[top]Balance (Dex; Armor Check Penalty)

[top]Check
You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. A failure by 4 or less means you can?t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the surface, as follows:
Narrow SurfaceBalance DC1Difficult SurfaceBalance DC1
7?12 inches wide10Uneven flagstone102
2?6 inches wide15Hewn stone floor102
Less than 2 inches wide20Sloped or angled floor102

  1. Add modifiers from Narrow Surface Modifiers, below, as appropriate.
  2. Only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can?t run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.
Epic SurfaceDC
1?2 inches wide20
Up to 1 inch wide40
Hair-thin60
Liquid190
Cloud120

  1. Includes any other surface that couldn?t support the character?s weight, such as a fragile branch.

[top]Narrow Surface Modifiers
SurfaceDC Modifier1
Lightly obstructed+2
Severely obstructed+5
Lightly slippery+2
Severely slippery+5
Sloped or angled+2

  1. Add the appropriate modifier to the Balance DC of a narrow surface. These modifiers stack.
[top]Being Attacked while Balancing
You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can?t move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). If you have 5 or more ranks in Balance, you aren?t considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing.
[top]Accelerated Movement
You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a ?5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. (Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Balance checks, one for each move action used.) You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Balance check for each multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof ) that you charge.
[top]Action
None. A Balance check doesn?t require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
[top]Special
If you have the Agile feat, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.
[top]Synergy
If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.

System Reference Document -> Skill Descriptions
 
This article is a D20 reference page
The System Reference Document is a comprehensive toolbox consisting of rules, races, classes, feats, skills, various systems, spells, magic items, and monsters compatible with the d20 System version of Dungeons & Dragons and various other roleplaying games from Wizards of the Coast.
 

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