Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Acrobatics
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Acrobatics
Acrobatics is a movement skill. It allows you to move over terrain that would obstruct you, land a fall more gracefully, and maneuver around opponents. As you grow in level and skill, you can learn how to balance on water, clouds, air, energy, and even void, learn how to slow a fall to land on each of those things, and how to balance on a thing so it does not feel your weight and can carry you great distances.
Key Attribute: Dexterity
Base DCs
| Surface Width | Example | Base DC |
|---|---|---|
| Twice or more shoulder width | More than 24” for most small & medium characters | 01 |
| Twice to full shoulder width | 24” – 12” for most small & medium characters | 41 |
| Full to half shoulder width | 12” – 6” for most small & medium characters | 8 |
| Half to fifth shoulder width | 6” – 2” for most small & medium characters | 12 |
| Fifth to tenth shoulder width | 2” – 1” for most small & medium characters | 16 |
| Less than a tenth shoulder width | Less than 1” – ½” for most small & medium characters | 20 |
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DC Modifiers
| Surface Condition | Example | DC Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| Light Obstruction | Very uneven flagstone, minor calf-height debris | +21 |
| Severe Obstruction | Smashed bar tables, major waist-height debris | +51 |
| Slightly Slippery | Frozen ice, thin patch of water, crumbling architecture | +21 |
| Very Slippery | Melting ice, grease, collapsing architecture | +51 |
| Strongly Angled Surface | 10 to 30 degree incline | +2 |
| Slightly Sloped Surface | 30 to 45 degree incline; speed is reduced by half on these surfaces | +5 |
| Strongly Sloped Surface | Greater than 45 degree incline (surface must be climbed) | N/A |
| Cross Breeze | High wire in a 10 mph breeze | +21 |
| Cross Wind | High wire in a 30 mph wind | +51 |
| Cross Gust | High wire in a 50 mph storm | +101 |
| Head/Tail Wind | Trying to cross a surface while moving directly into or away from a gust of Wind spell | +2 per 25% increase or reduction in base speed |
| Weightless Balancing | Balance on liquid or something that can not support your weight | +8 2 |
| Air Balancing | Balance on gases | +12 2 |
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Rank 0 Abilities
Balance On Difficult Surface
Slippery or obstructed surfaces don’t lend themselves to heroic charges, since heroic slipping is never sung about in stories. In order to move across an obstructed or slippery surface without losing your balance, you must succeed at an acrobatics check. At this level of skill, you are flat-footed on any surface with a DC of 7+ and may not attempt to cross a surface that is more narrow than a fifth of your shoulder width.
The DC for this check is determined by the surface and modified by conditions, as indicated in the table above. The action you must spend to remain balanced on the surface is dependent on your check result, and you must spend it as soon as you enter the area. If you fail to use the indicated action during your round, you fall off the surface immediately.
If you take damage exceeding your acrobatics ranks while flat-footed on a difficult surface, you must immediately make a new check against the surface’s DC. The new check result replaces your minimum action requirement if it would be more expensive. If you can not pay the new action cost, or if you do not exceed the surface DC, the interruption has caused you to miss a step and you fall immediately from the space you took the damage. If you are not flat-footed on the surface, you do not need to make this check when suffering damage.
If you fail to balance on a surface, or slip as a result of damage, you may attempt a DC 15 + surface conditions Reflex save to grab the surface if you would otherwise fall past it. If you succeed on this save, you get a grip on the surface and fall no further. On the following round, you may make an Acrobatics check against the surface DC to determine the balance action cost for the round. If you spend a move action as well as the indicated action, you may pull yourself up and balance on the surface again. If you are unable to pull yourself up and balance again, you must repeat the Reflex save to retain your grip on the surface.
Special: Getting a walking or running start can sometimes help you get over a short difficult surface when skill is somewhat lacking. When you move before attempting to cross a narrow surface is, you gain a "momentum" bonus that you can cover on the narrow surface without maintaining a proper balance. This distance is equal to one quarter of the distance from your starting position to the start of the surface. You do not need to pay the balance action cost until you have expended this movement. If you can clear the surface with this movement, you must still pay the balance cost or fall prone on the other side of the surface.
| DC: Surface DC, plus conditions | |
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| DC+10 and above | You may maintain your balance as a free action. If you are flat-footed, you must spend a swift action to change direction during your turn. |
| DC+5 to DC+9 | You must spend a swift action to maintain your balance on the surface. If you do not have a swift action to spend after you begin moving on the surface, you fall off after your momentum distance (if any). If you are flat-footed, you must spend a move action to change direction during your turn. |
| DC+0 to DC+4 | You must spend a move action to maintain your balance on the surface. If you do not have a move action to spend after you begin moving on the surface, you fall off after your momentum distance (if any). If you are flat-footed, you must spend a standard action to change direction during your turn. |
| DC-1 to DC-5 | You must spend a full-round action to balance on the surface. If you do not have a full-round action to spend after you begin moving on the surface, you fall after your momentum distance (if any). If you rolled this result in response to suffering damage, you immediately fall. |
| DC-6 and below | You fail to balance on the surface and fall, either from the first space that you enter or the space of the surface that you currently occupy, into whatever waits for you underneath. You land prone if applicable. |
Rank 2 Abilities
Controlled Landing
It's easy to take the edge off a fall, as long as you're expecting it. When you intentionally fall from a higher point, you do not take damage for the first 10' of the fall and the next 10' of the fall deals only nonlethal damage. It doesn't matter whether it's because you hop off a roof or pull a lever to activate a trap door.
