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Message: <blockquote data-quote="StreamOfTheSky" data-source="post: 5213966" data-attributes="member: 35909">Alright, some clarification would be nice on the little things PF changed when they consolidated Balance, Jump, and Tumble into one skill.<a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/skills/acrobatics.html#acrobatics" target="_blank">Acrobatics</a>1. Now you're always flatfooted while balancing, no matter how many ranks you have in Acrobatics?2. A successful check lets you move across a difficult surface at half speed.  Ok.  <s>If you beat the DC by ten or whatever, can you move full speed?</s>  What happens if you fail?  Do you just not move on that move action, or do you fall?  Do you need to fail by a certain amount to fall, or by any amount?  Latter seems extremely harsh...EDIT: +5 DC mod to move at full speed, oops.3. In 3E, tumbling through a threatened square was DC 15 and through an occupied square 25, a difference of 10 points.  In PF, it's only a 5 point difference, but the easier task is MUCH harder...  In my limited experience, CMD is often pretty high, and with less chances to jack up a skill check in PF (no synergies, for instance)...can someone who maxes Acrobatics at every opportunity even expect to not get hit more than half the time?  The level 6 character i'm building right now with max ranks in it has Acrobatics +11 (-1 armor check penalty) and a CMD of 23.  He'd fail against himself more than half the time, and that's assuming perfectly flat ground and no other threatening opponents!4. Do you move at half speed through the squares you're tumbling, or for your entire move action?  In 3E it was the former, in PF, the RAW looks like the latter, which is ridiculous if you're only tumbling through a single square.  Also, if you fail the check to avoid provoking an AoO, are you still forced to move at half speed, or since an AoO interrupts and comes before the offending action, can you ammend your movement to not get screwed over on distance allowed for no gain?  (ie, eat the AoO and then move full speed, like any schmoe without the skill would have done)5. You now only need a 10 ft running start for jumps, and instead of training being the difference between landing on your feet or prone... the only thing that makes you land prone now is by failing by 5 or more?  Is that right?  Otherwise, no real issues with jumping, they didn't mess with it much, and it didn't need any real fixing anyway.  I like standardizing the bonus/penalty to both be 4 per 10 ft above/below 30, instead of 6 for lower, 4 for higher.6. Kinda obvious, but in 3E, you could occasionally reduce a fall by 20 ft of damage (more, if using the epic Tumble DC rules) -- 10 ft by jumping down deliberately, and 10 ft by rolling on the landing with tumble.  Since in PF, they're both the same skill, that had to go....but why did they take out the roll portion that could apply to any fall, and only give you the skill option for deliberate jumps/falls?  Makes no sense to me.7. Acrobatics DC modifiers.  Anyone else think these can get a little...freaking crazy... very fast?  Maybe for checks with flat DCs, like balancing or jumping a short distance, it's ok.  But...dealing with a foe's CMD AND a bunch of these penalties would make Acrobatics for tumbling quickly become impossible, IMO.8. For completeness sake...you now need to be level 3 for the higher fighting defensively and total defense AC bonus, instead of level 2.  Just noting it.I think I covered all of the changes, it's a surprisingly large amount for skills that IMO worked pretty well as written.</blockquote>

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