Athletics

Athletics covers a range of physical activities, including climbing, jumping, and running. If an adventurer is wearing armour, the distances they can climb, run, or jump are affected by the Armour Penalty.

Climbing

With the right surface (hand and footholds), the right equpment (ladders, ropes, pitons), and enough time, characters can cimb any surface without the need for a roll though their Armour Penalty may slow them or rendem them unable to climb. Under normal circumstances use the following guidlines:

• Climbing a rough or rugged surface (branching trees, scaffolds, piles of rubble, and so on): Half the Armour Penalty (rounded up) is subtracted from the character's base movement rate. If the result is zero or less, they are too encumbered by armour to climb.
• Climbing a steep surface (pitched roofs, steep hills, and so on): The Armour Penalty is subtraced directly from the base Movement.
• Climbing a sheer surface (walls, cliff faces, and so on): Double the Armour Penalty is subtracted from the base Movement.
• Tests should be made for treacherous surfaces (such as sheer cliffs or wet surfaces), and if a character is distracted or even attacked, during their ascent or descent.

After subtracting Armour Penalty, if the result is zero in any of the above cases, the character cannot climb.

A critical success permits the climber to scale the surface extremely quickly or avoid any hidden danger involved with the attempt

A failure merely indicates that the climb was aborted

A fumbled Climbing roll results in a fall; further more the character cannot attempt an Acrobatics roll (if they have that skill) to reduce falling damage.

Jumping

A successful Athletics roll allows one to jump up to twice one's own height horizontally or up to half one's own height vertical (if the character has chosen the Run or Sprint gait and moved at least 5m on the prior round). If the jumper did not move last round or was using the Walk gait, then these distances are halved. Any jump of over half a character's maximum distance results in them falling prone on landing.

• If wearing armour reduce the jump distance in meters by half the Armour Penalty to a mimum of one normal step
• For every full 20% a character has in Athletics they can add an extra meter to a horizontal jump, or 20cm to a vertical one, if they have space to perform a run up.

On a critical success the character adds a further meter to their total distance, and remain upright on landing.

A fumbled roll indicates the character has landed awkwardly. They must immediately make an Endurance roll. If the roll is a sucess, 1 point of damage is sustainted to one a random leg. If the Endurance test fails, If the roll is a failure, then 1d4 points of damage is inflicted instead.

Running

A higher Athletics skill allows a character to run at a higher speed over short or long distances.

• For every full 25% a character has in Athletics, they can add an extra meter to their base Movement when sprinting, or half that when running over longer distances. In certain situations where space may be limited, such as Charging within a melee, the character can decide not to apply this bonus and remain at their base species movement.

On a critical success the character adds a further meter to their Movement rate.

A failure causes the runner to increase a level of fatigue

A fumbled roll indicates the character has pulled a muscle or torn a ligament and must cease running. They must immediately make an Endurance roll. If the roll is a success 1 point of damage is sustained to a random leg. If the Endurance test fails, If the roll is a failure, then 1d4 points of damage is inflicted instead.

Throwing

Athletics can also be used for hurling large, unwieldy objects over distance or tossing smaller items with accuracy. Throwing is restriced for sports or improvised missile weapons — everything from small stones to bar stools. Weapons which are thrown using a specific technique to ensure it strikes point or blade first (rather than just achieving distance), such as javelins, axes or knives, use their Combat Style instead.

• A thrown object has a maximum range of one meter for every point the characters STR exceed the object's SIZ

Standard Skill Base Skill Value: STR + DEX