Up A Tree
René-Ernest Huet
In the world of Sablevine, all plants and animals continue to grow over their (potentially) eternal lives. The implication for forests is that player characters will almost always be able to find trees the size of Douglas firs or larger--gargantuan, and dizzying to stare up at from the forest floor. And more than just set dressing, you can climb these trees.
For the mechanics, as stated in another Lore24 post (which will be live on March 3rd), I will be adapting the climbing rules of Lowlife1 for scaling humongous trees while adventuring in any forest in Sablevine. We will keep track of levels of a tree in "stories" of ~15 ft. (5m) for easier bookkeeping. Climbing speed doesn't matter so much out of combat, so I have listed speeds per combat turn--this will vary per system, but here it's about 10 seconds. Base speed based on Whitehack 4E rules, but they're close enough to OSE, B/X, etc. etc.
Needless to say, attempting to climb a tree in melee combat will open you up for an attack. Not sure of the rules for that or for ranged attacks yet, but you'll ideally climb a tree before you're surrounded.
Climbing Tremendous Trees
Climbing Procedure
- Choose a climb speed. This gives a base climb check chance of success X-in-6.
- Apply any modifiers, positive and negative. If after all modifiers the chance is 6-in-6 or higher: auto-succeed. If it is 0-in-6 or lower: auto-fail.
- Roll the Climb Check. On a success, you climb at the chosen speed without any issue. On a failure, see the Climb Check Outcome table/flowchart.
| Speed | Notes | 15' Stories per Turn | Base Tree Climb Roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Careful | Really Slow | < 1 | 4-in-6 |
| Half Speed | Half Move Speed | 1 | 3-in-6 |
| Full Speed | Base Movement | 2 | 2-in-6 |
| Double Speed | Double Base Speed | 4 | 1-in-6 |
Positive Modifiers:
| Add 1-in-6 |
|---|
| Rope-line, thick vines, or handholds |
| You are being actively helped. Cumulative per person helping. |
| You are very strong |
| Training or experience in climbing (+2-in-6 for mastery) |
| You are a Llyfant2 with at least one free hand |
| The tree has been Climb-Shaped by an Elven Spellsong |
Negative Modifiers:
| Subtract 1-in-6 |
|---|
| You are in melee combat |
| You are wearing heavy armor, or are heavily burdened (cumulative) |
| You are holding something (stacks for 2x hands full) |
| You are in darkness or cannot see the trunk clearly |
| The bark is wet, slick, or icy |
| You are climbing a horizontal vine or thin branch instead of a tree |
Outcomes:
| Climb Check Outcome | Results I | Results II | Results III |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climb Success | You climb at the chosen speed | ||
| Climb Failure | Make a Con Check | ||
| Con Check Failure | Fall | ||
| Con Check Success | Make a Dex Check | ||
| Dex Check Success | Progress made at slower speed. If already climbing Carefully, treat as Failure. | ||
| Dex Check Failure | Slide down and catch yourself at (negative) chosen speed. Or, 1d3 damage and no progress. Your choice. |
Fall Damage
The Fall result above results in rolling damage. The fall damage table below is from Lowlife:
| Fall Distance | Damage |
|---|---|
| 10' | 1d6 |
| 20' | 1d12 |
| 30' | 1d20 |
| 40' | 1d20 + 1d6 |
| 50' | 1d20 + 1d12 |
| 60' | 2d20 |
| etc. | +1d6 / +1d12 / +1d20 |
More to Come
- Heights of forest canopies in Sablevine
- Chances to find a given size of tree, and whether it is easy to climb
- The size of monsters and creatures in Sablevine. More in another post, but I think a good rule of thumb is 3' per HD. This can be at the shoulder or at the head, whichever makes more sense for the given creature. That's right... Things are getting big! This lets us consider--
- How to escape a given size of creature by climbing a tree, including if they can jump.
Last edited 2 months, 2 weeks ago