Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Jump
Contents
Jump
Key Attribute: Strength
The Jump skill is a movement skill. It allows you to cross gaps in floors, reach high ledges, or cross large distances quickly.
Check Modifiers
| Condition | Check Modifier |
|---|---|
| Standing Start | -8 |
| Walking Start | -5 |
| Running Start | 0 |
| Base Speed > 30 | +1 per 10 feet greater than 30 |
| Base Speed < 30 | -1 per 5 feet less than 30 |
| Creature Size | Vertical Reach | Running Start1 | Walking Start2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colossal | 128 ft. | 75 ft. | 60 ft. |
| Gargantuan | 64 ft. | 60 ft. | 45 ft. |
| Huge | 32 ft. | 45 ft. | 30 ft. |
| Large | 16 ft. | 30 ft. | 20 ft. |
| Medium | 8 ft. | 20 ft. | 15 ft. |
| Small | 4 ft. | 15 ft. | 10 ft. |
| Tiny | 2 ft. | 10 ft. | 5 ft. |
| Diminutive | 1 ft. | 5 ft. | - |
| Fine | 1/2 ft. | 5 ft. | - |
| |||
General Notes
Most jump abilities are modified by the type of start you have before you attempt the jump. The table above indicates the distance you must move in order to qualify for the listed start type. This movement must be in the same direction as the jump, and must occur immediately before you make the jump. If you have an ability that allows you to make a turn while taking a run or charge action, only the last 5 feet must be in the same direction as the jump. You can use up to two sequential move actions to move a sufficient distance to qualify for a start type.
Also note that there you can achieve some large heights with this jump skill. A character does not suffer falling damage for landing from one of their own jumps unless they land below the elevation they jumped from. In that case, they only suffer damage for the difference in elevation. They still suffer damage from falls as normal even if they could easily jump such a height, the preparation for the jump is not there to mitigate the fall in these cases.
Untrained Uses
High Jump
Climbing isn’t as convenient as simply jumping over when the wall in your path is more of a razor fence. Likewise, you may not have time to climb up to the balcony before the demon hordes overwhelm you. A high jump is a vertical leap made to reach a ledge high above or to grasp something overhead, and is useful in situations like these. At this level of training you lack finesse with your jumps, and don't have precise control over how far you go. When you make a high jump, you clear a height equal to your check result divided by 4. Note that this means it is possible to jump higher than you really want to.
Creatures also have vertical reach that allows them to grasp significantly higher than their jump check as shown on the table above. This reach is added to their vertical jump distance to determine the maximum height they can reach with their hands. Thus, a medium creature with a speed of 30 only needs a DC 16 jump check to clear 4 feet, allowing him to hop over a 4 foot wall or reach up 10 feet into the air (4 feet of clearance + 6 feet of reach). Creatures that are longer than they are tall, like panthers and most quadrupeds, are generally treated as one category smaller though exceptions exist.
A high jump check is generally made as part of a move or run action. Attempting a high jump from a standing start uses a move action on its own, however. If you have a running start, you travel a horizontal distance equal to half your high jump distance while in the air. This movement is along the same line as your running or walking start. You can halve this horizontal distance by accepting a -2 penalty, or eliminate it by accepting a -4 penalty to your jump check. If you have a walking start, you travel a distance equal to one-quarter your high jump distance while in the air instead. This movement is also along the same line as your walking start, but may be eliminated by accepting a -2 penalty. This horizontal movement counts against the move you have remaining from your move action. If your horizontal movement would cause you to exceed your movement for the action, you must use another move action or land prone. If you run out of movement and actions in a round you simply land prone in the expected space at the end of your turn; a high jump is always resolved on the same turn it is initiated.
You may make multiple jumps as part of a move or run action, so long as the total horizontal distance you move does not exceed your maximum base move for the actions you use to jump. Horizontal movement during a jump counts towards maintaining or reaching a running start. You must spend 5 feet of movement on the ground between jumps to maintain your inertia, however. This holds true over multiple rounds as well, so long as you don’t take any action aside from moving or jumping. Failing to move at least 5 feet on the ground after a jump turns a running start into a walking one, and a walking start into a standing start.
Base DC: None. The height of your jump is determined by your check result.
Check Result: You clear a height equal to your modified check result divided by 4.
