Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Climbing

In Swords & Wizardry Complete, a thief’s ability to climb walls is extraordinary: a thief’s percentage chance to climb walls applies to surfaces that others cannot climb; if others have a percentage chance to climb a surface, a thief likely can do so automatically (page 23). The following guidelines, which are derived in part from the AD&D Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide and Wilderness Survival Guide, are intended to fill in the gaps in the rules:

Climbing

Climbable Surfaces

• walls and cliffs that are sheer, smooth, only slightly cracked, or rough but without handholds can only be climbed by thieves absent the use of pitons or other gear
• if a wall or cliff is more than sheer—i.e., its angle is less than 90 degrees (e.g., an overhang)—even a thief will have a negative modifier to his climbing roll

Climbing Checks

• for walls climbable by non-thieves, they have a base 40% chance to do so; use of a grappling hook and rope, pitons, or other gear adds a +40% modifier
• for non-thieves, a strength score of 13 to 16 confers a +5% modifier to climbing rolls; a strength score of 17 to 18 confers a 10% modifier to climbing rolls
• chain and ring mail impose a -15% modifier and plate mail imposes a -40% modifier to climbing rolls; climbing rolls made in leather armor or clothing are unmodified
• encumbrance of 76–100, 101–50, and 151–300 pounds respectively impose modifiers of -5%, -10%, and -15%; these modifies are in addition to the modifiers for armor
• negative modifiers also may be applied to climbing rolls for various conditions—moss, moisture, crumbling surfaces—or circumstances such as being attacked while climbing

Falling

• if a climbing roll is failed, randomly determine how high the climber made it before falling; e.g., if climbing 60 feet, roll a d6—a result of 2 would mean a fall from 20 feet
• precautions, such as securing the rope with pitons or roping together with other climbers, may arrest a fall; make a saving throw to see if each piton et cetera holds
• a climber who falls takes 1d6 damage for every 10 feet fallen; he may make a saving throw to avoid 1d6 of this damage, which represents slowing or partial arrest of the fall

Rates of Ascent and Descent

• if necessary to determine a rate of ascent or descent or the amount of time spent climbing, non-thieves climb 5d6 feet per round and thieves climb 6d6 feet per round
• bonuses to the rate of ascent or descent may added for favorable slope or plentiful handholds; these bonuses may consist of additional dice or a modifier to each die

Grappling Hooks

• grappling hooks can be thrown upward a number of feet equal to 1/3 of the character’s strength x 10 and twice this distance horizontally with sufficient throwing space
• to try to secure a grappling hook to a fixed point, roll a d6; on a 4–6 it securely grabs; for those with a strength or dexterity bonus, the hook securely grabs on a 3–6
• if the surface the grappling hook grabs is unstable or is potentially incapable of bearing the load, it is possible that the hook will come loose during the climb