so any technology/vehicle/device that can get you that high up in the air in real life is acceptable as a plot device.

If it matters, the character in question is a thrill-seeking heir to a massive fortune.

I've asked my other players to contribute ideas, but I figure I'll open this to everybody.

[Benicus]

Obvious choice that I'd go with was skydiving.

[Bad Luck Charm]

I don't want an obvious choice though :) I want something bizarre, funny, or stupid.

My players suggested:
1) He bought his way onto a space mission and the shuttle crashes on it's landing approach back to earth
2) Skydiving in a Squirrel Suit

[Shoelip]

He's also obsessed with buying random stuff right? What about a jetpack? Maybe he crashed his blimp. I know, he crashed his jetpack into his blimp.

[Candleman]

I was going to suggest he's testing out a jetpack.

[TreyKincaide]

Stuntman filming a movie.

Swashbuckler dagger riding down a banner

Bruce Wayne wannabe with a bat grapple who hits the ground and says, "What? Doesn't everyone have one of these?"

[Fulmen]

Trebuchet accident :)

Every Millionaire has one right?

[LeadPal]

Trebuchet accident That's the best one yet, by far! :D

But I think he somehow bought himself a restored Boeing B-29, got drunk, and decided it would be cool to ride one of the bombs to the ground.

[-J-]

Plane breaks up in mid flight - not unlike the Hawaiian flight that the plane just opened like a tin can and the first nine rows of people were sucked out. Depending on where you were in the flight you could be anywhere from one to many thousand feet above the ground.

[LeadPal]

Maybe the bomb went off while still in the bomber!

[Bad Luck Charm]

2) They have to get to the ground without dying

I think you guys missed this requirement. :tsk:

Trebuchet might be interesting though.

[LeadPal]

He could still wear a parachute. He doesn't have to freefall all the way down.

[Bad Luck Charm]

Says the guy suggesting he ride a bomb...

[LeadPal]

Hey, you didn't say the idea had to be sane. :)

[Bad Luck Charm]

Well when you get off your butt and make a character for the game we'll see if the mechanics could handle a freefall, bomb explosion, and the impact from the ground :nod:

[LeadPal]

Perhaps he's in full Gandalf costume with a flaming animatronic Balrog re-enacting in live action the plummet at the beginning of The Two Towers.

Unfortunately, quickly researching how this could possibly happen, it seems that no subterranean pit nearly deep enough to do this actually exists. And it doesn't match the criterion anyways. :(

[Bad Luck Charm]

But buying an old bomber plane and stradling the bomb in a freefall does? lol.

It would actually be pretty funny doing the gandalf idea, but I'm not sure how you could survive a fall like that. Even using the creature as a pillow becomes kinda useless after the first hundred feet or so. Terminal Velocity > Meatshield.

[LeadPal]

But buying an old bomber plane and stradling the bomb in a freefall does? lol.Well I thought it was bizarre, funny and stupid.

I'm not sure how you could survive a fall like that.Very very deep pool at the bottom containing a liquid with low surface tension? Maybe he falls into a vat of rubbing alcohol!

[Bad Luck Charm]

Not sure if that would do it. Once you hit terminal velocity it doesn't really matter what you hit, it will kill you. Even falling into a pit of jello at that speed would kill you (either that or you'd suffocate a minute later from the lack of any movement capabilities).

[elmer_jok]

How about the obvious mixed with the obvious accident...

Parachuting out of a plane and the parachuter gets entangled with a bird or another parachuter and has a few intense moments on his quick fall to the ground. This would add a little suspense to the opening scene as well as a way to introduce multiple players if that was your intent (or just a really unlucky seagull) and give the player no control over where he/she's landing. To give the scene some edge you could add a snowboard and a submachine gun in there somewhere...

