Tuesday May 04, 2004

**This special class is an adaptation from the 1^st-Edition Unearthed Arcana, and some of the text from that sourcebook is included here.

The acrobat can be seen in his element at any circus across the land, as he “flies through the air with the greatest of ease.”  But trapeze stunts are the least of his abilities, for the acrobat truly shines as he is traversing a 500-foot chasm on a single rope 200 feet long, carrying on his back a fighter who is scared out of his wits.  Or perhaps when all his friends are doused by a fireball, but the acrobat is unscathed as he clings comfortably to the cavern ceiling…perhaps that is his finest moment.  But then, maybe his most dazzling display occurs when his six-foot, 185-pound body emerges from a locked trunk no more than two feet in any dimension.  And let us not forget his amazing ability to run through the front lines of an army and take nary a scratch.  No, it is difficult to say when the acrobat is at his best.

Adventures:  Many acrobats start their adventuring to escape the meager living of circus life, or in search of more daring challenges than the trapeze.  Perhaps they were in abusive situations and are looking for relief.   Some are actually performing slaves, entertaining rich audiences for their very lives, and this alone prods many to risk the free road of an adventurer.  A few acrobats who are not somehow associated with a carnival may be performers for richer clientele, and desire to leave the stuffy halls of the wealthy for the “pure” life on the road.  Some are actually hired by or entreated to join a party of adventurers to help them with a task that only the acrobat with his unique abilities can even hope to accomplish.

Characteristics:  Acrobats are the most limber of folk, walking with a light-footed grace and agility that seems not even to crush the grass under their steps.  They can squeeze themselves into the tightest of spaces, even to the point that it is no longer “humanly possible.”  They avoid damage from which even monks cannot escape.  As distant cousin to the rogue, the acrobat shares some of his movement skills (and even exceeds him), but none of the pure thievery skills like Sleight of Hand, Open Lock, and Disable Device.  Similarly to rogues, acrobats tend to belong to loose performer’s guilds, and favor fellow tumblers over most others.

Alignment:  Acrobats possess all the nine alignments nearly equally, leaning only slightly toward chaos.

Religion:  As acrobats come mainly from the lower social classes of life, they tend to worship gods as a way to find solace from their needs.  Some, however, find no comfort in the pantheon, seeing their lowly condition as a result of uncaring deities toying with their lives.  In short, acrobats follow no religious pattern, worshipping nearly all the gods in equal parts among their number, or no gods at all.

Background:  Most acrobats come from traveling circuses, and many belong to small guilds of tumblers that comprise local “support groups” for their unique talents.  Most are poor, uneducated, and a bit naïve about the world.  As their traveling show moves on, they see more of the world “outside the tent,” and for some, curiosity for that outside world drives them to leave.

Races:  Halflings make the best acrobats due to their small size and natural agility and light-footedness.  Half-elves are also likely candidates, and nearly as likely are humans to be acrobats.  Elves, while certainly agile, are more austere and proud than to be part of a traveling circus, but it is not unlikely that some will demonstrate the abilities necessary to adventure in this role.  Gnomes might also be acrobats, and might invent contraptions to aid them in their acrobatic maneuvers.  Dwarves and half-orcs are highly unlikely to have the necessary agility and/or flexibility to do anything so adroit as trapeze artistry or contortionism.

Other Classes:  Acrobats associate quickly with rogues and monks, and these two classes might trade tricks with the acrobat.  The acrobat is more likely to get along with some of the “stuffier” classes—the cleric, wizard, and paladin—since he is viewed as more “noble” that the thief is.  Fighters find acrobats simply amazing, as do barbarians, but don’t readily see what value he brings to the fight.  Rangers usually befriend the acrobat, seeing that his nimbleness is an aide to his own skills.  Bards often employ the acrobat’s talents in his performances as an actor or a stuntman in his plays.

Abilities:  Dexterity is by far the most important ability for an acrobat, given that all his specialties are in skills using dexterity.  Strength is important for his jumping, climbing and swimming skills, and for the combat situations he may find himself in.  Intelligence is important for maximizing his skill selection.

Hit Die:  d6

Restrictions/Requirements:  DEX 14+; can multi-class ONLY with Rogue or Monk, or a suitable prestige class.

Skill Points/Level:  At first level: (6+INT mod) x4 (+4).  Thereafter: 6+INT mod (+1) per level.

Skills:  Balance, Climb, Concentration, Disguise, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Perform (tumbling), Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Swim, Tumble, and Use Rope.

Starting Gold:  5d4 x 10.

Armor & Weapon Proficiency:  The acrobat is largely untrained for combat situations, and can use proficiently only the club, mace (light & heavy), dagger, throwing dagger (even though it’s exotic), dart, sap, morningstar, quarterstaff, shortsword, and crossbow (light & heavy).  He is proficient with all light armor, but not with shields.  Wearing any armor heavier than light or using a shield negates all the acrobat’s special abilities.

