Should movement be a skill? (integrating climb, jump..combo's)

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Run could cover things like:
- not stumbling over obstacles
- changing directions during a charge or run
- keeping up speed for a longer time

Unfortunately, there is some overlapping with existing skills, so it might be necessary to completely rethink the movement related skills so far.

Maybe there should be a few movement related skills that cover tasks like
Balance, Tumble, Jump, Hover, Dive, Sudden Turn, Keep afloat
Climb
Run
Swim
Fly
and maybe also Ride (Drive/Pilot/Row/Sail?)
Endurance could cover all aspects of "keeping a high speed" and holding your breath

Maybe these are too many skills? Or they should be just one skill "Maneuver", and you can specialise in subskills, and people that don't have a movement form as "native" suffer a penalty (or "native walkers/flyers" gain a bonus)

I think you just put together three skills:
Athletics - running, swimming, flying - if you got it, and climbing = speed
Acrobatics - balance, jumping, and tumbling = maneuvers
Ride = any of the above performed via a vehicle or creature you that is carrying your character.

Make it a divisible skill like knowledge so you are good at riding generally but you also have to pick up proficiency in Camels, Horses, Wyverns, Chariots, and Ships as you go up in level.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

If you end up having to roll once per round a movement check, then I think it better not be a skill.

It's a similar thing as speaking a language. It would make sense to have checks, but if you have to roll for each sentence, then it becomes a nightmare.

It's ok instead if you want to add some movement-related manoeuvres to an athletic skill and make a check only here and there, when it's really interesting.

Yes. There should be a base speed, and whenever you want to do something special, you use the skill:
- Charging on difficult ground
- Jumping an obstacle
- increasing your speed (at the expense of other things, possibly like with Ride, as FrankTheDM wrote)
- Making a turn during a charge or run
- etc.

Skill checks for movement should only be needed if you want to make something "special", and they probably should usually be associated with some kind of action (immediate, swift, move, standard, full, whatever seems appropriate), so people don't do it all the time.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

For my personal d20 modern variant I considered a mixture of Saga style skills and Iron Heroes skill groups.

A skill consists of several specialization, for example
Academic Knowledge (History, Physical Science, etc.)
Athletics (Climb, Jump, Swim)
Acrobatics (Balance, Escape Artist,Tumble)
Perception (Listen, Spot, Scent, Sense Motive, Touch)

Skill Training would make a character trained in all the specializations and add a +5 bonus to one of the skills. Skill Focus would increase all skills by another +5. Skill training could be used multiple times, for a different specialization each time (but not necessarily skill).

Such a system might fit here, as well. I never got it finished, but I had some thoughts on "special" skills like Perception.
Since I wanted one skill for every sense, I decided that there would be racial "primary sense", like Spot for humans or Listen for Bats. This skill would, for that species, most of the time work like Spot in D&D does (pin-pointing is automatic if you succeed a spot check, unlike with listen checks, where you have to beat the base DC).

Such a thing could also be implemented for the "movement" skills.
Maybe a Move Skill with Specializations: Climb, Fly, Walk, Swim. Humans primary movement method would be walking, fishes natural method is swim and you can figure the rest out yourself

 

[JohnSnow]

Actually, stealing again from Saga, there's a really good way to handle chase scenes: more extensive use of the endurance skill.

You could let a character make an endurance skill check to increase his speed somewhat for a certain time. Then characters are constantly trying to close, or widen, the distance between them. Usually, the faster character slips away, but occasionally the other guy can keep up, or push himself to run faster. Factor that in with things like balance, climb, and jump, and you'd have some awesome mechanics for modeling chase scenes.

But that's just how I'd do it.

 

[Shroomy]

I think I would keep Climb, Swim, and Jump separate, but I would definitely combine Tumble and Balance together.

 

[The Little Raven]

I thought that was pretty strange, but we're still too new to the game to say if it perhaps makes more sense in play.

Combining Jump, Swim, and Climb into an Athletics skill means that there is only one STR-based skill in the entire game.

 

[Imp]

I think I would keep Climb, Swim, and Jump separate, but I would definitely combine Tumble and Balance together.

I'd concur. I suppose you could combine Jump and "Run" or whatever into an Athletics skill (Con-based?), but climbing walls and swimming are specialized enough that they should be separate. Likewise Escape Artist is a very specific skill, but it's something that is (or should be) as powerful as it is specialized, and not something you can imagine just any old athlete being capable of. But then you are talking to someone who thinks Forgery (Craft: Forgery?) is just fine as a skill even if it's of little use to most.

If skill points are an issue I suppose you could have a Stunt skill, pick 3 uses (Climb Walls, Escape Artist, Swallow Knives) or something that covers very specific skills.

(The only 3.5E skill I think is screwy is Decipher Script: shouldn't that be covered under languages? Well, that and Knowledge (local), though the new Streetwise skill seems like a clearer name for a skillset. /offtopic)

 

[Gloombunny]

Combining Jump, Swim, and Climb into an Athletics skill means that there is only one STR-based skill in the entire game.

Why is this a problem?

 

[The Little Raven]

Why is this a problem?

Where did I say it was? I merely pointed out that was the case.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Combining Jump, Swim, and Climb into an Athletics skill means that there is only one STR-based skill in the entire game.

But it's a bitchin one.

And it's not like poor lonely little strength is ever going to be everyone's favorite dump stat.