Safe Fall

Safe fall resembles the 1st-level wizard spell feather fall but is somewhat more versatile. The spell can slow the falling rate of any number of objects (or creatures) that hit its area of effect; it can also deflect incoming missiles. Only solid objects are affected by the spell.

Safe fall creates an invisible, magical sheet that must be anchored to at least two solid, diametrically opposed points such as opposite walls. The precise dimensions of the spell's area must be determined when the spell is cast, but it must be rectangular. The area must have sides of at least 1 foot in length (so acceptable dimensions would include 1' × 100', 2' × 50', 4' × 25', etc.). A side's length may not exceed the length of any item to which that side is anchored.

Safe fall eliminates inertia in one direction, either forward (horizontal) or downward (vertical). If the effect is oriented vertically (as a wall), it eliminates forward inertia. If the effect is oriented horizontally (as a floor), it eliminates downward inertia. For example, if the effect is positioned vertically to prevent missile fire, a missile would lose its forward inertia when it hits the effect, then fall straight to the ground. Should the effect be anchored so the safe fall area is at an angle, it still eliminates inertia in only one direction; a safe fall positioned closer to the horizontal would eliminate only downward inertia, and one positioned closer to the vertical would eliminate only forward inertia. If the spell is positioned at exactly 45°, the DM should randomly determine in which direction inertia is blocked.

An object's inertia is eliminated when any part of it touches the area of effect as long as the weight of that object does not exceed 200 pounds plus 200 pounds per level of the caster; larger objects are unaffected. If the object falls downward to hit the area of safe fall, its downward inertia is harmlessly dissipated when it hits the area of effect; for the distance from the effect to the floor or ground, the object falls as if it had begun falling at the safe fall area of effect.

Note that safe fall can be cast directly onto a floor (as long as it can still be anchored to vertical walls, fences, or other objects on two opposite sides). If this is done, a falling object's inertia is eliminated instantaneously as it hits the floor, preventing falling damage.

The material component of this spell is a square inch of a close-woven net.