The Acrobat’s Table

Skill Bonus:  Acrobats are especially talented at the more adroit skills.  They gain a special bonus to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Jump, Move Silently, Perform (tumbling), Tumble, and Use Rope equal to ½ their level, rounded up.  (See table.)

Acrobatics:  Acrobats do best what acrobats typically do; that is, walking tightropes, juggling, flying through the air with the greatest of ease, etc.  Besides gaining the Acrobatic feat for free, the following shows the specific benefits of these abilities.

Tightrope Walking:  The acrobat can ascend or descend a rope or beam of no more than a 45º angle at his normal speed while upright and with his hands free.  He makes a Balance check with a base DC of 20, modified by the following situations:

Faster than normal speed (per 5’)................. +2

Slower than normal speed (per 5’)................. -2

Using 5’ balancing pole............................... -2

Windy (per 10 mph above 10).................... +2

Physical jostling of rope.............................. +4

Weight carried (per 100 lbs)....................... +1

**Non-acrobats may walk a tightrope (defined as any surface less than 1 foot wide), but they must move at ¼ speed (with no benefit for going slow) and the surface must be relatively level.  The above modifiers apply to non-acrobats as well.

Pole-vaulting:  Most people use a 10-foot pole to touch things they ordinarily wouldn’t touch with—well—a 10-foot pole.  The acrobat, however, is trained to use it another way: he scales walls, fences, and other tall obstacles.  Using a 10-foot pole this way requires at least 20 feet of running space in a straight line, and the wall to be scaled cannot be any higher than 10 feet.  The acrobat makes a Jump check as normal (DC is 40), but he receives a +30 bonus to his check when using a pole to clear the wall.  In lieu of clearing the wall, the acrobat may elect to perch atop the wall; he must make a Tumble check DC 15 to do so.  Some devices the acrobat may find handy:

5-foot hinged pole—this pole is hinged at the middle to allow for easier carrying, making it no longer than the average quarterstaff.  With a full-round action, the acrobat opens it to its full length and latches the lock in the middle, making it 10 feet long.  This pole costs 50 gp (priced so for the locking mechanism), and weighs 10 pounds.  Maximum height scaled is 10 feet, and the acrobat receives a +30 bonus to his Jump check when using it.

Telescoping pole—this pole comes in a variety of lengths, generally from 10’ to 30’ and weighs 1 lb/foot of length.  Regardless of total length when extended, the telescoping pole is only 18 inches long when compressed.  By pushing a release button on the end (as a free action), the inner springs extend the pole to its full length.  No intermediate length may be achieved; it must be fully extended or it will collapse when used.  Each joint automatically locks in place upon extension, making a pole that tapers in girth toward the opposite end.  To compress the pole, a second release button unlocks all the joints, allowing the sections to slide together, requiring a full-round action to complete.  Being a complex clockwork mechanism of gnomish design, the telescoping pole is rather expensive, costing 3 gp x the square of its length.  These poles may be used for other purposes than vaulting walls, but generally will break if used in combat.  The maximum height to be scaled is equal to the length of the pole, and the acrobat receives a bonus to his Jump check equal to +3 per foot of pole length.  If a natural “1” is rolled on the check, however, the mechanism fails and the pole collapses prematurely.

**Non-acrobats may pole-vault, but they receive only half the bonus (or +1.5 per foot of length) for any style pole they use.  Without training, this stunt just isn't as effective, though sometimes non-acrobats can make it work.

Trapeze Artistry:  Dangling from a spinning rope or swinging bar comes naturally for the acrobat.  He can easily expand his aerial performances to include hanging from chandeliers, sliding down banisters on foot, swinging across chasms on a rope, etc.  For these situations (and many more) the acrobat is more adept than most characters.  He keeps his Dexterity bonus to Armor Class when in precarious positions (including on a cliff side), and usually suffers no penalties to further actions while hanging from overhead objects, whether by the crook of his knees or by hand.  He receives a +10 bonus to Tumble checks for actions that emulate common circus routines.  (This stacks with any other bonuses he may have.)  It does not apply during combat.

**Non-acrobats may swing or dangle from overhead objects, but they receive no bonus and typically lose their DEX bonus to AC or suffer some penalty for the exotic nature of their actions.

Juggling:  Besides the performance value of juggling, the acrobat is considered ambidextrous, and is able to use throwing weapons--knives, darts, etc.--in either hand equally well.  He is +2 to hit with either hand IF he also is using light weapons and possesses the Two-weapon Fighting feat.  This effectively wipes away completely the penalty of two-weapon fighting, but it applies only to thrown weapons.

