Talent for the Weak: Acrobatics

[hcobb]

1. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to dodge slimes or just inanimate falling objects?
2. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to dodge falling rock traps, and if so does this stack with the bonus from Detect Traps? (What other traps does Acrobatics help against?)
3. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to remain standing against shield rush, Magic Fist and other combat conditions?
4. Does it give a bonus to stand up, such as to disengage from HTH? (Or stand on slippery floor?)
5. Which (if any) of the jumping saves at ITL 104 does Acrobatics give a bonus to?
6. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to all the saves vs fall WRT moving on top of or being moved on top of by other figures?
7. Say you wanted the maximum starting ST for a starting acrobat. So you take a Dwarf of ST 10, DX 12, IQ 10. What other talents would you tend to assign to her? What if she's a hairy wizard?

[tomc]

Originally Posted by hcobb

1. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to dodge slimes or just inanimate falling objects?
2. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to dodge falling rock traps, and if so does this stack with the bonus from Detect Traps? (What other traps does Acrobatics help against?)
3. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to remain standing against shield rush, Magic Fist and other combat conditions?
4. Does it give a bonus to stand up, such as to disengage from HTH? (Or stand on slippery floor?)
5. Which (if any) of the jumping saves at ITL 104 does Acrobatics give a bonus to?
6. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to all the saves vs fall WRT moving on top of or being moved on top of by other figures?
7. Say you wanted the maximum starting ST for a starting acrobat. So you take a Dwarf of ST 10, DX 12, IQ 10. What other talents would you tend to assign to her? What if she's a hairy wizard?

I guess the answer depends on:

1) How the GM defines acrobatics
2) How "wheedlesome" the players are
3) How consistent everyone want their game to be

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by hcobb

1. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to dodge slimes or just inanimate falling objects?
   
   - Yes it helps dodge slimes since they are a large falling object. ITL states about Acrobatics, "or to avoid some large falling object."
   
   
2. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to dodge falling rock traps, and if so does this stack with the bonus from Detect Traps? (What other traps does Acrobatics help against?)
   
   - Yes it helps with falling rock traps. GM call whether to stack the bonuses or not. I like to stack bonuses unless it specifically says otherwise.
   
   
3. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to remain standing against shield rush, Magic Fist and other combat conditions?
   
   - Yes it helps verse both Shield Rush and Magic Fist. ITL says, acrobatics helps "to avoid some type of fall", and both of these cause a fall. I cannot reply to "other combat conditions" as that is vague.
   
   
4. Does it give a bonus to stand up, such as to disengage from HTH? (Or stand on slippery floor?)
   
   - No. Basically Acrobatics helps against falling and against falling objects. Disengaging from HTH is neither.
   
   
5. Which (if any) of the jumping saves at ITL 104 does Acrobatics give a bonus to?
   
   - Any where a failed roll results in a fall. So, jumping over a hole it helps since a fail will result in falling in. Does not help with scooping up weapons. I expect some will say "falling in" is not the same a "fall"/knock down. Still, I see acrobats on a trapeze making leaps to ledges, so I think it fits both literally and actually.
   
   
6. Does Acrobatics give a bonus to all the saves vs fall WRT moving on top of or being moved on top of by other figures?
   
   - Yes, because it is a fall. A dragon pushes you back, the acrobat will land more gracefully.
   
   
7. Say you wanted the maximum starting ST for a starting acrobat. So you take a Dwarf of ST 10, DX 12, IQ 10. What other talents would you tend to assign to her? What if she's a hairy wizard?
   
   - Personal choice, so I have no good answer.
   
   An acrobatic wizard is interesting, but do you really want to spend 4 starting spell slots on a talent that is better suited for a front line character? Yes, it will help on the occasional trap, but is it worth losing so 4 starting spells for a IQ 10 character without providing any combat or adventuring (Detect Magic, Lock/Knock, etc) uses?
   
   I don't see much I would want to pair with Acrobatics. It is useful in many situations, but these are the only other spells/talents that seem to go well with it... or just a show of my lack of imagination:
   
   Acrobatics is a good pick for someone with Remove Traps talent because so many traps have a DX save and you will trigger some traps. But Remove Traps is an IQ 11 talent, thus fails to fit your starting Dwarf. This may be the only good match.
   
   A wizard with Slippery Floor spell is a trivially useful match. But it is an IQ 13 spell (once again does not fit your Dwarf). You would have to expect to run through your own slippery floor hexes often to be of any value. Not worth it.
   

See my replies in-line with your questions above

[Shostak]

I’d give the Acrobatics bonus to saves against falling due to Slippery Floor.

From my perspective, Acrobatics is one of those talents that has an arbitrarily high IQ prerequisite.

[hcobb]

Legacy Acrobatics is two thirds the memory point cost as Classic, but is otherwise unchanged.

It's now a much easier alternative to Climbing for wizards.

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by Shostak

I’d give the Acrobatics bonus to saves against falling due to Slippery Floor.

Yes I agree. That is why I said their was some synergy

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Legacy Acrobatics is two thirds the memory point cost as Classic, but is otherwise unchanged.

It's now a much easier alternative to Climbing for wizards.

Acrobatics is now easier than before (Legacy vs Classic), but it is still a harder alternative for everyone (including wizards) compared to Climbing talent. Climbing requires less IQ and cost 1 less IQ. Climbing without a rope is still better with the Climbing talent than the Acrobatic talent. So, if climbing is your goal, Climbing talent is better and cheaper than Acrobatics talent.

So, I am not sure what you mean by it being an "easier alternative to Climbing for wizards"

[David Bofinger]

I think Yes; Yes & Yes (pretty much anything that needs a DX roll); Yes if rolling against DX but not if rolling against ST; No because standing is only part of disengagement (Yes); By RAW no because jumping is more than not falling but maybe it should; No because being in HTH is more than falling; I can't think of anything synergistic but avoid Detect Traps if you don't want that to be your job.

[acasin]

geometry dash subzero

Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip

Acrobatics is now easier than before (Legacy vs Classic), but it is still a harder alternative for everyone (including wizards) compared to Climbing talent. Climbing requires less IQ and cost 1 less IQ. Climbing without a rope is still better with the Climbing talent than the Acrobatic talent. So, if climbing is your goal, Climbing talent is better and cheaper than Acrobatics talent.

So, I am not sure what you mean by it being an "easier alternative to Climbing for wizards"

I agree with your opinion. Because RAW doesn't because jumping doesn't just mean not falling but probably should.