Niche D20Associated Ability Modifier: Agility
Acrobatics is the representation of your capability in traversing surfaces, be it narrow or treacherous. Acrobatics also may allow you to deftly dodge past your foes. An Acrobatics check is usually made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
The following table details modified that may be applied to Acrobatic skill checks. These modifiers may stack with one another, but only the most severe modifier for a type of condition (such as a severely unsteady being taken over mildly unsteady).
| Acrobatics Modifiers | DC Modifier |
|---|---|
| Light Obstruction (loose gravel or sand) | +2 |
| Severe Obstruction (cavern, rubble) | +5 |
| Slippery (wet) | +2 |
| Very Slippery (icy) | +5 |
| Sloped (<45°) | +2 |
| Severely Sloped (>45°) | +5 |
| Unstable (boat in rough water) | +2 |
| Very Unstable (boat in a storm) | +5 |
| Extremely Unstable (earthquake) | +10 |
| Move at full speed on narrow or uneven surfaces | +5 |
Common Uses
The Acrobatics skill has four distinct uses:
- Avoid a Trip Maneuver
- Cross Narrow Surfaces/Unstable Ground
- Move Through Threatened Squares
- Falling
- Maneuvering while flying.
Avoid a Trip Maneuver
When targeted by a trip maneuver a creature is normally expected to make a Physical(Agi) save, but a creature may instead choose to use their Acrobatics check to avoid a trip maneuver at a -6 penalty.
Cross Narrow Surfaces/Unstable Ground
You may use Acrobatics to move on a narrow surface or unstable ground without falling. A successful acrobatics check allows you to move up to half speed across the surface with only one check needed per round. When using acrobatics this way, you become flat-footed. If you take damage while using Acrobatics, you must make an additional Acrobatics check at the same DC to avoid being knocked prone, or falling from the surface. Use the following table to determine the DC, which is then further modified by the Acrobatics skill modifier table. No Acrobatics check is needed unless the modifiers increase the DC to 10 or higher.
| Surface Width | Base Acrobatics DC |
|---|---|
| Greater than 3 feet wide | 0 |
| 1–3 feet wide | 5 |
| 7–11 inches wide | 10 |
| 2–6 inches wide | 15 |
| Less than 2 inches wide | 20 |
Cross Narrow Surface DC Modifiers
- Counterbalance: Using a balancing pole, or a weapon with the counterbalance property while traversing a narrow surface grants a +1 circumstance bonus to the Acrobatics check.
Moving Through Threatened Squares
You can move through a threatened square without provoking an attack of opportunity by making an Acrobatics check. You may move up to half your speed, or at full speed by increasing the DC 5. You may use this ability while prone, but requires 5 AP to move 5 feet and increases the DC by 5. You may also use this ability to pass directly through an opponent’s square but doing so increases the DC by an additional 5.
This DC is used to avoid an attack of opportunity due to movement. The DC of this ability is equal to the MSB check of the foe you are attempting to pass through. Performing this requires a generic MSB roll from each foe whose square you’re attempting to pass through, then applying the appropriate DC modifiers to their result. If your acrobatics check is equal to or greater than their roll you successfully pass through their threatened area unharmed. Failing this acrobatics check provokes an attack of opportunity as normal; and if the foe’s choses to make this attack of opportunity and hits you, your movement immediately ends in the square you were attacked in.
If attempting to move through a creature’s square and failing, your movement provokes and is halted in a nearby square you can occupy if you would be unable to share the same square as the creature; this occurs even if the creature does not make, or succeed at, an attack of opportunity as this is representative of you failing to pass through their space.
Performing this is made as part of a movement and thus does not modify or have its own AP cost normally. This may be performed multiple times during the turn, with each being a separate acrobatics check with separate DCs.
Multiple Creatures Threatening The Same Square
When using this ability you are comparing your acrobatics check against the MSB check (plus any other conditional modifiers of the DC) for each square you move through to determine if that movement would provoke; thus normally the DC would only change when attempting to pass through their square, or when entering a new set of threatened squares.
When moving through a square threatened by multiple creatures the DC becomes that of the highest MSB check of the creatures threatening it +2 per additional creature threatening the square beyond the first.
This check has the usual modifiers applied to it such as moving through their square, or moving at full speed in addition to this +2.
| Condition | DC Modifier |
| Move at Half speed | +0 |
| Move at Full Speed | +10 |
| Move while Prone(5 Feet) | +5 |
| Move Through Creature’s Square | +5 |
| Move Past/Through a square threatened by multiple creatures.. | +2 per creature beyond the first. |
Falling
You can use Acrobatics to soften a fall that occurred by falling deliberately or as part of a missed jump across a gap. You may make a DC 15 Acrobatics check to ignore the first 10 feet; taking damage from a fall still causes you to fall prone. Creatures cannot use this if the fall occurred through other means such as being shoved off a cliff, triggering a pitfall trap, or other scenarios in which the creature didn’t intentionally fall or was performing a jump.
Negate Falling Damage
If you are falling and have the ability to fly, you can make a DC 15 acrobatics check to negate the damage.
Flying
Acrobatics is used to perform daring or complex maneuvers while airborne. The acrobatics skill is only useful when flying, but in itself does not grant the ability to fly.
An Acrobatics check to fly is not needed if you move at least half your speed during your turn. You may choose to rise at half speed at an angle of 45 degrees (this is to make calculations easier as you can then assume they rose up an equal number of squares as they moved forward), and can descend at any angle at normal speed. This only applies to movement taken on your turn. Movement or actions that violate this rule requires an Acrobatics check. The difficulty of these maneuvers varies depending upon the maneuver you are attempting, as noted on the following chart.
| Flying Maneuver | Fly DC |
|---|---|
| Move less than half speed and remain flying | 10 |
| Hover | 15 |
| Fly straight up at half speed. | 20 |
| Fly straight up at full speed. | 35 |
Movement does not calculate diagonal movement when moving upwards to help simplify vertical movement, instead this is represented by the reduction of half speed when moving up at a 45 degree angle.
Failing an acrobatics check to fly by one degree or more causes you plummet to the ground, taking the appropriate falling damage.
Avoid Falling After Being Attacked
If you take damage while flying you must make a DC 10 acrobatics check to avoid losing 10 feet of altitude, though this descent does not provoke an attack of opportunity nor does it count against your movement.
Additional Flying Modifiers
Fly Speed: A creature with a fly speed receives a bonus or penalty on Acrobatics skill checks to fly depending on its maneuverability.
- Clumsy –8
- Poor –4
- Average +0
- Good +4
- Perfect +8
Size Category: A creature larger or smaller than Medium takes a size bonus or penalty on Acrobatics checks to fly depending on its size category:
- Fine +8
- Diminutive +6
- Tiny +4
- Small +2
- Large –2
- Huge –4
- Gargantuan –6
- Colossal –8