Athletics
There are multi sub categories that can foll under Athletics. It can be summarized as physical actions that rely on strength and/or stamina to be successful. The two main checks used under Athletics are Swim and Climb.
Swim Check
You know how to swim and can do so even in stormy water.
Make a Swim check once per round while you are in the water. Success means you may swim at up to half your speed (as a full-round action) or at a quarter of your speed (as a move action). If you fail by 4 or less, you make no progress. If you fail by 5 or more, you go underwater.
| Water | Swim DC |
|---|---|
| Calm water | 10 |
| Rough water | 15 |
| Stormy water | 20* |
If you are underwater, either because you failed a Swim check or because you are swimming underwater intentionally, you must hold your breath. You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to twice your Constitution modifier (no longer then 1 round), but only if you do nothing other than take move actions or free actions. If you take a standard action or a full-round action (such as making an attack), the remainder of the duration for which you can hold your breath is reduced by 1 round. (Effectively, a character in combat can hold his breath only half as long as normal.) After that period of time, you must make a DC 10 Constitution check every round to continue holding your breath. Each round, the DC for that check increases by 2. If you fail the Constitution check, you begin to drown. The DC for the Swim check depends on the water, as given on the table below.
Each hour that you swim, you must make a DC 20 Swim check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage from fatigue.
Action
A successful Swim check allows you to swim a quarter of your speed as a move action or half your speed as a full-round action.
Special
- Swim Speed A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.
- Feats If you have the Athletic feat, you get a +2 bonus on Swim skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in Swim, the bonus increases to +4.
- Size The rules for familiars say "Small animals like these use Dexterity to modify Climb and Swim checks." Note however, that not all familiars are size Small. For example, bats are size Diminutive and cats are size Tiny. Therefore our guess is that the sentence, "Small animals like these..." isn't referring specifically to size "Small" but instead to creatures size Tiny or smaller (note though that not even all creatures size Tiny or smaller appear to have this applied to their skills.)
You are skilled at scaling vertical surfaces, from smooth city walls to rocky cliffs.
| DC | Example Surface or Activity |
|---|---|
| 0 | A slope too steep to walk up, or a knotted rope with a wall to brace against. |
| 5 | A rope with a wall to brace against, or a knotted rope, or a rope affected by the rope trick spell. |
| 10 | A surface with ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a very rough wall or a ship’s rigging. |
| 15 | Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds (natural or artificial), such as a very rough natural rock surface or a tree, or an unknotted rope, or pulling yourself up when dangling by your hands. |
| 20 | An uneven surface with some narrow handholds and footholds, such as a typical wall in a dungeon. |
| 21 | A typical buildings upper-story wall |
| 25 | A typical buildings lower-story wall |
| 25 | A rough surface, such as a natural rock wall or a brick wall. |
| 30 | An overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds, or a typical city wall |
| — | A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical (or inverted) surface cannot be climbed. |
Climb Check
With a successful Climb check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (or even across a ceiling, provided it has handholds) at one-quarter your normal speed. A slope is considered to be any incline at an angle measuring less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline at an angle measuring 60 degrees or more. A Climb check that fails by 4 or less means that you make no progress, and one that fails by 5 or more means that you fall from whatever height you have already attained. The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. Compare the task with those on the following table to determine an appropriate DC.
| Climb DC Modifier |
Example Surface or Activity |
|---|---|
| –10 | Climbing a chimney (artificial or natural) or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls. |
| –5 | Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls. |
| +5 | Surface is slippery. |
You need both hands free to climb, but you may cling to a wall with one hand while you cast a spell or take some other action that requires only one hand. While climbing, you can’t move to avoid a blow, so you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). You also can’t use a shield while climbing. Anytime you take damage while climbing, make a Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall from your current height and sustain the appropriate falling damage.
Accelerated Climbing
You try to climb more quickly than normal. By accepting a –5 penalty, you can move half your speed (instead of one-quarter your speed).
Make Your Own Handholds and Footholds
You can make your own handholds and footholds by pounding pitons into a wall. Doing so takes 1 minute per piton, and one piton is needed per 5 feet of distance. As with any surface that offers handholds and footholds, a wall with pitons in it has a DC of 15. In the same way, a climber with a handaxe or similar implement can cut handholds in an ice wall.
Catch Yourself When Falling
It’s practically impossible to catch yourself on a wall while falling. Make a Climb check (DC = wall’s DC + 20) to do so. It’s much easier to catch yourself on a slope (DC = slope’s DC + 10).
Catch a Falling Character While Climbing
If someone climbing above you or adjacent to you falls, you can attempt to catch the falling character if he or she is within your reach. Doing so requires a successful melee touch attack against the falling character (though he or she can voluntarily forgo any Dexterity bonus to AC if desired). If you hit, you must immediately attempt a Climb check (DC = wall’s DC + 10). Success indicates that you catch the falling character, but his total weight, including equipment, cannot exceed your heavy load limit or you automatically fall. If you fail your Climb check by 4 or less, you fail to stop the character’s fall but don’t lose your grip on the wall. If you fail by 5 or more, you fail to stop the character’s fall and begin falling as well.
Action
Climbing is part of movement, so it’s generally part of a move action (and may be combined with other types of movement in a move action). Each move action that includes any climbing requires a separate Climb check. Catching yourself or another falling character doesn’t take an action.
Special
- Rope You can use a rope to haul a character upward (or lower a character) through sheer strength. You can lift double your maximum load in this manner.
- Climb Speed A creature with a climb speed has a +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks. The creature must make a Climb check to climb any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but it can always choose to take 10, even if rushed or threatened while climbing. If a creature with a climb speed chooses an accelerated climb (see above), it moves at double its climb speed (or at its land speed, whichever is slower) and makes a single Climb check at a –5 penalty. Such a creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing.
- Feats If you have the Athletic feat, you get a +2 bonus on Climb checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in Climb, the bonus increases to +4.
- Size Any creature of Tiny or smaller size should use its Dex modifier instead of its Str modifier for Climb and Swim checks.