**Non-acrobats certainly may learn to juggle, but it will gain them little more than a few silver as a tavern performance.  It does not grant ambidexterity nor combat bonuses.

Evasion:  Beginning at 2^nd level, if the acrobat is exposed to any effect that normally allows someone to attempt a Reflex save for half damage, he takes no damage with a successful saving throw.  He still takes full damage on a failed save.  Evasion is an extraordinary ability.

Slow Fall:  At 3^rd level, an acrobat within arm’s reach of a wall (or similar vertical surface) can use the wall to slow his descent.  He takes damage as if the fall were 20’ shorter than it actually is.  His ability to slow his fall improves with his level until, at 19^th level, the acrobat can use a nearby wall to slow his descent and fall any distance without harm.  (See table.)  Slow Fall is an extraordinary ability.

Dodge:  At 3^rd level, the acrobat gains use of the Dodge feat for free.

Deflect Arrows:  Beginning at 4^th level, the acrobat can deflect incoming arrows, crossbow bolts, spears, and other shot or thrown weapons.  He must have at least one hand free (holding nothing) to use this feat.  When he would normally be hit with a ranged weapon, he may make a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 20 (if the ranged weapon has a magical bonus to hit, the DC increases by that amount).  If he succeeds, he deflects the weapon.  He must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed.  Attempting to deflect a ranged weapon doesn’t count as an action, and thus may be used as often as needed.  Exceptional ranged weapons, such as boulders hurled by giants or Melf’s acid arrows, cannot be deflected.

Mobility:  At 6^th level, the acrobat gains use of the Mobility feat for free.

Improved Evasion:  At 9^th level, the acrobat’s evasion ability improves.  He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a dragon’s breath weapon or a fireball, but henceforth he only takes half damage on a failed save.

Contortionist:  The acrobat begins to master the art of squeezing and folding up his body into spaces smaller than a body of his type normally should go.  At 10^th level, he can squeeze his body into a space only ¾ his size and gains a +5 bonus to Escape Artist checks.  (Assume a 200-lb man normally requires 10 cubic feet of volume.)  At 14^th level, the acrobat can fit himself into a space only ½ his size, and he gains a +10 bonus to Escape Artist checks.  At 18^th level, he can squeeze into a volume only ¼ his size, gaining a +15 bonus to Escape Artist checks.  Note:  an acrobat cannot use this ability while wearing any armor of any kind, not even a bodysuit.

Snatch Arrows:  The acrobat at 11^th level gains the ability to snatch arrows, bolts, spears and other projectile weapons out of thin air.  He must have at least one hand free (holding nothing) to use this feat.  He makes a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 20 (if the ranged weapon has a magical bonus to hit, the DC increases by that amount). Thrown weapons such as spears or axes can be thrown back at the original attacker as an immediate free action…or they may be kept.  Projectile weapons such as arrows or bolts can be fired back normally on his next turn or later, if he possesses the proper kind of bow.  This ability may be used as often as needed, up to his base number of attacks per round.

Defensive Roll:  The acrobat of 12^th level or higher can roll with a potentially lethal blow to take less damage from it.  Once per round, when the acrobat would be reduced to 0 hit points or less by damage in combat (from a weapon or other blow, not a spell or special ability), the acrobat can attempt to roll with the damage.  He makes a Reflex saving throw (DC = damage dealt) and, if successful, he takes only half damage from the blow.  He must be aware of the attack and able to react to it in order to execute his defensive roll—if he is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, he can’t roll.  Since this effect would not normally allow a character to make a Reflex save for half damage, the acrobat’s evasion ability does not apply to the Defensive Roll.

Blur of the Matrix:  Beginning at 16^th level, the acrobat becomes increasingly harder to hit.  Each round, when the acrobat would normally be hit, he can execute a number of possible and/or amazing tumbling actions to avoid damage.  When an attack against the acrobat is sufficient to overcome his Armor Class score, the acrobat may make a Tumble check (DC = attacker’s attack score) and, if successful, he effectively avoids the blow and takes no damage.  This ability is used in lieu of the acrobat’s attacks (up to his full number of attacks per round).

Dislocation:  At 20^th level, the acrobat masters his body to the point of being able to bend it in ways that is not normally possible.  He purposefully dislocates any number of joints needed to accomplish the task with no pain or detriment to himself.  He becomes impossible to grapple, trip, bind with ropes or chains, or keep behind bars more than 4” apart, and his supernatural flexibility grants him a permanent +4 bonus to DEX and an additional +2 inherent bonus to AC (for a total of +4 to AC) as he is able to bend, twist and contort his body completely out of shape.  This supreme flexibility does not come without a price, however.  When he first uses this supernatural ability, the acrobat loses 2 points of CON permanently from the strain his dislocation puts upon his physique.