A couple of us got into a discussion about the rogues second story work ability. One was trying to argue that that ability meant they would climb without any sort of roll (like an acrobatic roll to climb a tree) and they no longer had any movement reduction while climbing. Other said you had to make the roll just in case of a crit fail but if passed then there was no movement reduction while climbing. Was curious how other felt about the ability.
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(Davyd):
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Other said you had to make the roll just in case of a crit fail but if passed then there was no movement reduction while climbing
By RAW, critical fails do not apply to ability checks. They only apply to attack rolls and death saving throws.
Also, by RAW all second story work does is stop climbing imposing a speed penalty, and give you a better running jump. There's no removal of the need to make ability checks when climbing.
Second-Story Work
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain the ability to climb faster than normal; climbing no longer costs you extra movement.
In addition, when you make a running jump, the distance you cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Dexterity modifier.
Each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain) when you’re climbing, swimming, or crawling. You ignore this extra cost if you have a climbing speed and use it to climb or a swimming speed and use it to swim. At the DM’s option, climbing a slippery vertical surface or one with few handholds requires a successful Strength (Athletics) check. Similarly, gaining any distance in rough water might require a successful Strength (Athletics) check.
The Second Story Work feature makes absolutely no exception for that, while it does notably make an exception for Jumping:
Second-Story Work
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain the ability to climb faster than normal; climbing no longer costs you extra movement.
In addition, when you make a running jump, the distance you cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Dexterity modifier.
In prior editions, having a climb speed basically meant that you had spider climb up all the time and could treat walls like floors. Not so in 5E, where all it does is replace the usual ‘you can climb using walk speed at 2-for-1 movement cost’ with ‘you can climb using climb speed for no extra cost’ (paraphrasing, on phone can’t quote). By default, any situation that would call for an athletics check without a Climb speed also requires one with a Climb speed. Impossible climbs without a Climb speed remain impossible with one. Etc.
Anatomy of specific creatures may dictate otherwise, per DMs discretion, but that’s the base assumption.
SSW doesn’t give you a climb speed. But, by removing the 2-for-1 cost from climbing with Walk speed, it’s a distinction without a difference.
A couple of us got into a discussion about the rogues second story work ability. One was trying to argue that that ability meant they would climb without any sort of roll (like an acrobatic roll to climb a tree) and they no longer had any movement reduction while climbing. Other said you had to make the roll just in case of a crit fail but if passed then there was no movement reduction while climbing. Was curious how other felt about the ability.
By RAW, critical fails do not apply to ability checks. They only apply to attack rolls and death saving throws.
Also, by RAW all second story work does is stop climbing imposing a speed penalty, and give you a better running jump. There's no removal of the need to make ability checks when climbing.
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Climbing only normally requires a check if the DM asks for one.
The Second Story Work feature makes absolutely no exception for that, while it does notably make an exception for Jumping:
I hope that helps.
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Thank you for the reply/help
In prior editions, having a climb speed basically meant that you had spider climb up all the time and could treat walls like floors. Not so in 5E, where all it does is replace the usual ‘you can climb using walk speed at 2-for-1 movement cost’ with ‘you can climb using climb speed for no extra cost’ (paraphrasing, on phone can’t quote). By default, any situation that would call for an athletics check without a Climb speed also requires one with a Climb speed. Impossible climbs without a Climb speed remain impossible with one. Etc.
Anatomy of specific creatures may dictate otherwise, per DMs discretion, but that’s the base assumption.
SSW doesn’t give you a climb speed. But, by removing the 2-for-1 cost from climbing with Walk speed, it’s a distinction without a difference.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.