154. CLIMB The fear of falling is one of the most basic emotions that humanity enjoys. For player characters in a roleplaying game, it is a fear realized unfortunately all too often. Characters are always trying to climb something, and just as frequently not succeeding. Climbing is a skill that is treated in a manner similar to Stealth and Horsemanship. All characters begin with this ability at Rank 0. [154.1] Climbing skill is a natural ability that all characters possess to start with. All characters begin with climbing skill at Rank 0. While all characters begin the game with climbing skill, certain characters such as Thieves are provided with this ability in a superior manner to this skill. As a general rule, a Thief will not likely wish to increase his skill Rank with this skill. Alternately, the GamesMaster may provide a character with the thief skill with a bonus of (Climb Rankx2)% to their climbing abilities, and a character with spy skill with a bonus of (Climb Rankx1)% to their climbing abilities. The GamesMaster should provide any other skill type that is deemed suitable with an appropriate bonus, based on the values noted above. [154.2] The character has an ability to climb surfaces that have foot- and handholds in a manner easier than that of climbing surfaces without these benefits. The character has the ability to climb a surface that has footholds and handholds. The Base Chance to successfully climb the surface is [(MDx3) + (Rankx10) - (Height in feet squared/10)]%. Thus, a character with a MD of 20 and Rank 2 Climb skill attempting to scale a 20-foot high wall will have a chance of (20x3) + (10x2) - (400/10) or 40% chance of successfully climbing the wall. If the surface to be climbed does not have handholds or footholds, the character will have a Base Chance of [(MDx3) + (Rankx6) - (Height in feet squared/10)]%. All of the applicable modifiers listed below still apply to this particular chance of climbing. If the climber cannot see the surface that is being climbed, the base chance is reduced by 15%. If the surface is unusually sheer, reduce the base chance by 20%. The GamesMaster can apply other modifiers to this chance of successfully climbing a structure, with the usual modifier being around -50% to a +20%. Other conditions might include fog, slippery rope, and the like. If the character is using a secured rope to aid in the climb, the base chance of the climb is increased by 10% to 50%, depending on other factors. [154.3] Under normal circumstances, a character may climb a distance of one-half their Tactical Movement Rate per Pulse or combat round. The character can climb a distance of around 10 feet per combat Pulse, and some 120 feet per minute of exertion in normal circumstances outside of combat. This climbing is considered to be Medium exercise for the character's given Physical Strength and Encumbrance. The character with climbing skill can increase this rate of climbing by (Climb Rank) feet per combat Pulse and by (Climb Rank x 3) feet outside of combat situations, where there are 5 feet/hex and 5 feet = 1 TMR of distance. The Encumbrance rate and Fatigue exhaustion are treated as being the same for this purpose, but the character loses an additional 2 Fatigue (than Endurance, when Fatigue is exhausted) for this movement rate. [154.4] A character who fails to make his climb skill roll will suffer damage from the fall. A character who fails to make the success roll for his climb skill will suffer a fall that can do damage. The character will take an amount of damage equal to the square of (Distance fallen/10); thus, a character will take 1 point of damage for a 10-foot fall, 4 points of damage for a 20-foot fall, 9 points of damage for a 30-foot fall, and so forth. It should be noted that the damage that a character takes from falling is taken directly to Endurance, and is not absorbed by armour protection of any kind. If the armour that a character is wearing has a protection of more than 4 DP of protection, this value is added to the damage taken by the character in the fall. [154.5] A character with Acrobatics skill receives a bonus to his ability to climb, and receives a modifier to the damage received if the character takes a fall during climbing actions. A character with climb skill receives a bonus of (Acrobat Rank x 2)% to his success chance of climbing, if the skill is the Acrobat Primary Skill. If the character possesses the Courtesan or Troubadour sub-skill of acrobatics, the character receives a bonus of (« Courtesan or Troubadour)% to his climb skill success chance. If the character has the secondary skill of Acrobatics, he receives a bonus of (¬ Acrobat Rank)% to his climb skill success chance. If the character falls and takes damage, as per Section 154.4 of these rules, he can use his acrobat skill to lessen the effects of the fall through an adroit maneuvering of his body. The character who suffers the fall will take (Acrobat Rank) less points of damage due to his skill. [154.6] A character with climb skill does not spend money or time to maintain his proficiency with climb skill. Unlike most of the skills presented in DragonQuest, a character is not required to spend time and effort in order to maintain his climb skill. The skill presented here is a natural ability, much like that possessed by animals, and while some humans are better at it than others, the skill does not require extra time and money to maintain at the current Rank of skill. ---------- Copyright (c) 1982 John M. Kahane. EXPERIENCE COSTS FOR ADDITIONAL PRIMARY SKILLS IN THE DRAGONQUEST RPG SYSTEM SKILL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Climb 0 150 300 450 600 750 900 1050 1200 1350 1500