Feats of Athleticism
If you read any of our other articles, you are no doubt aware by now that this is Go Outside Week, a week devoted to getting players to get up, move around, and maybe even…you know…go outside.
This presents me with no small amount of difficulty for today’s article. After all, as longtime readers will be aware, From the Workshop is devoted to creating new content (primarily feats, spells, magic items, and alternate class features) for the Pathfinder/3.5 OGL game system. This, like many tabletop RPGs, is not really a system that has much in common with the out-of-doors. After all, if we were a website about, say, baseball, there wouldn’t really be much point in having a “Go Outside Week.”
How, then, does one create content for Pathfinder that has something to do with going outside (or, in a broader context that I feel still captures the essence of the week’s theme, being active)? It seems like an impossible conundrum: after all, Pathfinder isn’t a LARPing game, it uses dice to determine the outcome of various actions—the players themselves, including their location—doesn’t really have anything to do with it.
The following feats are a bit of an experiment. You could call them an “exercise,” if you enjoyed particularly tasteless puns. I’m not 100% sure how they’ll play out in a real-life situation: there might be issues from powergamers, and it might bog down gameplay, and it might cause some bad feelings on the part of those it leaves at a disadvantage. I’ve done my best to combat these factors, and I think that there is something to be said for the mechanic, though I admit that it’s a kooky one. If you get the opportunity to use any of these, consider this an engraved invitation to write me about how it turned out.
The numbers are loosely tuned based on what an average person is supposedly able to do. Your group may need to adjust the numbers in the table to fit your fitness level, possibly on a player-by-player basis. Additionally, GMs are the final arbiter of what “counts” and what’s “cheating.” For example, if push-ups are called for, the GM determines (ideally after a consensus with the players) whether those push-ups can be done with bent knees, or crossed legs, or if they must be performed one-handed, etc.
Burst of Agility [Athletic]
Benefit: At the beginning of each encounter, you may choose to perform a standing long jump. If you do, your character gains a temporary dodge bonus to his or her AC based on the distance you jumped, as indicated on the table below. The bonus lasts until the end of the encounter.
Special: A character can benefit from only a single athletic feat at the beginning of any encounter. If the character has more than one athletic feat, he or she may choose which one to use at the beginning of the encounter.
Burst of Endurance [Athletic]
Benefit: At the beginning of each encounter, you may choose to spend 30 seconds doing sit-ups. If you do, your character gains a number of temporary hit points based on the number of sit-ups you were able to perform in this time, as indicated on the table below. Regardless of the result indicated on the table, a character cannot gain more temporary hit points this way than ½ his or her maximum hit points (rounded down). These bonus hit points fade after 10 minutes.
Special: A character can benefit from only a single athletic feat at the beginning of any encounter. If the character has more than one athletic feat, he or she may choose which one to use at the beginning of the encounter.
Burst of Speed [Athletic]
Benefit: At the beginning of each encounter, you may choose to do jumping jacks for 30 seconds. If you do, your character gains a bonus on his or her initiative roll for that encounter equal to 1/6 the number of jumping jacks you performed (rounded down, minimum 1).
Special: A character can benefit from only a single athletic feat at the beginning of any encounter. If the character has more than one athletic feat, he or she may choose which one to use at the beginning of the encounter.
Burst of Strength [Athletic]
Benefit: At the beginning of each encounter, you may choose to spend 30 seconds doing push-ups. If you do, your character gains a temporary enhancement bonus to his or her Strength score based on the number of push-ups you were able to perform in this time, as indicated on the table below. The bonus lasts until the end of the encounter.
Special: A character can benefit from only a single athletic feat at the beginning of any encounter. If the character has more than one athletic feat, he or she may choose which one to use at the beginning of the encounter.
Contest of Wills
Benefit: Once per day, when your character casts a spell with a single target and which allows a save DC, you may choose to challenge the GM (who may elect a stand-in of his choice from amongst the group) to an arm-wrestling match. If you do, and you win, the target suffers a -4 penalty on his or her saving throw. If you do and you lose, the target gains a +4 bonus on his or her saving throw, instead.
Muscle Magic
Benefit: At the beginning of each day, when your character is preparing spells, you may choose to attempt to do 35 push-ups in a one-minute period. If you do, and you succeed, you may prepare one additional spell of each spell level that day.