Climb Walls

There is an entire section in the Player's Handbook devoted to this skill. It is found in (Chapter 14: Time and Movement. It is important to note that bards perform just like thieves when it comes to climbing walls. Any climbing walls comment that applies to thieves also applies to bards. For example, in the Player's Handbook, thieves are given a number of special climbing benefits, which all apply to bards as well.

Although most adventurers can climb rocky cliffs and steep slopes, rogues (including bards) are far superior to others in this ability. They not only succeed more often than others, but they can climb even the most difficult surfaces without the aid of special gear (called free climbing). Rogues are the only characters who can climb rough, smooth, and very smooth surfaces without the use of ropes or other equipment. And they are the only characters able to climb very smooth surfaces when they are slightly slippery.

For your convenience, all climb walls rules that apply to bards have been compiled and are listed here in an easy-to-use format.

Mountaineering Proficiency: Every proficiency slot spent on mountaineering (including the initial slot) increases a bard's climb walls score by 10%. The bard is not required to use climbing gear in order to gain this benefit. It is a permanent increase that applies in all situations.

Table 16: CLIMBING MODIFIERS

Situation	Modifier
Miscellaneous
Rope and wall*	+55%
Encumbrance**	-5%
Climber below half hp	-10%
Rappelling down a surface
Bottom of rope is held	+50%
Bottom of rope is not held	+30%
Surface condition
Abundant handholds
(brush, trees, ledges)	+40%
Sloped inward	+25%
Slightly slippery
(wet or crumbling)	-25%
Slippery (icy, slimy)	-40%

Assisted Climbs (Using Climbing Tools)***

	Assisted	Total
Armor Type	Bonus	Modifier
No Armor****	-	+10%
Leather Armor	-	-
Padded Armor	+25%	-5%
Studded Leather	+25%	-5%
Ring Mail	+10%	-15%
Brigandine	-	-25%
Scale Mail	+30%	-15%
Hide Armor	+25%	-5%
Chain Mail	+10%	-15%
Elven Chain	+15%	-5%
Splint Mail	-	-25%
Banded Armor	+65%	-25%
Plate Mail	+45%	-50%
Bronze Plate	+45%	-50%
Field Plate	+45%	-50%
Full Plate	+45%	-50%

*This bonus applies when the character can brace his feet against the wall and use the rope to assist in the climb.

**This penalty is cumulative for each encumbrance category worse than unencumbered (e.g., a moderately encumbered bard would suffer a -10% penalty).

***The armor adjustments to a bard's climb walls percentage, given on Tables 9 and 10 in the "Creation" section, apply to bards performing free climbs (i.e., climbs in which pitons, rope, and so on aren't used, which is the norm for rogues). When a bard uses climbing tools, he is performing an assisted climb. Assisted climbers suffer less severe armor penalties, as ropes can be coiled about and attached to their armor, and they are able to lean out from the wall more, making the bulkiness of their armor less significant.

The "Assisted Bonus" column can be used by players who want to record only their free climbing percentage (i.e., their climbing walls score has been adjusted as per Table 9 or 10 in the "Creation" section). The "Total Modifier" column lists the result of combining the armor penalty with the assisted climb bonus.

As an example, studded leather normally causes a -30% climbing penalty. If tools are used, a bonus of 25% is added, making the penalty for assisted climbing in studded leather only -5%.

****Includes small magical items such as rings, bracers, cloaks, but no large or bulky devices.

Climbing Checks: A climbing check must be made any time a bard tries to climb more than 10 feet. According to the Player's Handbook (Chapter 14: Time and Movement), an initial check is made to see if the bard is able to even attempt the climb. If this check fails, the wall is too difficult and another attempt can be made only if the bard's chance to succeed increases (i.e., a rope is tossed down) or he moves to a significantly different new location (half a mile or more along a cliff).

Another check is not required unless the bard climbs more than 100 feet or takes more than a turn (ten rounds) to climb. The reason for this is that the first check assumes that the bard is scouting out the wall (or cliff), picking the best route. If the check is successful, he has found such a route and can climb the surface safely.

