Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Jump
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Jump
The Jump skill is a movement skill. It allows you to cross gaps in floors, hop over barriers, and quickly reach high ledges overhead. Those who train hard at it often jump as much as walk, as they can cross great distances with the combination, and can leap great distances into the sky.
Key Attribute: Strength
General Rules
All jumps are resolved on the same turn as they are initiated. Distance traveled on the ground must be paid for with move actions, whether it is a single move action, a double move action or charge, or even the run action. If completing a jump would cause the jumper to exceed the movement allowed by a single move action, they may spend another move action if it is available to continue the jump. They may spend any unused movement from this action when they land if they land on their feet. If they do not have any additional actions to spend on movement, or elect not to spend one, they still benefit from the full jump distance, but they are flat-footed for the remainder of the distance and land prone at the end. They may not regain their footing this round, even if they have actions to spend on doing so.
Most jump abilities are modified by the type of start you have before you attempt the jump. The table below 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, even if this means that you take your jump check in the middle of a turn other than the one you began moving in.
Also note that 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. If they jumped 50 feet in the air, and then fell 90 feet to land 40 feet beneath their initial height, they only suffer damage as if the fall was 40 feet high. They still suffer damage from falls as normal, even if they could easily jump such a height, however, as the preparation for the jump is not there to mitigate the fall in these cases.
Check Modifiers
| Condition | Check Modifier |
|---|---|
| Standing Start | -8 |
| Walking Start | -5 |
| Running Start | 0 |
| Attempting to land without falling prone | -5 |
| Base Speed > 30 | +1 per 5 feet greater than 30 |
| Base Speed < 30 | -2 per 5 feet less than 30 |
| High Jump - reduce drift from running start to 1/4 jump height | -3 |
| High Jump - eliminate drift from running start | -5 |
| High Jump - eliminate drift from walking start | -3 |
| Long Jump - increase height of jump to 1/2th jump distance | -3 |
| Long Jump - reduce height of jump to 1/8th jump distance | -5 |
| Long Jump - eliminate height of jump | -8 |
| 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. | - |
| |||
Jump Check Distance
| Check Result | Long Jump Calculation | Long Jump Distance |
High Jump Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 20 | 1 foot for every point of your result | 0-20 ft. | 0-5 ft. |
| 21 to 25 | 20 feet, plus 2 feet for every point over 20 | 20-30 ft. | 5 - 7 1/2 ft. |
| 26 to 30 | 30 feet, plus 4 feet for every point over 25 | 30-50 ft. | 7 1/2 - 12 1/2 ft. |
| 31 to 35 | 50 feet, plus 10 feet for every point over 30 | 50-100 ft. | 12 1/2 ft - 25 ft. |
| 36 to 40 | 100 feet, plus 20 feet for every point over 35 | 100-200 ft. | 25 - 50 ft. |
| 41+ | 200 feet, plus 40 feet for every point over 40 | 200+ ft. | 50+ ft. |
Untrained Uses
Hop Up
Hopping up onto a counter or table happens all the time in bar fights to get up on tables for a quick height advantage, and is useful for clearing very low obstacles. You can make short hops, using them to better deal with your situation. The DC to hop up onto any object between knee and waist high is 10, and attempting this check does not require an action. The 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. You may not hop onto or over anything higher than your waist with this ability.
Base DC: 10
Check Result:
- DC+0 and above: You hop up onto a surface between knee and waist high. Yay height advantages!
- DC-1 and below: You fail to hop up onto the surface, and lose 5' of movement from the attempt.
Just Do It!
Even without any practice, most people can jump a fair bit. It's just not always pretty. You may attempt the rank 1 High Jump and Long Jump abilities without the normal -5 untrained penalty in exchange for not being able to control your height or distance. The distance of your jump is determined exactly by your check result, and may result in you jumping farther or higher than you intend. This otherwise functions like a use of the High Jump or Long Jump abilities.
