Skill (Strength
Armor Check Penalty
| Skill Use | Action | DC | Description | Trained Only | Retry | Take 10 | Take 20 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climb Surface | As part of Move Action | Variable | You can advance up, down, or across a slope or a wall or other steep incline (or even a ceiling with handholds). | No | No | Yes | No | Core |
| Accelerated Climbing | Full-Round Action | Variable | You try to climb more quickly than normal, but you take a -5 penalty. | No | No | Yes | No | Core |
| Catching Yourself When Falling | Immediate Action | Variable | You can attempt to catch yourself when falling. | No | No | Yes | No | Core |
Use this skill to scale a cliff, to get to a window on the second story of a building, or to climb up an antenna array after falling out of an airway at the bottom of a floating city.
Climb Surface
With each successful Climb check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope or a wall or other steep incline (or even a ceiling with handholds). A slope is considered to be any incline of less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline of 60 degrees or steeper. You can climb at one-half of your speed as a full-round action. You can move half that far-one-fourth of your speed-as a move action.
A failed Climb check indicates that you make no progress, and a check that fails by 5 or more means that you fall from whatever height you have already attained.
The DC of the check depends on the circumstances of the climb:
| Climb DC | Example Wall or Surface |
|---|---|
| 0 | Slope too steep to walk up; knotted rope with a wall to brace against. |
| 5 | Rope with a wall to brace against or a knotted rope, but not both. |
| 10 | Surface with ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a very rough wall. |
| 15 | Surface with adequate handholds and footholds (natural or artificial), such as a very rough natural rock surface or a tree; an unknotted rope. |
| 20 | Uneven surface with some narrow handholds and footholds. |
| 25 | Rough surface, such as a natural rock wall or a brick wall. |
| 25 | Overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds. |
| (-) | Perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface cannot be climbed. |
| (-10)* | Climbing inside an air duct or other location where one can brace against two opposite walls (reduces normal DC by 10). |
| (-5)* | Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls (reduces normal DC by 5). |
| (+5)* | Surface is slippery (increases normal DC by 5). |
*These modifiers are cumulative; use any that apply.
Since you can't move to avoid an attack while climbing, opponents get a +2 bonus on attack rolls against you, and you lose any Dexterity bonus to your Reflex Defense.
Any time you take damage while climbing, make a Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall from your current height and sustain the appropriate falling damage.
;Climbing in Low or High Gravity ;Source: KotOR
When climbing in low-gravity environments, Climb DCs are halved and movement is double. When climbing in high-gravity environments, DCs are doubled and climb speed is halved (minimum 1 square).
Accelerated Climbing
You try to climb more quickly than normal, but you take a -5 penalty on Climb checks. Accelerated climbing allows you to climb at your full speed as a full-round action. You can move half that far-one-half of your speed-as a move action.
Catching Yourself When Falling
It's practically impossible to catch yourself on a wall while falling. Make a Climb check (DC = the wall's DC + 20) to do so. A slope is relatively easier to catch yourself on (DC = the slope's DC + 10).
Extreme Conditions
*Source: TFU
Climbing in extreme conditions (high altitude, weather, temperature, or unusual climbing surfaces) brings additional challenges. Proper climbing and survival gear is required. Extreme conditions can increase the DC by 5 for each circumstance in addition to the regular DC modifiers. Specialized climbing gear can negate these penalties to climb checks under those conditions; typically, such gear costs the same as a field kit.
Making Handholds and Footholds
You can make your own hand holds and footholds by pounding pitons into a wall. Doing so takes 1 minute per piton, and one piton is needed per meter. As with any surface with handholds and footholds, a wall with pitons in it has a DC of 15. In the same way, a climber with an ice axe or similar implement can cut hand holds or footholds in an ice wall.
Special
*Someone using a rope can haul a character upward (or lower the character) by means of sheer strength. Use the encumbrance rules to determine how much weight a character can lift. *You can take 10 while climbing, but you can't take 20.