Hop Up
Hopping up onto a counter or table is a special case of the high jump, and is often used in bar fights to get up on tables for a quick height advantage. The DC to hop up onto any object between knee and waist high is 10. Like the high jump, this vertical movement is free, but you do still have to have the movement to step onto the surface. This special hop does not require a running or walking start, and does not benefit from one.
Base DC: 10
Check Result: You hop up onto a surface between knee and waist high.
Long Jump
Pits and moats are meant to be overcome as well, and if you can jump them it’s easy to ignore them and move on. A long jump is a horizontal jump useful for bypassing these sorts of hazards. At this level of training you lack finesse with your jumps, and don't have precise control over how far you go. When you make a long jump, you clear a distance equal to your check result, and yes this means you can overshoot a small landing area.
If you voluntarily reduce your check result by 5, you land at the reduced distance standing on your feet. If you do not accept this reduction, or can't do it and still clear the gap, you land on the other side prone. If your check is short the required distance by less than your reach (as determined by the table above), you can make a DC 15 reflex save to grab the ledge. See the Pull Up athletics ability for information on getting up from there.
At the midpoint of a long jump, you attain a vertical height equal to one-quarter of the horizontal distance. You may reduce this height to one-eighth of the horizontal distance by taking a -4 penalty, or eliminate the horizontal distance entirely by accepting a -8 penalty to your jump check.
A long jump may be part of a move action, or it may be a move action on its own. As long as the jump distance doesn't exceed the distance you would normally be able to cover with movement actions, such as a single-move, a double-move or charge, or even a run action, then the jump (or jumps) is considered part of those actions and does not require an action to perform. If you are not taking a run action, you roll a long jump that exceeds your base movement, and you have a move action remaining to spend, then that jump is considered to take an action on it's own. If you have any remaining movement from the move action before your very long jump you may finish it after you land. If you roll a jump that exceeds your base move and you do not have any actions to spend on it then you land prone.
If you land a long jump on your feet, you may make additional long jumps as if you had a running start without making additional land movement. This holds true over multiple rounds as well, so long as you don’t take any action aside from moving or jumping.
Base DC: None. The distance of your jump is determined by your check result.
Check Result: You clear a distance equal to your modified check result.
Rank 1 Uses
Landing
You no longer have to reduce your check result by 5 to land a long jump on your feet. You still land prone if you exceed movement limitations as indicated in the jump abilities.
Rank 4 Uses
Competent Jumper
You do not have to jump the full length of your jump check result. From now on, you can simply roll a jump check and choose to move any distance equal to or less than the distance indicated by your check result.
Rank 6 Uses
Champion High Jumper
The DC for a high jump is reduced to twice the height (in feet). This effectively doubles your high jump range.
Rank 8 Uses
Atlas Long Jump
The maximum distance you can cover with your long jumps is no longer equal to your check result. Instead your maximum long jump distance grows faster the higher you roll. From now on, you will use the following table to determine your maximum long jump distance.
| Check Result | Distance |
|---|---|
| 0 to 20 | 1 foot for every point of your result (0-20 ft.) |
| 21 to 25 | 20 feet, plus 2 feet for every point over 20 (20-30 ft.) |
| 26 to 30 | 30 feet, plus 4 feet for every point over 25 (30-50 ft.) |
| 31 to 35 | 50 feet, plus 10 feet for every point over 30 (50-100 ft.) |
| 36 to 40 | 100 feet, plus 20 feet for every point over 35 (100-200 ft.) |
| 41+ | 200 feet, plus 40 feet for every point over 40 (200+ ft.) |
Rank 10 Uses
Atlas High Jump
The DC for your high jumps is no longer equal to twice the height. Instead, the DC is equal to the DC of a long jump with a length equal to twice the height. So double the height, and use the table above to determine the DC as if it were a long jump.
Rank 12 Uses
Leap of the Winds
There is no limit to the number of Jumps you can make in a round that exceed your base move, though each jump that exceeds your base move still uses an individual move action. Any round in which you make more than one jump in this fashion you are considered to be running. Jumping may be the primary way that you move around open battlefields at this point.
Rank 14 Uses
Leap of the Heavens
The DC for your high jumps is now equal to the DC for your long jumps. Go jump at some dragons.