[-J-]

The real world often is surprising:

Flight Sergeant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Sergeant) Nicholas Stephen Alkemade (1923 - 1987), was a tail gunner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tail_gunner) for a Royal Air Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force) Avro Lancaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster) bomber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber) during World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) who survived a fall of 18,000 feet (5500 m) without a parachute after his plane was shot down over Germany.
On March 24 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_24), 1944 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1944), 21 year old Alkemade was a member of No. 115 Squadron RAF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._115_Squadron_RAF) and his Lancaster II "S for Sugar" was flying to the east of Schmallenberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmallenberg), Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany) on its return from a 300 bomber raid on Berlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin), when it was attacked by a Luftwaffe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaffe) Junkers Ju 88 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_88) night-fighter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night-fighter), caught fire and began to spiral out of control. Because his parachute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute) was destroyed by the fire, Alkemade opted to jump from the aircraft without one, preferring his death to be quick, rather than being burnt to death. He fell 18,000 feet (5500 m) to the ground below. His fall was broken by pine trees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_tree) and a soft snow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow) cover on the ground. He was able to move his arms and legs and suffered only a sprained leg.
He was subsequently captured and interviewed by the Gestapo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo) who were initially suspicious of his claim to have fallen without a parachute until the wreckage of the aircraft was examined. He was then a celebrated POW (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_of_war) before being repatriated in May 1945. He worked in the chemical industry after the war and died on June 22 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_22), 1987 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987).
The Lancaster crashed in flames and the pilot Jack Newman and three other members of the seven man crew did not survive and are buried in Hanover (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover) War Cemetery.

And for the grand prize

Vesna Vulovic, stewardess in a DC-9 which blew up at 10160m 33330ft over Serbska Kamenice, Czechoslovakia, 26 Jan 1972. She hold the Guinness world record, although there is some controversy with the official report.

And yes they both lived.

[youareanoobnoob]

ok, the government is experimenting with a James Bond esque gadget that spreads out the force of impact from falling, allowing the user to simply fall anywhere, without damage. The substandce looks like petroleum jelly, and in order for it work, you must be completely covered. It solidifies and sticks like gule afterwards, and can be dissolved with the supplied acidic dissolvent. Oxygen mask and tank is required, so that the user can breathe.

In other words, jumps out of a plane covered in petroleum jelly.

[Bad Luck Charm]

ok, the government is experimenting with a James Bond esque gadget that spreads out the force of impact from falling, allowing the user to simply fall anywhere, without damage. The substandce looks like petroleum jelly, and in order for it work, you must be completely covered. It solidifies and sticks like gule afterwards, and can be dissolved with the supplied acidic dissolvent. Oxygen mask and tank is required, so that the user can breathe.

In other words, jumps out of a plane covered in petroleum jelly.

Nifty idea except for 1 problem - petroleum jelly is a lubricant, not a shock absorber. In the movies you see this kind of idea where they have a device that explodes a type of foam that instantly hardens around the subject (see Demolition Man, for example). However the idea will be considered with the rest that have been submitted (except for straddling the bomb...that was just stupid :tsk: )

[Gralhruk]

Well, he just said it looks like petroleum jelly, not that it is petroleum jelly. If you really want to drop a player from 1,000 feet from the air and have them survive intact I'd say that James Bond-esque reality is your friend ;).

[Palanthias]

I have visual aides.

So here we go. Our billionaire is hauling ass across the desert in his Skycar.
http://www.buckminster.info/Pics/Transportation/Travel-Air-Car-Moller1.jpg
and hits a turkey buzzard.
http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues00/Co11182000/Art/turkey_vulture_on_pole.jpg
Skycar careens off course and crashes dramatically. DUN-dunt-duh!!! Airbags. Car drag chute and various safety devices save the day. NO dead billionaire.

If the guy has to be separate from the vehicle. The skycar could barrel roll out of control ejecting the driver and causing the parachute to only partially open. again NO dead billionaire.

[Candleman]

Ooh, I like that. Skycar FTW.

[Wired*Nun]

Flying first-class on Oceanic 815 when there is a sudden and inexplicable magnetic anomaly accident that causes the airplane to break apart, incidentally depositing many of the passengers unhurt onto a tropical island.

Sorry, have you heard all this before?

