Climbing (PHB)

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Although thieves have specialized climbing abilities, all characters are able to climb to some degree or another. Climbing ability is divided into three categories: thief, mountaineer, and unskilled.
Thieves are the most skilled at climbing. They are the only characters who can climb very smooth, smooth, and rough surfaces without the use of ropes or other equipment. They are the fastest of all climbers and have the least chance of falling.
Mountaineers are characters with mountaineering proficiency or those the DM deems to possess this skill. They have a better climbing percentage than unskilled characters. Mountaineers with proper equipment can climb very smooth, smooth, and rough surfaces. They can assist unskilled characters in all types of climbs.
Unskilled climbers are the vast majority of characters. While they are able to scramble over rocks, they cannot use climbing equipment or negotiate very smooth, smooth, and rough surfaces. They have the lowest climbing success rate of all characters.
==Calculating Success==
The chance of success of a climb is calculated by taking the character's skill level (given as a percentage) and modifying it for his race, the condition of the surface, and situational modifiers. Table 65 lists the percentages for the different categories of climbers.
 Table 65: Base Climbing Success Rates
Category 	Success Rate
Thief with mountaineering proficiency *	Climb walls % + 10%
Thief 	Climb walls %
Mountaineering proficiency * 	40% + 10% per proficiency slot
Mountaineer (decided by DM) 	50%
Unskilled climber 	40%
The chance of success given in Table 65 is modified by many factors. Some of these remain the same from climb to climb (such as a character's race) and can be figured into the character's base score. Others depend on the conditions of a given climb. All factors are listed on Table 66.
The final result of Tables 65 and 66 is the number the character uses for Climbing checks. A Climbing check is made by rolling percentile dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than the number found from Tables 65 and 66, the character succeeds with the Climbing check. Rolls above this number indicate failure.
A Climbing check must be made any time a character tries to climb a height of 10 feet or more. This check is made before the character ascends the first 10 feet of the climb. If the check is passed, the character can continue climbing. If the check is failed, the character is unable to find a route and cannot even attempt the climb. No further attempts can be made by that character until a change occurs. This is either a significant change in location (a half mile or more along the face of a cliff) or an improvement in the character's chance of success.
:For example, Brondvrouw the gnome is an unskilled climber. Her normal chance of success is 25% (40%—15% for being a gnome). She has been cut off from the rest of the party by a rugged cliff, 50 feet high. Fortunately, the cliff is dry and the rock seems solid. She makes an attempt, but rolls a 49 on the percentile dice. She cannot limb the cliff. Then one of her friends above remembers to lower a rope. With the rope, Brondvrouw can again try the climb, since her percentage chance is now 80%. This time, she rolls a 27 and makes the ascent.
On particularly long climbs—those greater than 100 feet or requiring more than one turn (10 minutes) of climbing time—the DM may require additional checks. The frequency of these checks is for the DM to decide. Characters who fail a check could fall a very long way, so it is wise to carry ropes and tools.
 Table 66: Climbing Modifiers
Situation 	Modifier
Abundant handholds (brush, trees, ledges)	40%
Rope and wall ** 	55%
Sloped inward 	25%
Armor: 	Armor:
Banded, splint 	-25%
Plate armors (all types) 	-50%
Scale, chain 	-15%
Studded leather, padded 	-5%
Character race: * 	Character race: *
Dwarf 	-10%
Gnome 	-15%
Halfling 	-15%
Encumbrance 	-5% 
Surface condition: 	Surface condition:
Slightly slippery (wet or crumbling) 	-25%
Slippery (icy, slimy) 	-40%
Climber wounded below hp 	-10%
: * These are the same as the modifiers given in 
: ** Rope and wall applies in most climbing situations in which the character is able to brace his feet against the surface being climbed and use a rope to assist in the task.
: † This is -5% per encumbrance category above unencumbered, or per movement rate point lost off normal movement rate.
==Climbing Rates==
Climbing is different from walking or any other type of movement a character can do. The rate at which a character moves varies greatly with the different types of walls and surfaces that must be climbed. Refer to Table 67. Cross-reference the type of surface to be climbed with the surface condition. Multiply the appropriate number from the table by the character's current movement rate. The result is the rate of climb for the character, in feet per round, in any direction (up, down, or sideways).
All the movement rates given on Table 67 are for nonthief characters. Thief characters are able to climb at double the movement rate for normal characters.
:For example, Ragnar the thief and his companion Rupert (a half-elf) are climbing a cliff with rough ledges. A recent rain has left the surface slightly slippery. Ragnar has a movement rate of 12 and Rupert's is 8. Ragnar can cover 12 feet per round (12 x 1 since he is a thief), but Rupert struggles along at the pace of 4 feet per round (8 x ). If Ragnar had gone up first and lowered a rope to Rupert, the half-elf could have climbed at the rate of 8 feet per round using rope and wall (8 x 1).
 Table 67: Rates of Climbing
 	——————Surface Condition——————	——————Surface Condition——————	——————Surface Condition——————
Type of Surface 	Dry 	Slightly Slippery 	Slippery
Very smooth * 	¼ 	—** 	—**
Smooth, cracked *	 	1-Mar 	¼
Rough * 	1 	1-Mar 	¼
Rough w/ledges 	1 	 	1-Mar
Ice wall 	— 	— 	¼
Tree 	4 	3 	2
Sloping wall 	3 	2 	1
Rope and wall 	2 	1 	
: * Nonthief characters must be mountaineers and have appropriate tools (pitons, rope, etc.) to climb these surfaces.
