Swinging on a rope and jumping [Archive] - Wizards Community

Swinging on a rope and jumping [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SmiloDan
09-10-07, 02:45 PM I run a swashbuckling campaign with a lot of ship to ship combat. I came up with a rule on the fly the other day and want some input.

The duskblade grabbed a rope and swung out and then jumped.

I ruled he could add the result of his Use Rope skill to his Jump skill check result to determine how far he jumped.

Does that seem balanced?
Nephlite
09-10-07, 02:52 PM I run a swashbuckling campaign with a lot of ship to ship combat. I came up with a rule on the fly the other day and want some input.

The duskblade grabbed a rope and swung out and then jumped.

I ruled he could add the result of his Use Rope skill to his Jump skill check result to determine how far he jumped.

Does that seem balanced?

Well, jump determines how high and far: so yeah, if the rope keeps him a certain height and he went a certain distance: that works.

I might make 1/2 the use rope check but it does seem like it makes sense.
But seems balanced enough.
Finarin Panjoro
09-10-07, 04:45 PM I'm running a pirate campaign and similar situations are likely to crop up. I haven't had this exact thing happen yet, but I'd actually probably treat this as a charge (has to be a straight line limited by double movement with an attack possible at the end, +2 to atk, -2 to AC.)

I'd have him make a Use Rope check or a Jump check to arrive where he wanted (with a +2 bonus to whichever he chose if he has 5 ranks in the other). The Use Rope or Jump check would be used as a ranged touch attack to hit the square he wanted to land in (AC 10), so once they have 10 ranks they'd never miss. If they did miss then they'd have to roll on the grenade miss chart to determine where they arrived. The advantage of all this is that they could ignore terrain in between their starting point and their target (such as slick decks, gaps between ships, crowds, etc) and if they were at least 10 feet up they would also avoid all AoOs from foes between them and their target (you could allow them a jump check at the start to determine the height at which they were swinging).

Just my two cents.
SmiloDan
09-10-07, 05:27 PM Seems realistic, just a little bit complicated and time consuming. In a battle between 7 PCs, 9 NPCs, plus non-combatant crew members, you want things to run a quickly as possible, especially since they'll be doing that move a lot.

In my campaign, ship ropes are kind of "abstractly convenient;" they're there when you need them, and out of the way when you don't. It also encourages unusual movement and derring-do. It IS a swashbuckling campaign, after all. There's gotta be chandeliers to swing from!

I also just figured out they can do the whole "cut one end of the rope and the heavy thing will fall and pull you up trick" by combining a Climb Check with a Use Rope Check.
Lootus
09-10-07, 11:17 PM You could require a DC 0 Climb check (just to hang on to the rope). The Use Rope synergy would apply as normal. That way it wouldn't usually be an issue unless there's an armor check penalty or the character is very weak or hindered. Regardless, if they fail, they probably shouldn't have been attempting it in the first place. :)

Finarin Panjoro, I like your charge idea, especially if they are swinging down on to the opponents and not just straight out. I also love the 'abstractly convenient' idea, however I'm going to take the 'more complicated' route.

In the case of swinging straight out, some multiplier of Jump seems appropriate, especially because a running start would give more distance. But it seems to me like swinging down would be more common.

For swinging down, the character could target an intersection and try to land there, like with throwing a splash weapon (except in this case it's them on a rope - ranged attack vs. AC 5; range increment 10 ft.; +1 atk from higher ground). If they miss, they roll 1d8 and land randomly. If they overshoot their target, or want to let go early, they could get fancy, using Tumble to negate the damage from the first 10 ft., and take only 1d6 nonlethal from the next 10 ft. (if they also have Jump, even better). If they have a weapon in hand and they land on or adjacent to an opponent's square, (but they didn't overshoot - the target's still in front of them), they get the charge bonus to attack against that opponent if they attack when they land (or maybe even any opponent they didn't overshoot, if they have movement left - another opportunity for Tumbling upon landing). If you like you could make such a charge behave like a dive attack if the character moved at least 30 feet and descended at least 10 feet - in this case, such an attack at the end of a swing down would deal double damage.

What swashbuckler wouldn't enjoy getting the jump on his flat-footed opponents by swinging down upon them with a double-damage, sneak attack, rope-swinging charge? :)

As with climbing, anyone holding on to a rope would lose their Dex bonus to AC while swinging (for purposes of AoO).

Lightly armored characters who are good at Jumping and Tumbling would be ideally suited to these kinds of maneuvers. Sounds about right.
mvincent
09-11-07, 12:43 PM I also just figured out they can do the whole "cut one end of the rope and the heavy thing will fall and pull you up trick" by combining a Climb Check with a Use Rope Check.Nice ideas. Well done.

