Climb

Climb (STR; Armour Check Penalty)

Use this skill to scale a cliff, to get to the window on the second story of a wizard's tower, or to climb out of a pit after falling through a trapdoor.

Check: With each successful Climb check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope or a wall or other steep incline (or even a ceiling with hand-holds) one-half your speed as a miscellaneous full-round action. You can move half that far, one fourth of your speed, as a miscellaneous move-equivalent action. A slope is considered to be any incline of less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline of 60 degrees or steeper.

A failed Climb check means that you make no progress, and a check that fails by 5 or more means that you fall from whatever height you have already attained.

A climber's kit (page 110) gives a +2 circumstance bonus to Climb checks.

The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb.

DC	Example Wall or Surface
0	A slope too steep to walk up. 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. An unknotted rope.
20	An uneven surface with some narrow handholds and footholds, such as a typical wall in a dungeon or ruins.
25	A rough surface, such as a natural rock wall or a brick wall.
25	Overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds.
-	A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface cannot be climbed.
-10*	Climbing a chimney (artificial or natural) or other location where one can brace against two opposite walls (reduces DC by 10).
-5*	Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls (reduces DC by 5).
+5*	Surface is slippery (increases DC by 5).

Modifiers marked with * are cumulative; use any that apply.

Since you can't move to avoid a blow while climbing, enemies can attack you as if you were stunned: An attacker gets a +2 bonus, and you lose any Dexterity bonus to Armour Class. You also can't use a shield.

Any time 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. (The Dungeon Master's Guide has information on falling damage.)

Accelerated Climbing: You try to to climb more quickly than normal. As a miscellaneous full-round action, you can attempt to cover your full speed in climbing distance, but you suffer a -5 penalty on Climb checks and you must make two checks each round. Each successful check allows you to climb a distance equal to one-half your speed. By accepting the -5 penalty, you can move half your speed as move equivalent action rather than a full-round action.

Making 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 3 feet. As with any surface with 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 holds in an ice wall.

Catching 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. A slope is a lot easier to catch yourself on (DC = slope's DC + 10).

Special: A character with 5 or more ranks in Use Rope gets a +2 synergy bonus on checks to climb a rope, a knotted rope, or a rope and wall combination.

Someone using a rope can haul a character upward (or lower the character) through sheer strength. Use double your maximum load (see page 141) to determine how much a character can lift.