[Basic] Advantage of the Week (#17): Brachiator; Clinging; Super Climbing

[Otaku]

Last Week: Blessed
Next Week: Breath-Holding; Doesn't Breathe; Filter Lungs

This week's selection is a bit odd, as it features related and yet not related Advantages: Brachiator, Clinging and Super Climbing. Originally I viewed Brachiator as something akin to an extremely restricted form of Clinging but I have been disabused of that thanks to some searching turning up the following Kromm quotes:

Originally Posted by Kromm

From Enhanced Move (Powers, p. 49):

Environmental (p. 110) is allowed, but only if it limits Enhanced Move to a subset of its usual environment. For instance, Enhanced Move (Air) couldn't take Environmental, Air (-5%) – but it could have Environmental, Trees or tall buildings (-20%) in order to benefit Move with Brachiator (p. B41) but not Flight.

This would generally also come with the limitation just after that – All-Out, -20% – if all your limbs are tied up with climbing and swinging.

Originally Posted by Kromm

Brachiator isn't about climbing, beyond giving you a body pattern that makes that easier (whence the +2 to Climbing skill). Brachiator is about flying through the air like Tarzan or Spider-Man.

After some consideration, I have decided to still post the three Advantages together after running it by someone else and because I kind of need to get this posted ASAP and I was nearly finished with it when I remembered to do a search for "Brachiator" and "Kromm".

Brachiator [5] (p. B41) is an Exotic, Physical trait that allows the character in question to travel by swinging from handhold to handhold (branches, chandeliers, ropes, vines, etc.). You also gain a +2 bonus to the Climbing Skill and while brachiating, you travel at half your Basic Move. This should not be confused as "climbing".

Clinging [20] (p. B43; P45) is an Exotic, Physical trait that allows you crawl along walls or ceilings. The actual text on p. B43 says you can walk or climb, but p. P45 seems to indicate otherwise as that requires a specific Enhancement: I suspect there is some middle ground where both statements are true but I failed to learn the specifics. When moving along a surface via Clinging, there is no Climbing roll required, and your pace is half Basic Move.

I'm not finding specific rules about a Clinging character resisting an attempt at forcefully removing them from the surface to which they are clinging, but there are rules for attempting to safely stop one's fall by using Clinging to grab onto a vertical surface: roll versus DX if there is a surface in reach then make a ST roll at -1 per 5 yards you've fallen: even on a failure you can subtract five yards from your effective falling height (presumably the attempt slowed you down). Gravity does affect this attempt the in scale to how it normally affects things like falling e.g. in 0.5G the ST roll is at -1 per 10 yards.

Super Climbing [3/level] (p. B89; P79) is yet another Exotic, Physical Advantage and as the name suggests it allows you to climb faster than otherwise indicated while climbing or using the Clinging Advantage: +1 to move per level, or when referencing the chart on p. B349, each level increases speed by the unit listed on the table, barring rappelling speed (which is mostly dependent upon gravity).

Modifiers
Clinging can be Enhanced with Attraction (+25%) (p. P45) if you want to stick to the surface with any part of your body and allows you to walk instead of crawl up walls. The Limitation Requires Low Gravity can be applied for anywhere from a -5% at 0.6G to -50% at 0G.

Specific (p. B43; P112) can allow your improved climbing to only work with a specific surface, and is a large part of why Clinging is here: I can't deconstruct the Advantage myself, but Brachiator seems to be a stripped down version of Clinging, restricted to surfaces with sufficient handholds. The less common the material the bigger a discount you receive, from -20% for "Common" materials like any brick, any wood, any rock, any metal to -80% for stuff that even if common are only going to be available in large enough quantities to climb under bizarre circumstances (or because your character is takes action/has powers to make it show up), like Clinging (Specific: Chocolate, -80%). The GM is free to fine tune the values as well, including making the discount less than 20% for a still meaningful but beyond Common restriction. This same Limitation can be applied to Super Climbing when appropriate.

Perks
Two Perks well worth mentioning and related to Brachiator are Climbing Line and Swinging, from GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks p.10 and 16, respectively. Climbing Line is a variation of Accessory while Swinging is a variation of No Nuisance Rolls; these two are great together to create a hero that swings around on webs, grappling hooks, etc. with ease and also make for a natural combo with Brachiator, as you're basically ensuring the character (almost) always has an appropriate handhold available.

Talents
Superior Equilibrioception [5/level] (GURPS Power-Ups 3: Talents p. 16) provides benefits for Acrobatics (including Aerobatics and Aquabatics), Body Sense, Climbing, Freefall and Parachuting; this is most definitely useful for Brachiator and those actually climbing using Super Climbing, while Clinging seems likely to get you into positions where at least some of these would be handy (namely when situations force you to stop Clinging abruptly or if you have to move from "Clingable" surface to "Clingable" surface.

Discussion
1. Have you or someone you've gamed with used any of these Advantages? How did they seem to work out?
2. Even if you haven't, do they seem appropriately priced, under- or overpriced?
3. Any useful traits or Skills to combine with them?
4. Anything else that seems remotely relevant (which would include general feedback over these [Basic] Advantage of the Week threads.)

[Not]

I think that horizontal is a good temporary disadvantage for clinging. Most heroes and animals seem to have it.

There's a build for apes in Basic which I can't check now. I remember that it lacks semi-upright, but does it include brachiator?

Watching gibbons at the zoo makes me think they should have something like Move: arboreal that's simply prohibited other beasts.

[Humabout]

How would you describe what creatures like tree squirrel have? Just super climbing and high levels of Climbing? Is it Clinging (Limited, Trees)?

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Humabout

How would you describe what creatures like tree squirrel have? Just super climbing and high levels of Climbing? Is it Clinging (Limited, Trees)?

Climbing, possibly Super climbing and accessory perk: climbing claws.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Humabout

How would you describe what creatures like tree squirrel have? Just super climbing and high levels of Climbing? Is it Clinging (Limited, Trees)?

Squirrels "only" have claws, flexible ankles, and the benefit of extreme strength to weight ratios from the square cube law.

Very few real world animals have anything approaching clinging. Geckos being the poster children for that advantage.

[nerdvana]

I was considering a power built around Brachiator and/or Super Climbing for my Treesinging power I am working on but ended up going with a simpler build that is effectively a weakened form of Super Climbing in the form of a modified Accessory: Ladder

[Flyndaran]

Brachiating requires a very densely packed forest. The vast majority of even small tree dwellers jump and/or glide from branch to branch.
Perhaps gliding might work. Or whatever limitation flight has for requiring at least some object beneath you even if not remotely capable of bearing your weight.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Very few real world animals have anything approaching clinging. Geckos being the poster children for that advantage.

I would pick limpets, myself, or abalone.

Bill Stoddard

[Anders]

Goats. Definitely goats.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I would pick limpets, myself, or abalone.

Bill Stoddard

Using glue seems somehow both cheating and "less" than clinging. But that is personal aesthetics.
Van der Waals force is how I define clinging.