Acrobatics+
Use: Unskilled use of Vaulting/Springing penalized; Falling cannot be used unskilled.
Sample specializations: Tightrope walking, swinging on ropes, gymnastics, Vaulting/Springing, Falling
This is the skill used by gymnasts and circus acrobats to perform their flips, rolls, and falls. It can also be used for more practical purposes such as leaping over obstacles, through narrow openings and knowing how to land from a fall to reduce injury. Many martial artists, cat burglars and swashbuckling fighters have use for acrobatics. In game play, acrobatics has two specific functions, Vaulting/ Springing and Falling. Most applications of the skill fall into the Vaulting/Springing category.
Vaulting/springing: a character skilled in acrobatics has the ability to use the natural scenery to vault and spring over physical obstacles. The difficulty number of such an action depends upon the obstacle.
VAULTING/SPRINGING CHART
Obstacle Difficulty #
Hopping a fence 3
Swinging on a rope 5
Grabbing an overhang and swinging over a pit 8
Vaulting or swinging over a tricky obstacle 10
Performing a backflip 12
Bouncing off an awning during a free fall to reach a specific destination 15
Falling: a character skilled in acrobatics can reduce the damage that he sustains in a fall. The difficulty number depends on the distance fallen. Successful use of the skill indicates that any wound damage sustained in the fall is reduced by one level (heavy wound becomes a wound; mortal wound becomes a heavy wound, etc.). This part of the skill cannot be attempted unskilled. Rules concerning falling damage are in Chapter Four.
FALLING CHART
Distance fallen Difficulty #
1 Story (15 feet) 3
2 Stories (16-30 feet) 8
5 Stories (31-100 feet) 12
Over 5 stories 15