Acrobatics: Difference between revisions
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*Lightly obstructed, sloped or slippery terrain can inflict a -2 penalty, while heavily obstructed, icy or steeply sloped terrain can inflict a -5 penalty. These penalties can also be cumulative, if multiple hazards are present (a steep icy slope would be -10). | *Lightly obstructed, sloped or slippery terrain can inflict a -2 penalty, while heavily obstructed, icy or steeply sloped terrain can inflict a -5 penalty. These penalties can also be cumulative, if multiple hazards are present (a steep icy slope would be -10). | ||
*Unsteady surfaces, like a small boat, a moving cart, or fighting during an earthquake can also carry circumstance penalties, between -2 and -10. | *Unsteady surfaces, like a small boat, a moving cart, or fighting during an earthquake can also carry circumstance penalties, between -2 and -10. Leaping and fighting on the tips of posts set firmly in the ground (such as the remnants of a burned pier) would be -20 or more, while walking on the tips of precariously balanced logs or rubble (the aftermath of a logjam, avalanche, cave-in, or siege, for example) could be -20 to -30. Far more difficult checks, such as walking only on the tips of a forest of spears balanced on their butt ends, carry a circumstance bonus of -40 or more. Walking acrossa surface a quicksilver or similar frictionless circumstances, such as riding an Astral String or riding a wave of ether, would be a -50 to the check. | ||
*At the uppermost limits, acrobatics can allow you to do such incredible things as dance on the surface of a dense layer of fog, walk down the surface of a waterfall without getting wet, dodge raindrops in a storm, run across falling stones in midair, and similarly invincible cinematic feats. | *At the uppermost limits, acrobatics can allow you to do such incredible things as dance on the surface of a dense layer of fog, walk down the surface of a waterfall without getting wet, dodge raindrops in a storm, run across falling stones in midair, and similarly invincible cinematic feats. At the upper end of Acrobatics, referees are encouraged to allow creative and fun interpretations of Acrobatics, as long as such things don't break your story line, of course. | ||
*Note to DM's: These modifiers, both the ones above and below, can be used as examples for the inevitable craziness your players will get into. How do you judge the DC of a Long Jump made from one flying ship down to the deck of another flying ship a hundred feet below? What if the ship you are jumping from is on fire and spinning in a death dive to the ground at the time? In an Ether Storm? During an attack by Red Dragons? You can work up a set of modifiers based upon these suggestions, or, far more simply, you can simply set the Difficulty of such crazy things by DM fiat to be an appropriate check for the campaign DC. (Choose between Average, Challenging, or Hard, for most cases. Easy checks are pretty simple, and Impossible checks are..pretty hard.) Both methods work fine, and both will generally get you to a reasonable number. We recommend the simple way, because it's faster and you're going to get more cases of players pulling off crazy-cool stuff. And that's just fun! | |||
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* If you use a pole at least as long as one side of your space as part of a running jump, you gain a +5 circumstance bonus on your Acrobatics check (but must let go of the pole in the process). | * If you use a pole at least as long as one side of your space as part of a running jump, you gain a +5 circumstance bonus on your Acrobatics check (but must let go of the pole in the process). | ||
* If you wish to combine a long jump with a high jump, the target DC's are added together, and a single check is made to determine the outcome. | * If you wish to combine a long jump with a high jump, the target DC's are added together, and a single check is made to determine the outcome. | ||
* Some or all of the circumstance bonuses above and below may or may not apply to Jump checks at the DM's discretion. A large wagon would allow a running Jump check from its bed, but Jumping from a wagon careening down a rocky slope in a tornado is likely to have a few modifiers attached. | |||
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| Modifiers = * The difficulty of reaching a given height varies according to the size of the character or creature. The maximum vertical reach (height the creature can reach without rolling to make a Jump check) for an average creature of a given size is shown on the table below. (As a Medium/Small creature, a typical player character can reach 10 feet without rolling. Does a halfling need to work to reach a ten foot window? yes, but it's not so difficult that it requires an actual skill roll, they are just assumed to be used to dealing with a world too big for them.) Quadrupedal creatures don't have the same vertical reach as a bipedal creature; treat them as being one size category smaller for purposes of vertical reach. | | Modifiers = * The difficulty of reaching a given height varies according to the size of the character or creature. The maximum vertical reach (height the creature can reach without rolling to make a Jump check) for an average creature of a given size is shown on the table below. (As a Medium/Small creature, a typical player character can reach 10 feet without rolling. Does a halfling need to work to reach a ten foot window? yes, but it's not so difficult that it requires an actual skill roll, they are just assumed to be used to dealing with a world too big for them.) Quadrupedal creatures don't have the same vertical reach as a bipedal creature; treat them as being one size category smaller for purposes of vertical reach. | ||
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* If you use a pole as part of a running jump, you gain a +5 circumstance bonus on your Acrobatics check (but must let go of the pole in the process). | * If you use a pole as part of a running jump, you gain a +5 circumstance bonus on your Acrobatics check (but must let go of the pole in the process). | ||
* If you wish to combine a high jump with a long jump, the target DC's are added together, and a single check is made to determine the outcome. | * If you wish to combine a high jump with a long jump, the target DC's are added together, and a single check is made to determine the outcome. | ||
* Some or all of the circumstance bonuses above and below may or may not apply to Jump checks at the DM's discretion. Performing a High Jump off a lake of burning lava to a nice cool ledge might be something you really, really want to do, but there are likely to be some modifiers. | |||
| Failure = If you fail the Acrobatics check to jump by less than 5, you do not reach the height, and you land on your feet in the same spot from which you jumped. If you fail the check by 5 or more, you land prone in the square from which you jumped. | | Failure = If you fail the Acrobatics check to jump by less than 5, you do not reach the height, and you land on your feet in the same spot from which you jumped. If you fail the check by 5 or more, you land prone in the square from which you jumped. | ||
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: <sup>1</sup> - Maximum falling damage. | : <sup>1</sup> - Maximum falling damage under normal conditions. | ||
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| Failure = Failure results in taking damage from the jump or dive | | Failure = Failure results in taking damage from the jump or dive | ||
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| DC = 30 | | DC = 30 | ||
| Modifiers = The DC for this check increases by +5 for every 80 lbs you weigh (including items and equipment you carry). In addition, there may be circumstances for the environment, and moving at full speed penalties apply as well. Tightrope walking across a slickly-greased and frayed cotton thread in savage unpredictable gusts at a steep downhill angle in a massive pounding hailstorm is going to be quite difficult. The GM should apply all modifiers that seem appropriate, using the modifiers on this page as guidelines. | | Modifiers = The DC for this check increases by +5 for every 80 lbs you weigh (including items and equipment you carry). In addition, there may be circumstances for the environment, and moving at full speed penalties apply as well. Tightrope walking across a slickly-greased and frayed cotton thread in savage unpredictable gusts at a steep downhill angle in a massive pounding hailstorm is going to be quite difficult. The GM should apply all modifiers that seem appropriate, using the modifiers on this page as guidelines, or simply set a DC by fiat, as above. Your choice! | ||
| Failure = You fall. You may make a [[Might]] check to catch yourself on the strand at the DC required to walk it, at a +5. | | Failure = You fall. You may make a [[Might]] check to catch yourself on the strand at the DC required to walk it, at a +5 circumstance modifier on the roll. | ||
| Retry = If you fell, no, unless you climb back up and start over again. If you caught yourself with a Might check, you may continue again, presumably after changing into a clean pair of tights. | | Retry = If you fell, no, unless you climb back up and start over again. If you caught yourself with a Might check, you may continue again, presumably after changing into a clean pair of tights. | ||