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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5478864" data-attributes="member: 42582">Well, in a d20-ish game the way that this sort of case is handled is by taking 10.It's pretty easy to envisage a game in which, instead of rolling d20 every time a jump is made, we work out how far the PC can jump based on taking 10 with Athletics/Jump skill, and then when the PC wants to jump further - ie a non-routine or dramatic jump - the player of the PC has to play a "jump card". A "jump card" might be defined as allowing a jump equivalent to a roll of 20 on the skill check.You may or may not care to play such a game - it would be even more different from core 3E than is 4e, because 4e also allows rolling a d20 and trying to score higher than 10, at the risk of scoring less than 10 - but I don't think it's obviously an unplayable game that will produce absurd or half-baked action resolution.Fair enough. I've sketched above how such a system might work, building on d20 as a starting point.In a system like HeroWars/Quest or Maelstrom Storytelling you might want something a bit different. Maelstrom, for example, has this to say about resolving a jump check:[F]ocus on the intent behind the scene and not on how big or how far things might be. If the difficulty of the task at hand (such as jumping across a chasm in a cave) is explained in terms of difficulty, it doesn't matter how far across the actual chasm spans. In a movie, for instance, the camera zooms or pans to emphasize the danger or emotional reaction to the scene, and in so doing it manipulates the real distance of a chasm to suit the mood or "feel" of the moment. It is then no longer about how far across the character has to jump, but how hard the feat is for the character. ... If the players enjoy the challenge of figuring out how high and far someone can jump, they should be allowed the pleasure of doing so - as long as it doesn't interfere with the narrative flow and enjoyment of the game ... Players who want to climb onto your coffee table and jump across your living room to prove that their character could jump over the chasm have probably missed the whole point of the story.In a game played in this sort of fashion, 3 jump cards might do the job without any need for a mechanic to resolve routine jumps - because these wouldn't be jumps that evoke any "danger or emotional reaction".</blockquote>

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