Attacking while climbing ?

[Istar]

How does this work,
Our Monk loves climbing walls and often in battle gets around like this.
Using bracers of brachiation which give a climb speed equal to half his movement rate.

Does climbing offer up CA ?
As something simple as running offers CA ?

And is there a penalty to attack rolls TH and damage.
As so far he seems to be able to employ the full range of ranged and melee attacks while in this position with no penaty ???

 

[Chris Knapp]

You can attack while climbing with no penalties. There are no restrictions on weapon/power use either. Climbing also doesn't require anything like a free hand, only the ability to move.

If you are climbing, you grant CA and must make skill checks, unless you have a climb speed.

Only thing that might be a bit fuzzy (to me, at least) is whether a creature with a climb speed must make an athletics check if it takes damage while climbing. My thoughts are no, it doesn't need to.

 

[Istar]

You can attack while climbing with no penalties. There are no restrictions on weapon/power use either. Climbing also doesn't require anything like a free hand, only the ability to move.

If you are climbing, you grant CA and must make skill checks, unless you have a climb speed.

Only thing that might be a bit fuzzy (to me, at least) is whether a creature with a climb speed must make an athletics check if it takes damage while climbing. My thoughts are no, it doesn't need to.

Absolutely ridiculouse !!!
So climbing doesnt require a free hand ???

With a climb speed you climb with your feet ??

Even spider man had to use a hand ??

So you can climb 10 feet up a wall with just your feet and stand there horizontal shooting bows and weilding 2 weapons in your hands like a sling and dagger.

 

[OnlineDM]

Remember that this is a game. Remember also that 4e is not so big on simulating reality as earlier editions of the game.

Reading the online compendium's glossary entry on the Athletics skill, which covers climbing, reveals no penalty to attacking while climbing. You DO grant combat advantage while you're climbing, and you DO have to make another Athletics check to avoid falling if you take damage while climbing.

If you have a climb speed (as in your monk's case), then you DON'T grant combat advantage while climbing. The "climb speed" entry in the glossary is slightly unclear on the point of whether you are at risk of falling if you take damage while climbing, but I interpret it as saying that no, you don't have to make an Athletics check to keep from falling if you have a climb speed and take damage while climbing.

If you want to introduce a house rule that says a PC needs to have a free hand in order to climb or has some kind of penalty or some restriction about which powers and weapons can be used while climbing, feel free to include one at your table!

Also, if you want to keep the rules as written and try to make them SOMEWHAT realistic, picture the person vertical with their feet in niches on the wall, rather than sticking horizontally out from the wall. Still pretty crazy to think that you could attack just as well in that position as you could on solid ground, but less crazy than having your body parallel to the floor.

 

[domino]

Absolutely ridiculouse !!!
So climbing doesnt require a free hand ???

With a climb speed you climb with your feet ??

Even spider man had to use a hand ??

So you can climb 10 feet up a wall with just your feet and stand there horizontal shooting bows and weilding 2 weapons in your hands like a sling and dagger.

Maaaaaagic.

 

[On Puget Sound]

No, you are of course using your hands to climb. Your weapon may be in a wrist sheath, or in your teeth, or pressed between your body and the stone, or being used to dig into the wall for extra purchase, it really doesn't matter. But at the instant when you need to hit, you get it into your hand for long enough to do so. Or maybe you actually hit with a torn-off chunk of rock wall (even though you use the same math as if you had used your weapon). Because you're just that good. After all, Legolas shot his bow while climbing up the side of a rampaging Oliphaunt, which has to be trickier than a wall!

 

[S'mon]

I think the 4e designers assumed DMs would use a bit of common sense.

Obviously, they were horribly wrong.

 

[Chris Knapp]

I think the 4e designers assumed DMs would use a bit of common sense.

Obviously, they were horribly wrong.

Yup. The DM's who care will recognize it as a problem and adjust for it. The rest of us could care less. The OP just needs to figure out which camp he's in, then act accordingly.

 

[Istar]

Remember that this is a game. Remember also that 4e is not so big on simulating reality as earlier editions of the game.

Reading the online compendium's glossary entry on the Athletics skill, which covers climbing, reveals no penalty to attacking while climbing. You DO grant combat advantage while you're climbing, and you DO have to make another Athletics check to avoid falling if you take damage while climbing.

If you have a climb speed (as in your monk's case), then you DON'T grant combat advantage while climbing. The "climb speed" entry in the glossary is slightly unclear on the point of whether you are at risk of falling if you take damage while climbing, but I interpret it as saying that no, you don't have to make an Athletics check to keep from falling if you have a climb speed and take damage while climbing.

If you want to introduce a house rule that says a PC needs to have a free hand in order to climb or has some kind of penalty or some restriction about which powers and weapons can be used while climbing, feel free to include one at your table!

Also, if you want to keep the rules as written and try to make them SOMEWHAT realistic, picture the person vertical with their feet in niches on the wall, rather than sticking horizontally out from the wall. Still pretty crazy to think that you could attack just as well in that position as you could on solid ground, but less crazy than having your body parallel to the floor.

Yes it is a GAME, and games have RULES.

And yes to domino there is MAGIC involved.

But there are rules for most things, such as RUNNING which has -5 TH.
I would have thought CLIMBING, might possibly be AS difficult, and incurr possibly the same penalty.

 

[OnlineDM]

Yes it is a GAME, and games have RULES.

And yes to domino there is MAGIC involved.

But there are rules for most things, such as RUNNING which has -5 TH.
I would have thought CLIMBING, might possibly be AS difficult, and incurr possibly the same penalty.

Surprise!

Again, this is a space for a house rule if it's something you feel strongly about. I think very few people would tell you that a house rule to penalize characters who attack while climbing would be unfair, as long as it's used consistently.