Balance (dex ; ARMOR CHECK PENALTY)
Check: You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. A failure by 4 or less means you can'?t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the surface, as follows:
* Add modifiers from Narrow Surface Modifiers, below, as appropriate.
** Only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can?t run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.
Narrow Surface Modifiers
* Add the appropriate modifier to the Balance DC of a narrow surface.
These modifiers stack.
Being Attacked while Balancing: You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can?t move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). If you have 5 or more ranks in Balance, you aren?t considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing.
Accelerated Movement: You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a ?5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. (Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Balance checks, one for each move action used.) You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Balance check for each multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof ) that you charge.
Action:None. A Balance check doesn?t require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
Special:If you have the Agile feat, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.
Synergy:If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.
| Narrow Surface | Balance DC* | Difficult Surface | Balance DC** |
| 7-12 inches wide | 10 | Uneven flagstone | 10** |
| 2-6 inches wide | 15 | Hewn stone floor | 10** |
| Less than 2 inches wide | 20 | Sloped or angled floor | 10** |
** Only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can?t run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.
Narrow Surface Modifiers
| Surface | DC Modifier* |
| Lightly obstructed | +2 |
| Severely obstructed | +5 |
| Lightly slippery | +2 |
| Severely slippery | +5 |
| Sloped or angled | +2 |
These modifiers stack.
Being Attacked while Balancing: You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can?t move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). If you have 5 or more ranks in Balance, you aren?t considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing.
Accelerated Movement: You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a ?5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. (Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Balance checks, one for each move action used.) You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Balance check for each multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof ) that you charge.
Action:None. A Balance check doesn?t require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
Special:If you have the Agile feat, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.
Synergy:If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.