Caves & Climbing

Caves

In Summary

The GM determines the passage’s size. A crawl, a squeeze, or a choke.
The player decides their pace. Creeping, half, full, or double.
Any modifiers, positive or negative, are added to the base chance-in-6. The player can influence these. Don’t be constrained by the lists.
The player rolls their d6 for the initial caving roll. If they succeed, that’s it, they’re done; if they fail, continue.
On a failure, the player rolls 1d20, attempting to roll under each stat.
For each failure, the player character suffers consequences based on the size of the passage. If they fail CON, they suffer all consequences in sequence; if they succeed CON, they suffer only the first consequence.
Make another caving roll when something significant changes

Passage Size

Crawl. A passage about 60 - 90 cm wide at its narrowest. You have to get down on your hands and knees and crawl forward. Your knees and palms are going to be quite filthy.
Squeeze. A passage about 30 – 60 cm wide at its narrowest. You must lie on your belly (or back) and slither forward like a snake. You’ll feel every inch of the tunnel, mostly through your shoulders and thighs.
Choke. A passage less than 30 cm wide at its narrowest. Traversing a choke requires a lot of contorting, wiggling, and heaving. Chokes are usually quite short, like teeth at the front of a mouth.

Caving Pace

Creep. 15 ft. Travelling extremely slowly. Slower than ordinary crawling, even, but quite safe. You creep through caves when you have time to spare.
Half. 30 ft.Half the normal travel speed. Whatever your system’s normal speed is, halve it. The most common pace.
Full. 60 ft. Normal dungeon travel speed. Whatever normal speed is, this is it. Safe for dungeons, dangerous for caves.
Double. 120 ft. Moving at full tilt. The equivalent of a dead sprint. If the monsters don’t get you, the caves will.

Pace	Crawl	Squeeze	Choke
Creeping	7 in 6	4 in 6	3 in 6
Half	5 in 6	3 in 6	1 in 6
Full	3 in 6	1 in 6	0 in 6
Double	1 in 6	0 in 6	-1 in 6

Modifiers

Add 1 in 6 if…

You have a rope or handholds
You are being actively helped by someone
Your DEX bonus is 4 or higher
You have training or experience

Subtract 1 in 6 if…

You are wearing heavy armor
You have a backpack
You are holding something, like a torch or a sword
You are in darkness

If your chance of success reaches 6-in-6 or higher, you automatically succeed; if it reaches 0-in-6 or lower, you automatically fail.

Failing A Roll

Failure means something has gone wrong, but exactly how things have gone wrong varies.

Crucially, failing a Caving Roll doesn’t necessarily mean you stop or can’t move forward: just that you suffer consequences.

In a simple crawl, these consequences can be quite mild; in a constricing choke, these consequences can be dire indeed.

When you fail a Caving Roll, immediately roll a single d20, and compare the result to each stat in order.

If the result is under the stat, you succeed and suffer no consequences.
If you fail on Constitution, all consequences are cumulative.
If you succeed on Constitution, you only suffer the consequences of the first failure—the rest are ignored.

As you traverse tighter passages, the consequences of failure grow more severe.

	Crawl	Squeeze	Choke
CON
STR	Your muscles strain. For 1d3 minutes, your pace slows by one category; if creeping, you stop in place	You damage the passage. The person behind you counts as moving through one size category smaller passage.	Stuck, and you can’t expand your chest. Save vs. crushing force or start suffocating.
DEX	Your limbs cramp up. You stop in place for 1d20 seconds.	You make a wrong move somewhere and have to twist around to fix it. Reverse your head-feet-first direction.	Stuck, and you can’t move anything at all. Save vs. crushing force or be paralyzed in place
INT	Your confidence fails. Next caving check you make, decrease your roll by 1-in-6.	Your gear scrapes against the passage. You lose 1 randomlydetermined piece of gea	Stuck, and panic overwhelms your mind. Until unstuck, you can only speak gibberish and only understand basic words
WIS	You smack your head against something hard, and thus suffer 1d6 damage.	You misplanned your position. Until you exit the passage, you cannot access any of your gear.	Stuck, and you begin to hyperventilate. You will go unconscious in 1d6 rounds
CHA	You get impatient. You must immediately try to pass the person in front of you.	You panic and cry out. Choose 1d3 allies: they must roll as if they failed the caving roll, too.	Stuck, and you start screaming. NPCs make a morale check; monsters will be drawn to you.

Stuck

Getting stuck means you are unable to move forward or backward in the passage: you’re stuck. You can move your arms and legs about, and maybe wiggle a bit, but you can’t walk, crawl, climb, or otherwise move.

There’s no single way to get unstuck: you have to get creative. Possible means of getting unstuck include:

Breaking inconvenient bones.
Greasing or oiling the passageway.
Carving off strips of flesh.
Chipping away at the rock face itself.

If all else fails, just wait for them to starve to death and rot away, then come back and pick the loot off their bones.

