Armor Penalty

You can keep your balance while walking on a tightrope, narrow beam, slippery surface, or uneven ground.

Check: You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at one-half your speed along the surface as a move action. A failure indicates that you spend your move action keeping your balance and do not move. A failure by 5 or more indicates that you fall. The DC depends on the conditions, as detailed below:

*Add +5 to the DC if a narrow surface is slippery or angled. Add +10 if it is both.

Accelerated Movement: You can try to move across a precarious surface more quickly by taking a –5 penalty on your Balance check. You can charge across a precarious surface, as well, by taking a –5 penalty to the check, and taking an extra check if you move more than your speed.

Being Attacked While Balancing: While balancing you are flat-footed (you lose your Dexterity bonus to Defense), unless you have 5 or more ranks in Balance. If you take damage you must make a Balance check again to keep your balance.

Resist Zero-G Bull Rush: Normally, a successful Bull Rush in zero-g results in the target being moved 10 feet, as opposed to 5 feet, for every 5 points by which the attacker’s Strength check exceeds the defender’s. However, the defender may make a Balance check (opposed by the attacker’s Balance or Dexterity check) in order to reduce the Bull Rush movement to the normal 5 feet per 5 points. This check is made as a free action, in reaction to the attacker’s successful Bull Rush.

Special: You can take 10 when making a Balance check, but you can’t take 20. A character with the Focused feat gets a +2 bonus on all Balance checks.

Time: Balancing while moving at one-half your movement speed is a move action. Accelerated Movement, allowing you to move at your full move rate, is also a move action.