Coordination - Walking On Narrow Surface
Over the course of their adventures, a character might
end up walking up on a small beam, narrow ledge, or
even a rope. To avoid falling and move forward, the
character has to make a Coordination check.
Walking on a narrow surface does not exclusively
mean that the character is standing up. If the situation
allows it, a character can walk on all fours, using their
hands to stabilize themself.
Is is possible to engage in combat while on a narrow
surface. Yet, balancing while fighting is a challenging
task. When doing so, the character upgrades the difficulty
of all checks they make while having to keep their
balance. In addition, enemies add b to their combat
checks when attacking the character. Finally, enemies
can spend aaa on their check to force the character
to immediately make a Coordination check with
the normal difficulty for the situation. Should they fail,
they then lose their balance and fall.
For characters less skilled in keeping their balance,
it is possible to suspend themselves from a rope or
beam using both their hands and feet and pulling
themselves along the rope. This kind of movement
requires more strength than balance and thus uses
the Athletics skill. The suggested difficulty for such
checks is Average (d
d). You can still use the Walking
on Narrow Surface tables for modifiers and
symbol usage.
The difficulty of the check is based on how wide the
narrow surface is.
EXAMPLE #1 OF A WALKING ON A NARROW SURFACE CHECK
Buck is a young arcanist who is attempting to flee a campus for the Collegiante Arcane after faking his death. Seeing his way out blocked by two men, Buck decides to go
through one of the guest rooms, which is currently
vacant, and tries to reach the exit by moving
along the campus's exterior walls. Buck looks by the
windows and is relieved to see that there is a little
ridge he can step on. He gets out and start walking
toward the main gatehouse to escape.
The ridge he's using is as wide as his feet. Therefore,
the GM is calling for a Hard (ddd) Coordination
check. Since Buck can use the campus' masonry
wall to stabilize himself, the GM adds b to the pool.
The roll generates fhh. The GM spends the hh
to have Buck drop an item. As the arcanist slowly
progresses on the ridge, his sword's scabbard clings
to a nail coming out of a wooden beam, preventing
him from progressing further. As he attempts to
dislodge it, he slips. While he was able to avoid falling
down, the leather strap holding the scabbard to
his belt was torn apart. The sword falls on the grass
two stories below. Buck sighs as he finds himself in
a position where he will not be able to defend himself without magic
should he get caught.
Since the check was a failure, he did not progress
far enough to reach the king's window. Buck must
make another roll, using the same modifiers. This
time, it generates sht. Since he succeeded, the
arcanist will get to the window. The GM spends the h
to have a guard patrolling around the castle to notice
the sword on the ground and start looking around.
Buck's player spends the t to have the arcanist slip
back through the window just before the guard can
see him on the edge. This way, the
whole castle will not be alerted. Yet, the guards will
still be on alert and getting to the gatehouse might
prove trickier than expected.
EXAMPLE #2 OF A WALKING ON A NARROW SURFACE CHECK
Kylus is an assassin tasked with murdering a constable
who has recently been sabotaging Kylus'
organization's plans. The assassin knows that the
constable usually goes to a specific tavern at the end
of the day. Unfortunately, the target is never alone so
Kylus has to plan how to achieve his mission.
He goes to the tavern prior to the constable's arrival
and looks for a way to poison his target without
being seen. He notices that wooden beams stretch
across the room above the tables and there is enough
space for him to walk upon them. These are accessible
from the staircase leading to the rooms on the
second floor.
He gets a table and waits. Once her target is seated
and the tavern gets busy, he leaves her position,
goes up the stairs and steps on the wooden beam.
Now he has to walk unnoticed until he gets above
his target.
The wooden beams are as wide as his foot's length.
The GM calls for an Easy (b) Coordination check.
The roll generates ssht. Kylus walks up the
beam and gets right above his target. He takes out
a vial of poison and manages to pour a few drops
into the constable's mug right before he takes a sip.
The GM spends the h so that when he is putting
the vial back in his pocket, it slips, falls on the table
and shatters. As the constable is already struggling
with the ingested toxin, the alarmed guards look up
and see Kylus. Kylus's player spends the t to have
a suspended chandelier just beside the table. Kylus
cuts the rope, making it fall right beside the guards
and then jumps on the ground. The chandelier hitting
the floor buys him time to exit the tavern through a window on the secon floor before
the guards can pursue him.
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