September 21st, 2021 September 21st, 2021

Climbing

The GM determines the angle of the ascent. Slope, wall, overhang, or ceiling. Also whether or not the climber is ass-over-head.
The player decides their pace. Creeping, half, full, or double.
Any modifiers, positive or negative, are added to the baseline chance-in-6. The player can influence these. Don’t be constrained by the list.
The player rolls their d6 for the initial climbing roll. On a success, that’s it, they’ve made the climb; if they fail, continue.
On a failure, the player rolls 1d20, attempting to roll under each stat.
For each failure, the player character suffers consqeuences based on the angle of the ascent. If they fail CON, they suffer all consequences in sequence; if they succeed CON, they suffer only the first consequence from the list.
Make another climbing roll when a significant variable changes

Angles

30°–80°: Slope. Less than 30° does not require a roll.
81°-100°: Wall. Straight vertical, or close enough.
101°-170°: Overhang. Like climbing the inside of an arch.
171°-190°: Ceiling

Climbing Pace

Creep. 15 ft. Travelling extremely slowly. Slower than ordinary crawling, even, but quite safe. You creep through caves when you have time to spare.
Half. 30 ft.Half the normal travel speed. Whatever your system’s normal speed is, halve it. The most common pace.
Full. 60 ft. Normal dungeon travel speed. Whatever normal speed is, this is it. Safe for dungeons, dangerous for caves.
Double. 120 ft. Moving at full tilt. The equivalent of a dead sprint. If the monsters don’t get you, the caves will.

Pace	Slope	Wall	Overhang	Ceiling
Creeping	7 in 6	4 in 6	3 in 6	1 in 6
Half	6 in 6	3 in 6	2 in 6	0 in 6
Full	5 in 6	2 in 6	0 in 6	-2 in 6
Double	4 in 6	1 in 6	-2 in 6	-3 in 6

Modifiers

Add 1 in 6 if…

You have a rope-line or handholds
You are being actively helped by someone else
You have an opposing wall to brace yourself against
Your STR bonus is 4 or higher
You have training or experience in climbing

Subtract -1 in 6 if…

You are wearing heavy armor
You have something in your hand
You are in darkness
The ascent is wet, icy or smooth.

Failing A Climbing Roll

If the result is under the stat, you succeed and suffer no consequences.
If you fail on Constitution, all consequences are cumulative
If you succeed on Constitution, you only suffer the consequences of the first failure—the rest are ignored.

If your chance of success reaches 6-in-6 or higher, you automatically succeed; if it reaches 0-in-6 or lower, you automatically fail.

	Slope	Wall	Overhang	Ceiling
CON	All consequences are cumulative	All consequences are cumulative	All consequences are cumulative	All consequences are cumulative
STR	Your limbs cramp up. You must stop in place for 1d6 rounds.	A chunk of material breaks loose: 1d4 others under you suffer 1d4 damage.	The surface begins to collapse: either fall or make this route impassable for others	You fall and hear a snap on impact: 1 random limb is severely broken.
DEX	Your feet begin to slip: decrease your pace. If creeping, slide down 1d6 × 10 ft.	One arm gets caught in your straps: until you finish, you must climb one-handed.	Your hand gets caught in a corner or crevice: either fall or be stuck here, high above.	You fall and spin in the air: save vs. shattered spine or instantly die.
INT	You find yourself in a groove or rut: you cannot go side-to-side, only up or down.	Something snags on your pack: until you finish, your gear is inaccessible.	Your route takes an odd vertical twist: either fall or end up ass-over-head.	You fall and hit your head: you’ll be out cold for 1d6 × 10 minutes.
WIS	You grab the wrong thing: save WIS or slide down to the bottom.	Something slips loose from your pack: you lose 1 random item.	Acrophobia sets in: if you look down at any time during the climb you fall.	You fall and flail desperately: everyone under you must save vs. your grabbing hands or fall as well
CHA	Your confidence fails. Suffer -1-in-6 to your next climbing roll.	You begin to panic: someone else (your choice) must roll as if they failed the climbing roll.	Fear grips you: either fall or scream wildly; monsters are drawn to the noise.	You fall and you scream as you do. NPCs must roll Morale; monsters are drawn to the noise.

As with caving, when you fail a Climbing Roll, immediately roll a single d20, and compare the result to each stat in order.

As the angles increase, so too do the consequences’ severity.

September 21st, 2021 January 20th, 2022

Falling

When you fall, you take damage according to the distance fallen. The chart to the right details how much damage specifically. It’s +1d6 per 10 ft, except the dice add together and 3d6 is equal to 1d20—then go back to +1d6.

10’ 1d6

20’ 1d12

30’ 1d20

40’ 1d20 + 1d6

50’ 1d20 + 1d12

60’ 2d20

+10’ +1d6

+20’ +1d12

+30’ +1d20

September 21st, 2021