Jump

DerusTal wrote:Why does my character who can fly have -8 jump?

Lack of practice?!! Just winging it here....

... Erm...

Jumping involves the strength and ability to launch one's body (and any carried weight) by the power of the legs alone (ok- and maybe some momentum)... the more weight you carry the harder it is to jump...

Flying requires use of the back/shoulder/wing muscles, and usually needs a clearance height (and width for wingspan) from "standing take-off" to "in-air flight"....

Flying and hovering are two seperate things and should not be confused, as hovering is a continuous fast beating wingbeat (creating a downdraft of air) allowing one to stay close to the ground and is "effectively" jumping on air before touchdown... ...

The -8 Jump will come from your overall PC Str (and some math) minus your PC carried weight (and some math) compared to your overall weight capacity(and likely some more math)...


It is possible that there is somewhere you could likely take a running jump at but not have the clearance (in height and width) to take-off for sufficient flight to get across the gap you are attempting...

... Saying all this I still think is silly that winged PC's die from "falling into a big pit".. as surely they would likely spread their wings enough to slow/soften/dampen or halt their flight. A knock to thier HP's yes, but death from falling, when they could fly up to the other edge ?....

((None of that is an official DM answer but it sounds good enough to me))...

RustyDios wrote:((None of that is an official DM answer but it sounds good enough to me))...

Hey, sounds good to me too!

Best way to check what your jump skill is is get yourself down to no encumberance, no armor/shield/weapon in hand, and check what your skillis with the info skills command.

That being said... I've gotten really odd ranges of jump checks with my characters. My high STR beastial orc with very little encumberance and leather armor on will get absurdly low checks to mindbogglingly high checks.

I think dex plays a role in jump checks too... my shadowdancer halfling has relatively low strength, but absurdly high dex, and makes jump checks in the 90+ range consistently.