High Jump

[majustismp15]

I understand why a long jump requires 20ft of movement before attempt (or DC penalty applies), but say a character wants to jump up and grab something overhead, like a tree branch?

Do characters need 20ft of movement to get the height listed on the tables for high jump (I am aware that the SRD clearly states this)? I guess what I'm asking in a roundabout way is: Why does a character need 20ft of movement in order to jump straight up?

 

[ThoughtfulOwl]

Same reason; proper leverage against the ground can convert horizontal momentum into an upward one. With a running start you can jump higher, both in real life and DnD. Except that in DnD you can rapidly beat real life world records...

 

[MarkB]

As a real-world example, take a look at the Olympic high-jump event. The athletes don't just stand next to the bar and leap, they need a good long run-up if they want to clear the bar.

 

[irdeggman]

What was Bill Lambier's vertical leap?

How about Shaq's?

Then there was Mugsy Bogues'.

Note that Mugsy won the NBA dunk contest by running and then jumping.

 

[hong]

Note that the high jump DC is what you need to _clear_ a given distance; ie, you want to get over an obstacle X feet high. If you just want to grab something high up, you should factor in the reach of the character as well, which for a size M PC is 8 feet. Thus grabbing something 15 feet up requires a Jump check to clear 7 feet distance. Which is DC 28.

. . .

Okay, maybe those DCs are a bit high.

 

[Stalker0]

Thus grabbing something 15 feet up requires a Jump check to clear 7 feet distance. Which is DC 28.

. . .

Okay, maybe those DCs are a bit high.

That would mean the person grapped something that was right between the 1st and 2nd story of a building...I don't think DC 28 is unreasonable.

And you don't have to run 20 feet to make vertical leaps, it just helps a whole lot. If you don't run, its your jump check divided by 8 in feet instead of by 4.

I think the jump skill is decently realistic, I mean if you try jumping straight off the ground WITHOUT tucking in your legs, see how high you can really get.

 

[No Name]

I think the jump skill is decently realistic, I mean if you try jumping straight off the ground WITHOUT tucking in your legs, see how high you can really get.

I don't think it's even close to realistic.

Grabbing a basketball rim in D&D terms (for a medium humanoid) is a DC 8 check with a running start, or a DC 16 without. Everyone who gets a running start should be able to do it in a few tries. It's still possible even if they have 6 STR, 0 ranks in jump, and a speed of 20.

It doesn't work that way in the real world.

 

[Whimsical]

Yeah, less gravity in a D&D world than earth.

I think this is a case where realism was sacrificed for ease of play. The 3.5 Jump system is easy to memorize and use quickly. And to do that it needed to establish an unrealistic 1:1 correlation between rolled skill check results and distance in feet.

Although this means that D&D characters can jump around like anime characters, I'm actually cool with this. I certainly prefer it to the 3.0 system.

 

[Stalker0]

I don't think it's even close to realistic.

Grabbing a basketball rim in D&D terms (for a medium humanoid) is a DC 8 check with a running start, or a DC 16 without. Everyone who gets a running start should be able to do it in a few tries. It's still possible even if they have 6 STR, 0 ranks in jump, and a speed of 20.

It doesn't work that way in the real world.

Actually the system may be right, its just the reaches that are in error. An 8 foot reach is actually a pretty good reach, especially if people are as short in dnd as the height modifier suggests. If the reach was dropped down to 7'6", you would need a DC 10 check, which means a normal person could do it. Drop the reach down to 7', and it would take a DC 12, which would mean many could do it, but its not automatic.

So with those numbers in mind, the system works pretty well at modeling normal people. But for convience they made it 8'.

 

[Bront]

That would mean the person grapped something that was right between the 1st and 2nd story of a building...I don't think DC 28 is unreasonable.

And you don't have to run 20 feet to make vertical leaps, it just helps a whole lot. If you don't run, its your jump check divided by 8 in feet instead of by 4.

I think the jump skill is decently realistic, I mean if you try jumping straight off the ground WITHOUT tucking in your legs, see how high you can really get.

Actualy, to dunk, you need to add another foot for the ball. That's up to a DC 12 (24 with no running start). Plus, in a game, you aren't going to get a running start, since you can't run 20 feet straight to the hoop in a real game (95% of the time at least). If anything, the 8 foot reach of the medium humanoid is a bit off. I'm 6'4", and while I can reach an 8 foot ceiling, it's not easy, and if I lost 6 inches in height (not to mention the proportional arm length loss), I wouldn't be able to.