Balance
From Cf
Contents |
Check
You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. A failure by 4 or less means you can’t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the surface, as follows:
Narrow Surface | Balance DC | Difficult Surface | Balance DC |
---|---|---|---|
7-12 inches wide | 10 | Uneven flagstone | 10 |
2-6 inches wide | 15 | Hewn stone floor | 10 |
Less than 2 inches wide | 20 | Sloped or angled floor | 10 |
Difficult surface modifiers apply only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can’t run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.
Surface | DC Modifier |
---|---|
Lightly obstructed | +2 |
Severely obstructed | +5 |
Lightly slippery | +2 |
Severely slippery | +5 |
Sloped or angled | +2 |
These modifiers are added to the Balance DC of a narrow surface. The modifiers stack.
Being Attacked while Balancing
You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can’t move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). If you have 5 or more ranks in Balance, you aren’t considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing.
Accelerated Movement
You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a -5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. (Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Balance checks, one for each move action used.) You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Balance check for each multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof) that you charge.
Action
None. A Balance check doesn’t require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
Special
If you have the Agile feat, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.
Synergy
If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.