SRD:Tumble Skill

This material is published under the OGL

Tumble (Dex; Trained Only; Armor Check Penalty)

You can’t use this skill if your speed has been reduced by armor, excess equipment, or loot.

Check

You can land softly when you fall or tumble past opponents. You can also tumble to entertain an audience (as though using the Perform skill). The DCs for various tasks involving the Tumble skill are given on the table below.

Tumble DC	Task
15	Treat a fall as if it were 10 feet shorter than it really is when determining damage.
15	Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past, in the order in which you pass them (player’s choice of order in case of a tie). Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the Tumble DC.
25	Tumble at one-half speed through an area occupied by an enemy (over, under, or around the opponent) as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you stop before entering the enemy-occupied area and provoke an attack of opportunity from that enemy. Check separately for each opponent. Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the Tumble DC.
30	Treat a fall as if it were 20 feet shorter when determining damage.
35	Free stand.
45	Treat a fall as if it were 30 feet shorter when determining damage.
50	Climb vertical surface.
60	Treat a fall as if it were 40 feet shorter when determining damage.
100	Ignore falling damage.

Obstructed or otherwise treacherous surfaces, such as natural cavern floors or undergrowth, are tough to tumble through. The DC for any Tumble check made to tumble into such a square is modified as indicated below.

Surface Is . . .	DC Modifier
Lightly obstructed (scree, light rubble, shallow bog^1, undergrowth)	+2
Severely obstructed (natural cavern floor, dense rubble, dense undergrowth)	+5
Lightly slippery (wet floor)	+2
Severely slippery (ice sheet)	+5
Sloped or angled	+2
Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog.

Accelerated Tumbling

You try to tumble past or through enemies more quickly than normal. By accepting a –10 penalty on your Tumble checks, you can move at your full speed instead of one-half your speed.

Epic Check

You can fall from great heights without taking damage, move greater distances with an adjustment, or “climb” vertical surfaces with a series of bounces. (See former table above.)

Free Stand

You can stand up from prone as a free action (instead of as a move-equivalent action).

Climb Vertical Surface

You can climb up to 20 feet (as part of normal move-ment) by jumping and bouncing off walls, trees, or similar vertical surfaces. You must have at least two vertical surfaces to bounce off, and the two must be within 10 feet of each other.

Ignore Falling Damage

You can fall from any height and take no damage.

Action

Not applicable. Tumbling is part of movement, so a Tumble check is part of a move action.

Try Again

Usually no. An audience, once it has judged a tumbler as an uninteresting performer, is not receptive to repeat performances.

You can try to reduce damage from a fall as an instant reaction only once per fall.

Special

If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2 dodge bonus to AC. If you have 25 or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +5 dodge bonus when fighting defensively instead. Increase this dodge bonus by +1 for every 10 additional ranks above 25 you have.

If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +6 dodge bonus to AC when executing the total defense standard action instead of the usual +4 dodge bonus to AC. If you have 25 or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +10 dodge bonus to AC when executing the total defense standard action instead. Increase this dodge bonus by +2 for every 10 additional ranks above 25 you have.

If you have the Acrobatic feat, you get a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.

Synergy

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

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

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Open Game Content → System Reference Document → Skills