Take 10 Climbing

[Kotenku]

I suggest climb checks should automatically take 10 unless the climber is in the vicinity of hostile creatures, or engaged in combat, per P&P and good sense.

When you've got 26 climb, and you're just out for a jaunt, and you roll a 1 on a DC 12 climb check, it's silly to fail a check where there should reasonably be no risk at all.

Edit: Realized a flaw with the suggested implementation.

Should only be Take 10 on checks where Take 10 is an automatic success. If you try to take 10 on a DC you can only beat on a 15 you shouldn't be stuck taking 10.

So the check would look like:
If no hostile creatures are nearby
AND
If player is not in combat
AND
If Climbing + 10 >= DC of this climb check

Then successfully perform the action!

[Inquisitor]

I endorse this.

[Ommadawn]

Me too.

[HalflingPower]

Not sure if this can be done, and if so- I would say put a in combat penalty in too.

Its not easy to climb when driders are shooting at you!

[Ebok]

The climb DCs are random, perhaps accounting for the ease in which your chosen footholds have in that particular spot. You can make the same climb a half dozen times, and each time it might be an extremely different value. So the climb dc is not about how hard is the climb, but how easy it is in this instance. For this reason, taking ten does not make sense.

The Climb roll and the Climb dc take into account a number of different variables which give you a % chance that you're going to slip and hurt yourself. Or that rock you stepped on is going to fall out of the wall. Taking 10 when outside of combat will make climbing potentially dangerous and life threatening areas not risky at all for the guy with just enough climb ranks of the typical "high" dc.

The eventually roll of a "1" denotes the inherent dangers of climbing in the underdark.

[Ebok]

The climb DCs are random, perhaps accounting for locating different footholds or dealing with a sudden draft within a location. You can make the same  climb a half dozen times, and each time it might be an extremely  different value. So the climb dc is not about how hard is the climb, but  how easy was this attempt in this situation. For this reason, taking ten does not  make sense.

The Climb roll and the Climb dc take into account a number of different  variables which give you a % chance that you're going to slip and hurt  yourself. Or that rock you stepped on is going to fall out of the wall, or if the earth tremors and throws you off balance.  Taking 10 when outside of combat will make climbing potentially  dangerous and life threatening areas not risky at all for the guy with  just enough climb ranks for their typical "high" dc. This is not desirable.

The eventuality of the dice rolling a "1" or you failing denotes the inherent dangers of climbing in the underdark. Having enough climbing ranks to easily ignore most DCs already expresses a more reliable climbing skill. The more Climbing you have, the more encumbered you can be and still attempt to pass. Having had MANY dangerous encounters in the underdark based around climbing and trying to drag 600lbs of treasure up a cliff has given me a healthy respect for the system as is.

Climbing in battle is already risky. Falling while being attacked might destroy you. The threat of a critical failure it often enough to dissuade lackadaisical battle climbing anyway. Especially against something like a drider. It already takes longer to draw, aim, and climb using a grappling hook (with the easy dc) then it does to climb with the claw or player tool (harder dcs). Providing a penalty in combat could sentence a character to death who just started down a rope to find that a monster was hidden by the lip. Especially if they are not an extremely skilled climber to begin with.

[Ebok]

Thought.

If a specific Climber's harness could be worn (maybe as a cloak slot), that only worked with a rope or grappling hook and forced you take 10 times as long to climb down that wall, I would be okay with an auto pass climb check.

2-3 seconds into 20-30 seconds is exactly what taking 10 means. You have the time to take ten attempts slowly rather then one attempt in a rush.

[Ommadawn]

Those are good ideas, Ebok.

[Garem]

20-30 seconds should be a major bonus. That's a real pain in the ass, since most climbs involve going up several times, then down a corresponding series.

Aside from that detail, all great stuff here.

[Disco]

Aginst.
There should always be a risk of "slipping" when climbing a cliffwall.

[Damien]

its called rolling a 1 disco

[Gloomwing]

I would just like to comment that while I was once told that documenting something as small as moving rubble was a waste of time for the heroic pcs we play, I would have to say having t constantly worry about climbing if you want to regularly go anywhere in the underdark, is a waste of time for heroic pcs that hampers a wider range of roleplay. Creating a mechanism that takes twenty seconds to perfom a climb safely is also a giant waste of everyone's time.  That said, I think the current system is adequate, but there is room for improvement.

[Vault Shrike]

I have to say that worrying about climbing and accessing difficult paths despite the dangers is one of my favorite parts of exploring in this setting.

[TheTurboNerd]

With 10 ranks in climbing and a grappling hook it's almost impossible to fail any climbing check, even in armor. It'll still happen 20% of the time, but my character has mediocre strength and dex and no tumble and can scale grapple ropes easy peasy with filled Climb ranks.

So I don't really see a reason to change it from as is. Invest in the grappling hook.

[Crump]

One change I would like to see is if the falling damage was based on how much you failed the check by. Then failing because you rolled a 1 with +20 to your roll vs a dc7 or getting 2 points shy of the total won't wack you with 18dmg.