Skill checks for faster movement?

[Harzel]

I could see checks for ignoring difficult terrain but not to increase speed.

If you have a particular reason, it would be interesting to hear it. Prior to this thread, it hadn't occurred to me, but movement is the only place that I can think of where there is an ability wall (or cliff or whatever): if you try to move your speed, you always succeed, but if you try to move farther, you always fail. It seems like saying if your opponent's AC is 15 or less you always hit, but 16 or more and you always miss. Its a weird fit in a game where you are supposed to be able to attempt anything.

 

[ad_hoc]

If you have a particular reason, it would be interesting to hear it. Prior to this thread, it hadn't occurred to me, but movement is the only place that I can think of where there is an ability wall (or cliff or whatever): if you try to move your speed, you always succeed, but if you try to move farther, you always fail. It seems like saying if your opponent's AC is 15 or less you always hit, but 16 or more and you always miss. Its a weird fit in a game where you are supposed to be able to attempt anything.

Do you allow ability checks to make additional attacks?

 

[Harzel]

Do you allow ability checks to make additional attacks?

Well, that's a good point. Sort of. I don't think extra attacks are the best example because there is already uncertainty associated with attacks and so if you added more dice rolls you could adjust things in such a way that it made no net difference on average.

However, this certainly brings to mind the many other limited use abilities that have no uncertainty associated with them - rage, channel divinity, lay on hands, etc. Which is to say that I was pretty much categorically wrong. (Well, technically, I did say that I can think of, which was true, but that's sort of a lame excuse.)

But then that brings up the question of why all this other stuff is cast as limited-number-of-uses-but-autosucceed instead of try as many times as you wish, but with uncertain success. Is there some shared characteristic that I am missing or is it just an ease-of-play thing or tradition or something else?

 

[Horwath]

As I found it rather odd / irritating that the rogues could run 1/3rd faster than any other character class (due to being able to Dash as a bonus action and thus get three movements in a round), I created a sub-rule for the Dash action-- Full Sprint.

The rule basically says that if you take the Dash action on your turn, you may use your bonus action to Dash as well (garnering you 3 x your movement speed for the round, assuming you move too.) Thus all character classes can "triple move" on their turn if that's what they choose to do. It slightly impinges on the rogue... but the rogue is still the only one who can double move (via their move and a bonus action Dash) and then take an action. So they still get their special bennie for Cunning Action, they just don't outpace the rest of their party when everybody runs away at full speed.

I've added the Run bonus action. It is more or less the same but little more limiting.

Run: If you take Dash action on your turn and move only in straight line on non-difficult terrain you can take Run bonus action to move additional distance equal to twice your speed. In total 4×your speed per round.
You can use run only for 1 minute at a time.

 

[ClearlyTough69]

When you dash, how about making an Athletics check and adding the result to your speed? You could use other posters' ideas for imposing a constraint, cost or risk to this.

 

[ad_hoc]

But then that brings up the question of why all this other stuff is cast as limited-number-of-uses-but-autosucceed instead of try as many times as you wish, but with uncertain success. Is there some shared characteristic that I am missing or is it just an ease-of-play thing or tradition or something else?

I think it is just that games have mechanics and this happens to be what D&D uses.

Vancian casting - the idea that a magic user has a limited amount of spells stored up and 'uses them up' was the start of it. So yeah, tradition in part I think. But when it comes down to it, resource depletion until rest reset is a fundamental game mechanic, and a structure adopted by many RPGs, certainly most video games of the sort.

Even the Rogue still has HP which diminish over time.

I think it is a good mechanic for a game with combat. I could see a detective RPG working with something different. Even those benefit, I think, from tokens players can cash in to keep the plot moving.

 

[clearstream]

True I don't *need* a hard coded rule, but I do like to be consistent for my players and value the community hive mind for views as to how balanced this option might be, or alternatives that have been tested at other tables.

Plus it satisfies my touch of OCD.

Acrobatics is kind of overshadowed by Athletics, so it seems okay to want to let it cover this sort of thing. In contemplating a consistent rule that characters can avail themselves of whenever they want, allowing Acrobatics checks to increase speed, the question to my mind is how strong it is. Capping it to Constitution bonus is a good control on that, but let's think...

Rogue
Dex 18, Con 14, expertise Acrobatics, 5th level = +10. Short Rest abilities are frequently available every combat, and combats for a 4-character party take around 5 turns. In this case, they probably go for +50% and gain 30' movement per combat without risk. On top of Cunning Action, one impact this will have on your campaign if you use figures, is a need for much bigger battle maps! Seeing as your Rogue can Dash + Dash + Move*1.5 = 105' move on a turn. When they get to 11th level, with Reliable Talent, they perpetually double their base speed (skill check is +12 and minimum roll is 10). They can't fall prone, either adding 50% or 100% to speed, as they can't fail by 10 or more.

Monk
Dex 18, Con 14, Acrobatics, 5th level = +7. You'll need to rule if "base speed" is speed with or without Unarmored Movement (same for Barbarian). Given what Rogue is getting to do, it seems to me more just to say Unarmored Movement is adjusting "base" speed for your purposes. With Step of Wind a Wood Elf Monk can Dash + Dash + Move*1.5 for about 155'. They can't fall prone aiming for +50%, as they can't fail by 10 or more.

Druid
I won't analyse this, suffice to mention that Druids can turn into things with high base speeds.

Wizard
With Fly, what is my base speed?

I really have three comments to make
1) Your system isn't crazy: you've built in some reasonable limits that will stop applying to some characters at higher levels
2) There are pursuit rules in the DMG, that use Constitution to regulate Dash thus impacting who can catch whom
3) Many characters in 5e already have movement abilities that allow them to separate themselves out if a chase

One solution to your problem - how to separate characters out in a chase - might be first look at the DMG and see if that does the job, and second consider using Acrobatics to avoid being slowed, rather than to boost speed, as clearly a consistently applying system is going to warp at higher levels.