Goodman Games

Just wanted to see what you all think about a house rule for "jumping for distance"
I don't like the idea of a d20 roll to see if the PCs make the jump or fail. It is a bit to random.

A running jump; The height of the character (inches rounded down to the nearest foot) + Str bonus/penalty + Character level + d5
A standing jump; Half the height of the character (inches rounded down to the nearest foot) + Str bonus/penalty + 1/2 Character level (rounded down) + d3
I was thinking of penalizing Dwarfs 1 foot of jumping distance because of their relatively shorter legs and lower center of gravity.

I wanted to add the character level into some skill test because I believe higher level characters should be able to do more. They would be bit more confident or experienced or what have you.

Stonebreaker

22 1/2 hours later... the sound of crickets.
Ok I guess I'll go with it.
Stonebreaker

Personally, I'd tend more toward defining distances as in 'jumpable', 'not jumpable', and 'maybe jumpable', and make the die roll only for the 'maybe' category.

Also, I'm not sure how switching from a d20 vs. a stat is more random than a fixed d5 or d3 for total footage that creates much the same situation; "Sorry, you missed that jump by 1 foot".

Thanks for the input.
Yes. I like the "maybe jumpable" and only roll for that.
I think if a character missed a jump over something like a pit but was within arms length 2' for the larger classes and 1' for halflings I would be inclined to give them a Agility test to see if they can grab hold of the edge. Starting at DC10 and then modified for various condition. If there was something to grab onto the DC would be lower. If there was snow and/or ice or broken glass the DC would be higher.
Stonebreaker

P.S. Maybe thieves would get some kind of bonus for the Agility test to gab onto the edge.

I don't bother having folks roll unless it's appropriate in terms of the distance being "maybe jumpable" (as GnomeBoy noted), and if they only miss the roll by a point or so I give them a roll to grab the ledge as they fall. Much more dramatic that way. I also never give them exact distances because I figure they can generally only roughly guess anyway, and it's better to define things in terms of "Yeah, it'd be a doddle to jump that." or "It'll be a tough jump, but you think you've got a good chance of making it." or "It looks a loonnng way, and you're not convinced you could make it at all." or "Fuggedaboutit."

Colin

Yes, stay away from numbers whenever possible.

I will concur with the second check to see if they can grab something to stop/prevent falling. I once had a situation where someone charged a foe, fumbled completely and wound up going through the window on the other side of the foe. I then proceeded with the round, not resolving the fall at all, thinking there was time for whoever was left to act in the round to be able to grab them. No one tried. On that characters next 'action' they got the chance of a Dex check to see if they could grab a ledge, which also fumbled, so they fell. But the suspense of not resolving it right away was a great lesson in pacing.

I do like the suspense aspect.
Thanks
Stonebreaker