: ** Thief characters can climb very smooth, slightly slippery surfaces at ¼. However, even thieves cannot climb very smooth, slippery surfaces.
==Types of Surfaces==
Very smooth surfaces include expanses of smooth, uncracked rock, flush-fitted wooden walls, and welded or bolted metal walls. Completely smooth walls, unbroken by any feature, cannot be climbed by anyone without tools.
Smooth and cracked walls include most types of well-built masonry, cavern walls, maintained castle walls, and slightly eroded cliff faces.
Rough faces are most natural cliffs, poorly maintained or badly built masonry, and typical wooden walls or stockades. Any natural stone surface is a rough face.
Rough with ledges is similar to rough faces but is dotted with grips three inches or more wide. Frost-eroded cliffs and natural chimneys are in this category, as are masonry buildings falling into ruin.
Ice walls are cliffs or faces made entirely of frozen ice. These are different from very smooth and smooth surfaces in that there are still many natural cracks and protrusions. They are extremely dangerous to climb, so a Climbing check should be made every round for any character attempting it without tools.
Trees includes climbs with an open framework, such as a scaffold, as well as trees.
Sloping walls means not quite clifflike but too steep to walk up. If a character falls while climbing a sloping wall, he suffers damage only if he fails a saving throw vs. petrification. If the save is made, the character slides a short distance but is not harmed.
Rope and wall require that the character uses a rope and is able to brace himself against a solid surface.
==Actions While Climbing==
Although it is possible to perform other actions while climbing, such as spellcasting or fighting, it is not easy. Spellcasters can use spells only if they are in a steady, braced position, perhaps with the aid of other characters.
Climbing characters lose all Armor Class bonuses for Dexterity and shield and most often have rear attack modifiers applied against them also. Their own attack, damage, and saving throw rolls suffer -2 penalties. Those attacking from above gain a +2 bonus to their attack rolls, while those attacking from below suffer an additional -2 penalty to their attack rolls.
A climbing character cannot use a two-handed weapon while climbing. The DM can overrule these penalties if he feels the player character has reached a place of secure footing. If struck while climbing (for any amount of damage), the character must make an immediate Climbing check. Failure for a roped character means he spends a round regaining his balance; an unroped character falls if he fails this check.
==Climbing Tools==
Tools are an integral part of any mountaineer's equipment and all climbs can profit from the use of tools. Mountaineering tools include rope, pitons (spikes), and ice axes. However, it is a mistaken belief that the main function of tools is to aid in a climb. The main purpose of pitons, rope, and the like is to prevent a disastrous fall. Climbers must rely on their own skills and abilities, not ropes and spikes, when making a climb. Accidents happen when people forget this basic rule and trust their weight to their ropes and pitons.
Therefore, aside from ropes, other tools do not increase the chance of climbing success. However, in the case of a fall, climbing tools can reduce the distance fallen. When a character falls, he can fall only as far as the rope allows, if being belayed, or as far as twice the distance to the last piton set (if the piton holds—a piton pulls free 15% of the time when a sudden stress occurs). The distance fallen depends on how far apart the pitons have been set. Falling characters fall twice the distance to the last piton that holds.
For example, Rath is 15 feet above his last piton. Suddenly, he slips. He falls the 15 feet to his piton, plus another 15 feet past his piton since there's 15 feet of rope between him and the piton, for a total of 30 feet fallen and 3d6 points of falling damage.
Roping characters together increases individual safety, but it also increases the chance that more than one person falls. When a character falls, the character(s) on either side of the falling climber must roll Climbing checks (a penalty of -10 is applied for each falling character after the first one to fall). If all checks are successful, the fall is stopped and no one suffers any damage. If a check is failed, that character also falls and Climbing checks must be repeated as before. Climbing checks are made until either the fall is stopped (the climbers on either side of the falling character[s] successfully roll Climbing checks or the last nonfalling climber succeeds with his check), or all the roped-together characters fall.
:For example, a party of five is roped together as they go up a cliff. Suddenly, Johann falls. Megarran, immediately above him, and Drelb, following him, must roll Climbing checks. Megarran passes her check. But Drelb fails and is snapped off the wall. Now Megarran must make another check with a -10 penalty (for two falling characters), and Targash, who's bringing up the rear, must also roll a check with a -10 penalty. Both succeed on their rolls and the fall is stopped.
==Getting Down==
Aside from jumping or flying, the quickest way to get down from a height is to rappel. This requires a rope attached at the top of the climb and a skilled mountaineer to set up the rappel and to hold the rope at the bottom. When rappeling down a surface, a Climbing check with a +50 bonus must be rolled. Free rappels (with the end of the rope unsupported at the bottom) are also possible, but the modifier is only +30. Of course, a failed check results in a slip sometime during the rappel (the DM decides on the damage suffered). A character can rappel at a speed equal to his normal dungeon movement (120 feet per round for an unencumbered human). One other thing to bear in mind is that there must be a landing point at the end of the rope. Rappelling 60 feet down a 100-foot cliff means the character is either stranded at the end of the rope or, worse still, rappels right off the end and covers the last 40 feet much faster than he did the first 60!