Table of Contents
Climbing
A lot of this is from Veins of the Earth, fantastic book♥
Route Types
Abseiling Climb
Rope (already fastened up there) & Peace & Quiet
No roll needed.
Fighting or Distraction
Strength (study for DC).
Level three thief Second Story Work gets expertise on their strength roll at this route, if they don't already have expertise in strength.
Level nine monk Unarmored Movement can run here without if they are unencumbered but when their movement ends they need to roll to grab hold, or be on solid ground.
No rope?
Counts as Hard Climb, see below.
Sloping Climb
Peace & Quiet
No roll needed.
Fighting or Distraction
Strength (study for DC).
Level three thief Second Story Work gets expertise on their strength roll at this route, if they don't already have expertise in strength.
Level nine monk Unarmored Movement can run here without if they are unencumbered but when their movement ends they need to roll to grab hold, or be on solid ground.
Hard Climb
Encumbered
No chance.
Rope (already fastened up there) & Peace & Quiet & Unencumbered
No roll needed.
Fighting, Distraction or lack of Rope
Strength (study for DC).
Level three thief Second Story Work gets expertise on their strength roll at this route, if they don't already have expertise in strength.
Level nine monk Unarmored Movement can run here without if they are unencumbered but when their movement ends they need to roll to grab hold, or be on solid ground.
Tip! If you make it, set a rope for your friends with hammers, pitons etc.
Very Hard Climb
Encumbered
No chance.
Unencumbered
Strength (study for DC).
Level three thief Second Story Work gets expertise on their strength roll at this route, if they don't already have expertise in strength.
Human Limit Climb
Encumbered or no Second Story Work
No chance.
Unencumbered & Second Story Work
Strength (study for DC).
Superhuman Climb
Encumbered or no Second Story Work
No chance.
Unencumbered & Second Story Work
Strength (study for DC).
Climbing on a Giant or other monster
No route studying needed.
For the initial climb, "strexterity" vs their dexterity. (They are trying to shake you off.) One you're up there, "strexterity" vs their strength to stay on there. (They are trying to scrape you off or knock you off.)
Vice versa when tiny creatures climb on you.
Studying
Unencumbered
No studying: DC 20
10 minutes studying: DC 10
Encumbered
Encumbered adds 5 to DC. Heavy encumbered instead adds 10 to DC. This is only for abseiling or sloped climbs, harder climbs you can't succeed if you're encumbered.
DC capped routes
Some routes have a minimum DC that you can't go under.
These come from modules (Tomb of A have some routes like this), never from the natural veins.
Spider Climb spell, or monster with Climbing speed
Don't worry you can easily traverse routes 1,2,3 w/o rolling, except climbing on a Giant or other monster.