D&D 5E Reasonable Movement and Athletic Feats?

[FrogReaver]

nah.

And even if it was, a high strength DnD cahracter with Athletics prof (and especially expertise and/or feats dedicated to athleticism) should be a capable of things well beyond what an Olympic athlete can do. Including performing athletic feats comparable to Olympians in full kit.

why?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

why?

Because they're exceptional, and for most people, stuff you can do IRL won't feel exceptional. And because it's more fun.
And because it's easier for your to homebrew it out than for new people who want to play that way to homebrew it in.
And because wizards can reshape reality, so it's bloody well fine if fighters can leap 30ft with a backpack on.

 

[FrogReaver]

Because they're exceptional, and for most people, stuff you can do IRL won't feel exceptional. And because it's more fun.

Olympic athletes are exception. I cannot do what they do and they still feel exceptional.

And because it's easier for your to homebrew it out than for new people who want to play that way to homebrew it in.

That's not true.

And because wizards can reshape reality, so it's bloody well fine if fighters can leap 30ft with a backpack on.

It's not about balance it's about story. I don't want to play a game where a high level fighter can jump 30ft high in full gear without magic. In fact, I think very few people would find that as engaging of a setting as one with less exaggerated fighters.

That said, I'm all for knobs and dials to realize different kinds of games. So I'd actually propose something even simpler than what you propose.

Depending on your game you either keep jumping as is in the PHB, add 5ft to all jumps, add 10ft to all jumps, etc. Seem more reasonable and more flexible?

 

[Ratskinner]

It's not about balance it's about story. I don't want to play a game where a high level fighter can jump 30ft high in full gear without magic. In fact, I think very few people would find that as engaging of a setting as one with less exaggerated fighters.

That said, I'm all for knobs and dials to realize different kinds of games. So I'd actually propose something even simpler than what you propose.

Depending on your game you either keep jumping as is in the PHB, add 5ft to all jumps, add 10ft to all jumps, etc. Seem more reasonable and more flexible?

I'd go even simpler....just eyeball it for the kind of game you want. If you want superheroic jumps to be more common, lower the DCs. AFAICT, there isn't anything in the rules that says that X ft = Y DC. * I don't find that detailing something like the exact width of a chasm or whatever actually adds to the game in any appreciable way. (I suppose YMMV, of course.)

*Although there do appear to be default movement costs....these seem to indicate, to me anyway, that those jumps are made without any roll being needed.

 

[Garthanos]

Is it?

And is magical armor encumbering or heavy necessarily it wouldn't be if i was involved in its design in fact the bonuses to armor class could well be about the armor being harder in spite of being lighter and less encumbering in spite of covering better

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And is magical armor encumbering or heavy necessarily it wouldn't be if i was involved in its design in fact the bonuses to armor class could well be about the armor being harder in spite of being lighter and less encumbering in spite of covering better

Yep.

 

[Guest 6801328]

If the rules allowed characters to jump farther, wouldn't the challenges just scale up to match?

In other words, if new rules allowed everybody to jump twice as far as they can now, wouldn't we just put a 20' gap where we currently use a 10' gap?

 

[Xeviat]

If the rules allowed characters to jump farther, wouldn't the challenges just scale up to match?

In other words, if new rules allowed everybody to jump twice as far as they can now, wouldn't we just put a 20' gap where we currently use a 10' gap?

It's not about the challenge scaling of the challenges that's at stake here, it's the scope of the challenges.

Also, like, high level characters should be magical and exceptional. When one of the suggestions here amounted to adding 6 feet to the highest level character's jumps ... I don't see a problem.

Also, a monk can get up to like an 80 ft movement, but their jump is still limited to Str score feet? Weird ...

 

[doctorbadwolf]

If the rules allowed characters to jump farther, wouldn't the challenges just scale up to match?

In other words, if new rules allowed everybody to jump twice as far as they can now, wouldn't we just put a 20' gap where we currently use a 10' gap?

No. Speaking for anyone I know irl, we don’t choose how big the gap is based on player abilities.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I can here a while back after a few days of researching human running speeds because I miss 3Es run action and got shot down.

Look, this is a game with Monk characters that could reasonably be wearing very little and carrying nothing, so making sure someone could reach real world peak human Olympic feats with just basic skills and feats (as opposed to magical class features) seems like a reasonable baseline.

Where in a character's career are we putting the baseline? Low levels similar to RL humans, and matched up to wizards who can teleport 20ft and levitate?
Or high levels where they are competing with demigods in feats of athleticism, and matched up to wizards who can teleport across the world, stop time, and transform into dragons?