Scrambling (sage ability)

Scrambling is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Athletics that lies between hiking and rock climbing, where the character scales a slope between 30° and 60° without the need for tools, relying on his or her hands and feet, and a good sense of balance in navigating challenging routes. The method overcomes a number of natural features, including shallow rock faces, scree slopes, gullies, ridges and boulder fields.

Scrambling can be a dangerous activity for those who don't know what they're doing. The exposed terrain, with its steep drops and challenging obstacles, requires careful route finding, solid footing, and a keen awareness of the surroundings. Such experience not only affects the likelihood of sustaining or avoiding hit point damage, but also how fast the character can move over the environment.

Unskilled Scrambling

The primary concern for the uninitiated is suffering minor scrapes or cuts upon one's hands and feet while scrambling upwards, as slipping, tripping or suffering minor falls is a constant hazard. In the game world, there's no proper footwear or protective gear as a climber might have today; therefore, characters with less then 10 points of knowledge in scrambling should view anything above a shallow mountain slope with caution. In any case, such a climb must be managed slowly.

Climbing Speed

Unskilled characters can advance over slopes between 30° and 60° at a speed of roughly 1 combat hex per round, using all their action points (AP). Movement downhill is not much faster, so that the character would come down 4 hexes every three rounds.

This assumes an encumbrance that allows the character a normal movement rate of 4 AP/round. Should the character's movement be 3 AP per round, this climbing speed is halved. An unskilled character carrying enough equipment to lower their movement to 2 AP per round could not climb slopes of this nature.

This means that for most characters, climbing a height to reach the mouth of a dungeon would require either the discarding of much equipment, or the hiring of porters to carry additional armour, weapons and tools for the character, or else do without. The carrying of other heavy loads, such as treasure or wounded companions, would likewise be difficult to manage.

Hazard Damage

For unskilled characters, every 500 ft. of vertical height that's scrambled requires a dexterity check.

The above describes surfaces that can be scrambled: that is, they include plenty of hand-holds and footholds and can be ascended without the need of rope, pitons or climbing gear. Raised surfaces of greater than 80 degrees, or which lack easy hand and foot holds, which require equipment, require greater skill than scrambling.

Scramble surfaces may be even or blocked; they may also incorporate elements of scree or slipperyness:

• even surfaces have no special conditions. They are easiest to climb.
• blocked surfaces are those that contain elements of sheer surfaces (90 degrees), which must be navigated around rather than moved over. Many urban environments are blocked on two or three sides, requiring the scrambler to move to a side that provides access. A building that is blocked on all four sides cannot be scrambled. Increase all movement costs by 1 AP.
• scree is loose rock that can make scrambling steep, abrupt or lofty surfaces dangerous. Increase all movement costs by 1 AP and make a dexterity check every 18 AP expended.
• slippery surfaces are most likely due to the presence of water, either due to snowmelt, mist from waterfalls or from recent rains. Increase all movement costs by 2 AP or make a dexterity check every round.

Failing a dexterity check will result in falling and perhaps considerable damage.

Skilled Scrambling

Those with a skill in scrambling may subtract 1 AP from the cost of each variant of surface climbed. Note that this does not remove the extra penalties caused by blocked, scree or slippery surfaces, in fighting while unsteady.

See Also,
Athletics
Mountaineer
Sure-footedness