Balance

NOTE: This skill is primarily usable with DM assistance, and as such, may be less frequently useable than hardcoded skills directly referenced by the game engine.</b>

Balance (Dex; Armor Check Penalty)

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 Surface Balance DC

7-12 inches wide         10          
2-6  inches wide         15          
Less than 2 inches wide  20          

Difficult Surface Balance DC

Uneven flagstone           10*
Hewn stone floor           10*
Sloped or angled floor     10*

    1. Add modifiers from Narrow Surface Modifiers, below, as appropriate.
    *  Only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means that the character can't run or charge but may           otherwise act normally.

Narrow Surface Modifiers: Surface DC Modifier* Lightly obstructed +2 Severely obstructed +5 Lightly slippery +2 Severely slippery +5 Sloped or angled +2

• These modifiers stack.

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.

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.

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.

Special: If you have the Agile feat, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.

Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.

• There are a number of areas scripted in ALFA to require a Balance check.