Does anyone put skill points in Jump and Climb?

[Zerovoid]

In that really long thread about monks, lots of people talk about the monk jumping all over the battlefield, climbing walls, etc...

Now, I would never put points into either of these skills. Same with balance and swim. I'm tempted to make a character that's good at these things, but when Slippers of Spider Climb cost only 2k, why throw away my skill points. If you don't have slippers, then chances are the party's mage can spare Spider Climbs and Fly for the whole group. Or, you can cast Fly on the strongest character, and have them ferry everyone else accross. Even the humble grappling hook and 50' of silk rope can substitute for these skills in most occasions.

So, unless your character has a great fear of 60' deep anti-magic pit traps, why should you spend points on any of these skills?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Yes, because I want to have a character that doesn't lean on the wizard the whole game and I want to use other magic items in those slots.

 

[Vaxalon]

Depends on your DM.

I personally like throwing odd things at the PC's from time to time, like a vertical dungeon where you have to climb your way through most of it, or gymnasts firing crossbows down from tightropes suspended in midair.

A single spider climb spell will only last ten minutes per level.

 

[Crothian]

My ranger has boots of striding and springing, so I placed 5 ranks in both jump and climb. THis way I can get to better places to rain down arrows upon the enemy.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Why put skill points in any skill?

You can spend 2k and get a magic item made for a good bonus in any skill.

FD

 

[Zerovoid]

Why put skill points in any skill?

You can spend 2k and get a magic item made for a good bonus in any skill.

FD

Well, there is the fact that there is a whole group of skills concerned with mobility. Climb, Jump, Balance, Swim.

In most situations, a single Fly spell or Spider Climb effect will take care of all these issues.

You put points in other skills, because then when you drop 2k for a +10 item, you're really really good. Spider Climb makes you as good as you can possibly get at climbing. It doesn't add onto, it replaces.

I would make the same argument about Hide, but there are enough things that can see invisibility and have good spot scores that you really want your rogue to be hiding AND invisible while they're scouting.

 

[DerianCypher]

Well, my current character is a dex based fighter/paladin. He has Balance, Climb, and Jump maxed out. He has a cloak of the arachnid but there have been situations where he has needed to climb w/o it. I personally love being able to jump onto the back of that dire bear over there and hack it to bits where it can't fight back. There are a tremendous amount of uses for the skills. His only problem is that should he ever have to swim he'll sink like a rock.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

You put points in other skills, because then when you drop 2k for a +10 item, you're really really good. Spider Climb makes you as good as you can possibly get at climbing. It doesn't add onto, it replaces.

Keep that in mind when someone at the top of the wall you are climbing suddenly pours oil over the side. As the slipper-wearer is falling, the character with a climb skill can just wave at them.

Not to mention needing to climb an icy surface or deal with magical affects (grease, dispel magic, etc).

That is climb.

What about jump: The boots of springing and striding?
The jump skill increases in benefit with the increase in skill rank.

Balance: Full investment in balance will keep someone from falling. A +10 bonus will give them an even chance from falling. Falling or becoming prone in combat is not a fun prospect.

Swim: Oh boy, go read the drowning rules. My players learned the hard way that you do not ever neglect this skill. One drowned monk in the sewers taught that lesson well enough.

FD

 

[Fenris]

Three words:

Low Magic Campaign

 

[mattcolville]

In adventures I design, I try and make sure that there's a combination of;

Tracks to follow
Things to climb over, swim across, jump over, keep your balance on, negotiate with, as much as possible.

Few adventures I've bought do the same thing. In a good adventure, all the players are always challenged and, if there's a critical party member missing ("Hey, tracks! Damn, how do we follow them without a Ranger?") the party really feels like it's missing some opportunity.

But, as GM, I always rule that once one person does it, it's presumed the group is resourceful enough to get everyone where they need to be. Once one guy has jumped the pit or swum the river, the group can use ropes and things to make it easier for everyone. The players still need to tell me *how* they're going to do it, but once they do, presuming it makes sense, they just do it.

This is, I feel, important because then A: you don't screw people who don't have a lot of skill points in the first place by forcing them to jump/swim/climb, etc...and B: the person who maxed out his ranks in that skill feels he both spent his points well and that he got to contribute to the party's succcess.

Try this, make two lists. One of all the skills (you can use a black character sheet for this) and one for all the characters in the party.

Take the skill checklist and check off all the skill checks you've put in your adventure. You'll quickly see whether you need to use more skills, or different skills. Obviously you can't build a skill check for every skill into your adventure. But the checklist serves as a visual aid that will prompt you to start thinking about using more or different skills next time. You might notice you never have Diplomacy checks. Throw some in, they're cool. All the skills are cool and players like it when they're rewarded for buying them.

The character checklist can be used to make sure 1) each character gets a moment to shine. Like skills, they can't all shine every adventure. But when you use the checklist you start noticing that you've not included anything that only the druid can do, or that's tailor made for the bard. Without the list, it's easy to not notice that some characters never really get to do anything special, or use their shtick.

2) I use the character checklist to make sure everyone's getting something out of the adventure. Players start getting uppity when they never get any magic that's special to them. If you always throw in a wide variety (which is not the same as 'a lot' or 'more items') of items. including thing you *know* no-one can use, you'll be able to give your players a +2 Kami without them thinking "Oh, he's throwing the monk a bone."

Just a bunch of random advice.