[Linklegacy77]

As part of a physics test gone wrong, he was blasted out of the lab by a massive explosion while inside of the protective shielding bubble meant for the test objects. The bubble flew way up in the air due to the force of the blast, and got caught by the jetstream and went way off course. The bubble, being strong but extremely light and large, fell quickly but not fast enough to kill him, and the bubble's sturdy material took a lot of the shock on impact.

[Shoelip]

Weight has no bearing on the speed at which an object falls. A baby will fall at the same speed as a bowling ball.

[Benicus]

Do a barrel roll!

edit: also shoelip, i believe (from my limited physics knowledge) that it is only in an environment with no air resistance that that would be plausible. otherwise babies and bowling balls fall at different speeds.

[Bad Luck Charm]

Babies and Bowling Balls do fall at different speeds.

I don't recall the exact math, but it's Mass x Acceleration^2 or something like that. Gravity on earth pulls everything at 9.8 meters per second squared, but heavy objects have much higher mass so they fall faster.

However once you reach terminal velocity everything falls at essentially the same speed (heavier objects just get to terminal velocity faster than lighter objects).

Newton proved this (though he was trying to prove the opposite).

Thus if you drop a bowling ball and a baby off a cliff, they would both reach the bottom of the cliff at the same velocity (a spedometer would show them falling at the same speed), but the bowling ball would get there several seconds sooner because it accelerated faster than the baby (assume it's not a fat baby of course).

[LeadPal]

also shoelip, i believe (from my limited physics knowledge) that it is only in an environment with no air resistance that that would be plausibleYes, the point is that the bubble is so large that it suffers extreme air resistance, like a piece of paper.

However once you reach terminal velocity everything falls at essentially the same speed (heavier objects just get to terminal velocity faster than lighter objects).Not true. Air resistance affects terminal velocity. That's why you can fall faster by pulling in your limbs when skydiving.

As part of a physics test gone wrong, he was blasted out of the lab by a massive explosion while inside of the protective shielding bubble meant for the test objects.A few thoughts...

Any explosion strong enough to propel the bubble way into the air would turn him into a crimson smear on the inside. If he were harnessed in, however, he'd be much more likely to survive the sudden acceleration. Using a gentler acceleration than that of an explosion would also help; perhaps the bubble was shot through an extraordinarily powerful linear induction accelerator (like on a roller coaster).

There would be the same problem on impact with the ground--a very sudden stop on the side of the bubble--except that the velocity would probably be less due to air resistance catching up. A harness would be even more helpful here: the bubble would be heavy on the side he's attached to, so it would always with the person on the top (given enough space to tumble). Unless it crumples on impact with the ground, it would then roll over to put the person on the ground, allowing him easy escape from a door next to the harness.

Unfortunately I have no idea what real-world material the bubble could be made of. It needs to survive both enormous heat from drag friction (mainly on initial acceleration, since it needs a hefty boost to get high enough), and be structurally sound on impact... I'd be surprised if it could actually exist, sadly.

Hmm. Perhaps it could be made of multiple laminated glass, and the bubble filled with layers of fluid in varying densities? (The person inside would wear an oxygen mask and a latex suit, of course). Upon impact with the ground, he'd go through the layers from least dense to most dense as the bubble collapses (but doesn't shatter, thanks to the lamination). I call it the reverse bathysphere, an invention worthy of Sergio Aragonés! Now, to find a way to get something that heavy in the air...

Our billionaire is hauling ass across the desert in his Skycar.I like it already! Unfortunately I don't think any Skycar-type inventions can do non-tethered flight very well...

However the idea will be considered with the rest that have been submitted (except for straddling the bomb...that was just stupid :tsk: )
I am displeased. And curious as to why it's the most stupid idea. It's nonfatal, since his jump to arrest his fall by chute would definitely be clear of the blast's heat, and probably clear of the outward pressure. It's actually one of the more realistic scenarios, as it doesn't involve pseudophysics or innoventions. And for drama... well, no one's been able to top it! ;)

EDIT
But I got a better idea! Objects with lower mass have less inertia, and therefore don't suffer as much from terminal impacts. (That's why insects can't be killed from long falls). So, if he lowered his mass by removing extraneous limbs, he could more easily survive any fall listed here! Who needs their legs anyways?