Optional Rule: It should take one turn to scout out a surface. If the surface cannot be seen or scouted for some reason, the bard must simply start climbing and hope for the best. In such cases, a climb walls check is made; if it fails, the bard falls. To determine how high he had climbed, roll a percentile die and that is the fraction of the climb that had been completed before the fall.

For example, if Aldwin is adventuring in a large underground cavern and decides to climb a wall, he spends a turn examining what he can see (say 15 feet in torch light). He then rolls his climb walls check. If successful, he sees an obvious route and can climb up to 15 feet without mishap. If he decides to climb the other 50 feet of this 65-foot-high wall, he must roll a second check (it is impossible to scout in the middle of a climb). He rolls and fails; now the DM rolls a percentile of 98. Aldwin almost reaches the top before he falls. The DM decides that the damage should be 6d6 as Aldwin essentially falls 60 feet.

Falling: As always, falling damage is 1d6 per 10 feet. A fall of 40 feet causes 4d6 damage.

If a climber is climbing assisted (using tools), he cannot fall clear to the ground. If pitons or spikes are being driven into a wall and rope is attached between them and a climber, the climber will fall only until the slack between him and the piton is taken up.

Thus, if the climber attaches 20 feet of rope to the piton, climbs 10 feet up, and then falls, he would fall 30 feet (10 feet down to the piton plus the 20 feet of slack) and suffer 3d6 points of damage (the DM might decide to allow a saving throw vs. paralyzation for half damage, since the rope takes up some of the shock).

Pitons and spikes are not completely reliable and pull out 15% of the time.

Characters can also rope themselves together. If a roped character falls, any character directly tied to him must immediately roll a climbing check. Success stops the fall, failure means that they are both falling. If more than one person is falling, a -10% penalty results for every falling character in addition to the first one (e.g., if three characters are falling the penalty would be -20%).

Climbing Rates: To determine how fast a bard climbs, look for the type of surface and the surface condition on the following table. Multiply the resulting number by the character's current movement rate. That is the number of feet per round the bard can travel in any direction (up, down, sideways, or diagonal). This rate is twice as fast as nonrogues can travel.

Table 17: BARD CLIMBING RATES

		Slightly
Type of Surface	Dry	Slippery	Slippery
Very smooth	1/2	1/4	-
Smooth, cracked	1	2/3	1/2
Rough	2	2/3	1/2
Rough w/ledges	2	1	2/3
Ice wall	-	-	1/2
Tree	8	6	4
Sloping wall	6	4	2
Rope and wall	4	2	1
Rappelling	10	10	10

Combat While Climbing: Combat is both difficult and dangerous while climbing. Spells can be cast only if the bard is in a steady, braced position. If the spell has a material component, the bard must have one hand free. Somatic components require the use of both hands (i.e., the bard must be able to steady himself with rope and legs alone).

The following additional adjustments occur while climbing:

· Dexterity and shield Armor Class bonuses are lost.

· Most attacks against a climber are made with the +2 rear attack bonus.

· Climbers suffer a -2 penalty to attack, damage, and saving rolls.

· Attacking from above results in a +2 attack roll bonus and attacking from below results in a -2 attack roll penalty. These two adjustments apply to climbers and nonclimbers alike.

· Two-handed weapons are rarely usable by climbers.

· If struck for any amount of damage while climbing, an immediate climbing check must be rolled. A free-climbing character falls if this roll fails, while an assisted climber loses his balance for a round (he can't attack, suffers an additional -2 penalty to saving throws, and opponents gain an additional +2 bonus to their attack rolls).

All adjustments are cumulative. Thus, an ogre standing atop a cliff gains a +6 to attack if Aldwin has lost his balance on his assisted climb (+2 because Aldwin is below the ogre, +2 because Aldwin's back is exposed as he is facing the cliff, and +2 because he is off balance).

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