How do you measure "Timing"?

[Omegaxicor]

I am wondering how you measure a character's "timing", for example sliding under a closing door or jumping between moving platforms, is it just a case of movement/jump skill and assume the character times it perfectly?

I have considered the "it just doesn't work with D&D mechanics" argument but I was wondering if there was a way

 

[The Crimson Binome]

As is usually the case, it would probably fall under Dex :-/

Dexterity covers reflexes and hand-eye coordination.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I'd either make it a separate Dexterity (or Initiative) check, or just be part of whatever check. That is, the randomness of the d20 encompasses the character's timing. If they roll bad on the Jump check, they fail because they jumped at the wrong time.

 

[Ahnehnois]

To me, that's somewhere between Wis and Dex. For a movement skill the most logical thing to do is use the skill ranks and make it Dex-based if it isn't already.

 

[tuxgeo]

Re: how to handle timing:

You handle it however you want to. Part of timing is luck, so maybe Morrus' WOIN system (which contains a LUK attribute) would work better for that.

Otherwise, part of timing is Intuition, so maybe Wisdom has some input.
However, maybe it's Charisma, or even lack-of-Charisma: the gods of fate feel sorry for you, so they cut you some slack. (I once drove over a piece of coastal highway just before a landslide took my travel lane down toward the Pacific Ocean. I may have been the last vehicle safely over that stretch of road. That was wonderful timing, but hardly "expert timing," because there was nothing "expert" about it: I simply drove as I normally do. I didn't see it slide, but I wasn't looking in my rear-view mirror frequently: I tend to reserve that for times when I know there are other cars following me; and I didn't, then.)
(However, that didn't stop my older brother from jokingly blaming me for having caused it, either.)

 

[Omegaxicor]

thanks for the quick replies all,

A Wisdom check gives a bonus on whatever check, Tumble or Jump or whatever, is to be attempted but with a Dexterity modifier.

that seems to be the general decision so far
[MENTION=61026]tuxgeo[/MENTION] I think you just rolled a 20 on your check or your car was too heavy filled with contraband going over the road but yea the lack of a Luck stat does kinda lead to the idea of it being a 1d20 roll rather than a mechanical bonus

 

[Celebrim]

I am wondering how you measure a character's "timing", for example sliding under a closing door or jumping between moving platforms, is it just a case of movement/jump skill and assume the character times it perfectly?

Movement and jump skill control whether you have the speed or power to arrive in time. For example, you can't jump between two moving platforms that are 20' apart unless you have at minimum a certain amount of jump skill.

But fitting into a narrow window of time is generally speaking a reflex save. I'm not sure that I consider your two examples particularly good examples of 'timing' though. Fitting under a closing door just requires you have adequate speed. The sooner you get there the better, so the faster you are the better you do. If you are fast enough, you don't even need to dive or slide through. If you are too slow, it doesn't matter how well you can slide or how fast your reflexes are.

Actual examples of timing might be running through a series of swinging pendulums where what matters is less how fast you can run but that you time it right, or leaping off of a platform descending at 120' per round into a 10' high sideshaft that the platform passes on the way down. In both cases, these are reflex saves.

 

[Grogg of the North]

I'd probably just add it in to the other check they're making to slide under a door or jump onto that moving platform. +2 DC is a good rule of thumb for "Super Secret DM Modifiers". Asking for an additional initiative or dex roll could work, I guess. But it adds another roll and could be seen as the DM trying to find a reason for something to fail.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

This sounds like a high DC tumble or jump check.

If you jump between 2 platforms at a specific distance, there's a long jump DC for that. If they're moving, add a penalty to the DC that seems appropriate.

If a door is closing, the character moves at speed. If it arrives thru the doorway before it closes, the character makes the passage. If it closes before it can complete the move, the character doesn't make it. If you want to rule that the door is partway thru closing during the character's movement, make it a tumble check.

 

[Campbell]

in 3e, I would make it a Dex + Jump or Tumble check and raise the DC by 5 or so. In 4e, it would be a hard Acrobatics check. I think you need to be careful when calling for multiple checks for a single action, even when it's something a PC is highly skilled in. The extremely variable distribution of the d20 means that multiple checks will usually end in failure.