Rank 4 Abilities
Competent Balancer
You can try to keep your balance across normal, solid surfaces of any width. You are considered flat-footed while balancing only if the surface DC is 12 more than your ranks in Acrobatics.
Tumble Through Threatened Area
Opponents with weapons generally stab you when you try to move around them. You can move through threatened spaces, both occupied and unoccupied, without provoking attacks of opportunity as long as you can get the footing right.
This check is made per creature you are tumbling past as a non-action occurring during your regular move, but you do not make the check until you would provoke an attack of opportunity from them. The base DC for this check is 10 or the surface DC, whichever is higher, plus the base attack bonus of the enemy. You suffer a cumulative −2 penalty for each enemy you have previously attempted to tumble past this round.
| DC: 10 or surface DC + the opponent’s BAB | |
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| DC+10 and above | For the remainder of this round, you may move through spaces threatened or occupied by this opponent as if they were clear spaces. None of this movement provokes attacks of opportunity from this opponent. |
| DC+5 to DC+9 | For the remainder of this round, you may move through spaces threatened by this opponent as if they were clear spaces, and through spaces occupied by this opponent as if they were difficult terrain (spending 2 squares of movement for each space). None of this movement provokes attacks of opportunity from this opponent, though you do still provoke attacks of opportunity if you choose to move at your full speed through the space that they occupy. |
| DC+0 to DC+4 | For the remainder of this round, you may move through spaces threatened by this opponent as if they were difficult terrain (spending 2 squares of movement for each space). This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity from this opponent, though you do still provoke attacks of opportunity if you choose to move at your full speed through their threatened area or if you move into the space that they occupy. |
| DC-1 to DC-5 | Any movement through this opponent's threatened area will provoke attacks of opportunity as normal. |
| DC-6 and below | Any movement through this opponent's threatened area will provoke attacks of opportunity as normal, and they gain a +3 bonus to attacks of opportunity made against you for the remainder of this round. |
Rank 6 Uses
Roll With the Landing
Turning some of your downward momentum to other uses can make a fall much more survivable. Half of any lethal damage you would suffer from falling is instead treated as nonlethal.
Rank 8 Uses
Weightless Balancer
Moving across things that can't support your weight requires a keen sense of balance and a fair amount of skill, skill you've acquired through training and practice. You can attempt to balance on surfaces and objects without your weight pushing them down. When balanced in this way, you do not cause the surface to fall or break, whether it's the surface of a liquid, a flimsy tree branch, or a weapon being held aloft by another creature. Attempting to balance weightlessly increases the DC by +8 and tires you out as a flat-out action for the round regardless of which actions you actually use.
Additional DC adjustments for conditions still apply on top of the weightless balancing adjustment, as normal. Most liquids count as slightly slippery, with very slippery generally reserved for liquids that would work as machine lubricants. Similarly, choppy liquids might count as light obstruction while breaking waist-high waves might count as heavy obstruction.
While you can use this ability to move over a damaging liquid surface, like acid or lava, you’re not particularly protected from it. You take only minimum damage from the obstacle, as if you suffered exposure and not immersion. This may prompt saves as well, depending on the obstacle. As long as you retain your balance, however, you only suffer these effects once per round, regardless of how many times you enter or leave the damaging area. Any damage from this exposure prompts new acrobatics checks as normal.
Weightless balancing also allows you to balance on objects moving past you, and to move with them. Thrown spears are a classic for a warrior to ride into battle, but catapult boulders, balista bolts, arrows, and even sling stones will also work if you can balance on an object so small. You must hop onto an object fired or swung at you to balance on it, which may require a readied action and a jump check if it's not passing beneath you. If you land on the object and successfully balance on it, you ride it to its destination or any point along its path. You dismount from the object without issue.
Rank 10 Uses
Cat's Fall
Twisting in the wind and simply not fighting back against it can do wonders for your landing. All lethal damage you would suffer from falling is instead treated as nonlethal. (Note that long falls can still knock you out.)
Rank 12 Uses
Wind Balancer
Balancing on smoke, clouds, and even air is among the most impressive of things an acrobat can do. You can perform this feat through the skill you've developed. When balanced in this way, you may move along the air in any direction, but may not move up or down at a greater than 45 degree angle. Attempting to balance on air increases the DC by +12 and tires you out as a flat-out action for the round, regardless of which actions you actually use. Weightless balancing no longer tires you out in this fashion, however.
Additional DC adjustments for conditions still apply on top of the wind balancing adjustment, as normal. Air becomes more slippery as it becomes more clear, so a clear day would provide a +5 DC adjustment, thin fog a +2 adjustment, and thick smoke +0. You may also suffer obstruction penalties if the gas you're balancing on has breaks in it, as a column of smoke blown by the wind might.
Air balancing also allows you to ride gusts of wind, natural or otherwise. As with weightless balancer, you need to get atop the wind before you can actually ride it. Once you successfully land and balance on it, you may ride with it at 2/3s of its speed, dismounting at any point along its path without issue. You must make a new balance roll each round you ride the wind, however.
Rank 14 Uses
Leaf's Fall
When you can balance on the air itself, it's not really a surprise that you can slow yourself on it. You can fall any distance without suffering falling damage, and can stop your fall at any point if you make a successful check to balance on the air.
Perfect Balancer
The only things that you can't balance on by this point aren't physical at all. You are no longer flat-footed on any surface, and wind balancing does not tire you out as if you took a flat-out action.
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