In my own game, I often just rule that if they can do it in a normal way (i.e. move across a room) then they can do it just as easily in a flashy way (i.e. swing across the room). But for things that they couldn't normally do (i.e. climb faster or jump farther), I like your ideas.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SmiloDan 09-10-07, 02:45 PM	I run a swashbuckling campaign with a lot of ship to ship combat. I came up with a rule on the fly the other day and want some input. The duskblade grabbed a rope and swung out and then jumped. I ruled he could add the result of his Use Rope skill to his Jump skill check result to determine how far he jumped. Does that seem balanced?
Nephlite 09-10-07, 02:52 PM	I run a swashbuckling campaign with a lot of ship to ship combat. I came up with a rule on the fly the other day and want some input. The duskblade grabbed a rope and swung out and then jumped. I ruled he could add the result of his Use Rope skill to his Jump skill check result to determine how far he jumped. Does that seem balanced? Well, jump determines how high and far: so yeah, if the rope keeps him a certain height and he went a certain distance: that works. I might make 1/2 the use rope check but it does seem like it makes sense. But seems balanced enough.
Finarin Panjoro 09-10-07, 04:45 PM	I'm running a pirate campaign and similar situations are likely to crop up. I haven't had this exact thing happen yet, but I'd actually probably treat this as a charge (has to be a straight line limited by double movement with an attack possible at the end, +2 to atk, -2 to AC.) I'd have him make a Use Rope check or a Jump check to arrive where he wanted (with a +2 bonus to whichever he chose if he has 5 ranks in the other). The Use Rope or Jump check would be used as a ranged touch attack to hit the square he wanted to land in (AC 10), so once they have 10 ranks they'd never miss. If they did miss then they'd have to roll on the grenade miss chart to determine where they arrived. The advantage of all this is that they could ignore terrain in between their starting point and their target (such as slick decks, gaps between ships, crowds, etc) and if they were at least 10 feet up they would also avoid all AoOs from foes between them and their target (you could allow them a jump check at the start to determine the height at which they were swinging). Just my two cents.
SmiloDan 09-10-07, 05:27 PM	Seems realistic, just a little bit complicated and time consuming. In a battle between 7 PCs, 9 NPCs, plus non-combatant crew members, you want things to run a quickly as possible, especially since they'll be doing that move a lot. In my campaign, ship ropes are kind of "abstractly convenient;" they're there when you need them, and out of the way when you don't. It also encourages unusual movement and derring-do. It IS a swashbuckling campaign, after all. There's gotta be chandeliers to swing from! I also just figured out they can do the whole "cut one end of the rope and the heavy thing will fall and pull you up trick" by combining a Climb Check with a Use Rope Check.
Lootus 09-10-07, 11:17 PM	You could require a DC 0 Climb check (just to hang on to the rope). The Use Rope synergy would apply as normal. That way it wouldn't usually be an issue unless there's an armor check penalty or the character is very weak or hindered. Regardless, if they fail, they probably shouldn't have been attempting it in the first place. :) Finarin Panjoro, I like your charge idea, especially if they are swinging down on to the opponents and not just straight out. I also love the 'abstractly convenient' idea, however I'm going to take the 'more complicated' route. In the case of swinging straight out, some multiplier of Jump seems appropriate, especially because a running start would give more distance. But it seems to me like swinging down would be more common. For swinging down, the character could target an intersection and try to land there, like with throwing a splash weapon (except in this case it's them on a rope - ranged attack vs. AC 5; range increment 10 ft.; +1 atk from higher ground). If they miss, they roll 1d8 and land randomly. If they overshoot their target, or want to let go early, they could get fancy, using Tumble to negate the damage from the first 10 ft., and take only 1d6 nonlethal from the next 10 ft. (if they also have Jump, even better). If they have a weapon in hand and they land on or adjacent to an opponent's square, (but they didn't overshoot - the target's still in front of them), they get the charge bonus to attack against that opponent if they attack when they land (or maybe even any opponent they didn't overshoot, if they have movement left - another opportunity for Tumbling upon landing). If you like you could make such a charge behave like a dive attack if the character moved at least 30 feet and descended at least 10 feet - in this case, such an attack at the end of a swing down would deal double damage. What swashbuckler wouldn't enjoy getting the jump on his flat-footed opponents by swinging down upon them with a double-damage, sneak attack, rope-swinging charge? :) As with climbing, anyone holding on to a rope would lose their Dex bonus to AC while swinging (for purposes of AoO). Lightly armored characters who are good at Jumping and Tumbling would be ideally suited to these kinds of maneuvers. Sounds about right.
mvincent 09-11-07, 12:43 PM	I also just figured out they can do the whole "cut one end of the rope and the heavy thing will fall and pull you up trick" by combining a Climb Check with a Use Rope Check.Nice ideas. Well done. In my own game, I often just rule that if they can do it in a normal way (i.e. move across a room) then they can do it just as easily in a flashy way (i.e. swing across the room). But for things that they couldn't normally do (i.e. climb faster or jump farther), I like your ideas.