[Shoelip]

How about something involving the Large Hadron Collide ?

[Benicus]

Yes. Black holes = epic win.

[Linklegacy77]

Hey, he said it had to make sense, he didn't say that the material had to be non-fictional. It could be a mithril bubble >_>

[Bad Luck Charm]

Not true. Air resistance affects terminal velocity. That's why you can fall faster by pulling in your limbs when skydiving.

True, but a number of other factors come into play before determining the true end result. I'm just saying that in general a bowling ball would hit the ground faster than the baby would. But if you want to factor in all the variables, we'd be looking at:

-Volume of Baby vs volume of Bowling Ball
-Clothing worn by the baby (adds mass, could fill up with air, which increases air displacement and reduce the mass slightly)
-If the baby squirmed on the way down, as any movement would affect her path which would throw off the test results, whereas the bowling ball would just go whever gravity/wind dictated.




I am displeased. And curious as to why it's the most stupid idea. It's nonfatal, since his jump to arrest his fall by chute would definitely be clear of the blast's heat, and probably clear of the outward pressure. It's actually one of the more realistic scenarios, as it doesn't involve pseudophysics or innoventions. And for drama... well, no one's been able to top it! ;)


Why is it the most stupid idea? Let's review what options have been presented:

-Skydiving accident (Benicus)
-Jetpack/blimp accident (Shoelip)
-Jetpack (Candleman)
-Stuntman (TreyKincaide)
-Batman wannabe (TreyKincaide)
-Trebuchet (Fulmen)
-Straddling the bomb from an old bomber aircraft (LeadPal)
-Plane crash (-J-)
-Reinactment of Gandalf vs Balrog (LeadPal)
-Parachute accident (elmer_jok)
-James Bond device (youareanoobnoob)
-Skycar (Palanthias)
-LOST scenario (Wired*Nun)
-Lab explosion (Linklegacy77)

So you tell me, which of those ideas is the dumbest to you? Not in terms of creativity (riding the bomb is creative, I'll give you that), but in terms of human behavior that seems to the stupidest thing a man would do.




But I got a better idea! Objects with lower mass have less inertia, and therefore don't suffer as much from terminal impacts. (That's why insects can't be killed from long falls). So, if he lowered his mass by removing extraneous limbs, he could more easily survive any fall listed here! Who needs their legs anyways?

Hmm...that probably would work in theory. But I'm not sure if he wants to enter the game without legs, and even so falling 500 feet he would get pretty close to terminal velocity and splatter on impact. If it was a 100-200 foot drop that might work though.

[Linklegacy77]

Then there's the whole.... bleeding out from missing limbs....

[LeadPal]

Professional amputation comes free with cauterization. Come on, my ideas work really well when you supply proper context.

Why is it the most stupid idea? Let's review what options have been presented:If you think that the idea is self-evidently stupid, you can just say so. I'd rather not criticise everyone here. (But off the record, the stupidest idea is having your limbs amputated :fun: ).

Really though, I must insist that the bomb idea isn't stupid... or I should say, not considerably more than jumping out of a perfectly good plane. (That's irrational by itself). I'm sure the only reason it hasn't actually been done is legal; for it to work, all you need is desolate location to bomb, and to disengage far enough that the blast doesn't make your parachute tumble and so that you can land in a non-fiery location, which would be easy if you know the yield of the bomb.

With his massive wealth, acquiring some type of bomber somewhere is reasonable. I imagine he'd be doing it with full government supervision and the fire department would watching on from a safely distant hillside, probably somewhere in Nevada. Or, maybe he's just doing it somewhere with loose laws. There's some handwaving necessary, but that's normal for any zany idea.

Now, this obviously isn't going to work for many of the scenarios I imagine you might be planning to drop him into; I just don't like seeing reasonable ideas get discarded out of hand. (Especially mine! ;) )

[Linklegacy77]

I've got one!

He fell from 500 feet up into a giant pool of gelatin after jumping out of a crashing air plane.