Rank 1 Uses
High Jump
Climbing isn’t as convenient as simply jumping over an obstacle 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. You can make a vertical high jump to deal with situations like these (and even if a jump won't suffice all by itself, it can at least give you a head start on your climb). When you make a high jump, you clear a height no greater than one-quarter the distance you would have jumped with a long jump, as indicated in the table above. If you do not wish to use the full height of your check result, you are not required to do so. You do not land on your feet after a High Jump, and instead fall prone unless you accept a penalty to your check, as indicated above.
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 vertically, 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 may exist at your DM's discretion.
A high jump check is generally made as part of a move or run action, as described above. The vertical distance of your high jump does not count against your movement for the round, but high jumps come with a horizontal drift that does count against your movement. If you have a running start, you travel a horizontal distance equal to half your high jump distance while in the air. 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 along the same line as your running or walking start. This horizontal movement counts against the movement you have remaining from your move action, as described above. You may reduce this drift movement by accepting a penalty to your check as indicated in the table above. Attempting a high jump from a standing start does not come with any drift to account for, but does uses a move action on its own.
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, though. 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 maximum height of your jump is determined by your check result.
Check Result: You clear a height determined by the table above. This height is one-quarter the distance a long jump with the same result would grant you.
Long Jump
Pits and moats are meant to be overcome as well, and if you can jump over them, it’s easy to ignore them and move on. You can make a long, horizontal jump to bypass these sorts of hazards. When you make a long jump, you clear a distance no greater than the distance indicated by your check result in the table above. If you do not wish to use the full length of your check result, you are not required to do so. You do not land on your feet after a Long Jump, and instead fall prone unless you accept a penalty to your check as indicated above.
If your check is short the required distance by less than your reach (as determined by your size and shape), you can make a DC 15 Reflex save to grab the ledge. See the Pull Up ability of the Athletics skill for information on getting up from there.
A long jump check is generally made as part of a move or run action, as described above. At the midpoint of a long jump, you attain a vertical height equal to one-quarter of the horizontal distance. You may modify this height by accepting a penalty to your check as indicated in the table above. The vertical distance of your long jump does not count against your movement for the round, but all horizontal movement counts against the move you have remaining from your move action, as described above. Attempting a long jump from a standing start uses one or more move actions depending on the distance. You may begin a run action with a standing long jump if you wish.
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 and jumping.
Base DC: None. The maximum length of your jump is determined by your check result.
Check Result: You clear a distance determined by the table above.
Rank 4 Uses
Competent Jumper
Practice does indeed make perfect, and perfect in this case often means "sticking the landing". You no longer take a penalty to your jump checks when you attempt to land on your feet at the end of a jump.
Rank 8 Uses
Atlas Jumps
You are growing adept at throwing yourself, whether along the ground or at the sky. When making a long jump, only one-half of your jump distance counts towards determining when you have exceeded your base move. If you had a base speed of 30 feet, for example, you could move a total of 20 feet along the ground before jumping another 20 feet, for a total distance of 40 feet with 1 move action, without landing prone and flatfooted. Similarly, you could take a run action and run 20 feet before making any number of jumps whose total distance did not exceed 200 feet without penalty, since the jumps would only count 100' towards exceeding your allowed movement. You still land prone and flatfooted if you exceed the base movement granted by your actions this round.
Additionally, when you make a high jump, the maximum height you can achieve is now equal to half the distance you would have attained on a long jump with the same roll. This effectively doubles your high jump capabilities.
Rank 12 Uses
Leap of the Winds
You've gotten extremely good at hurling yourself forward when you jump. When making a long jump, only one-quarter of your jump distance counts towards determining when you have exceeded your base move.
Rank 14 Uses
Leap of the Heavens
Sometimes you need to take the fight into the sky, to deal with a strafing creature that won't fight on solid ground. The maximum height of your high jumps is now equal to the long jump distance indicated in the table. Go jump at some dragons.
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