Hi All,

I am fairly new to the Ubiquity system, but I find it light and fun and I intend to run it soon with my group. Before I sit down with my players and go over the system with them, there are a few points I would like to clear up so I know I am doing it correctly myself.

For this post I'd like to ask about the rules for jumping, swimming and climbing.

Under the section on Movement on page 183, it states that movement does not require a dice roll and that you simply move the distance allowed by your movement rating for the type of movement. The skill that covers these activities is Athletics and it says you can swap out your skill for your movement rating if you wish.

So am I to understand correctly that everyone is capable of, for example, climbing everything, it just takes longer for some than others ? It feels strange to me there is no roll required to see if someone fails to climb a difficult cliff for example. How exactly would you emulate a tricky climb where success is not guaranteed and a fail is at least possible ?

I wonder the same for leaping. I appreciate that most often a person can leap a set distance based on their skill, but it seems like its never possible to muck it up and fall short or the likes.

Also, doesn't this make lower levels in the Athletics skill pointless (Least in regards these types of activities - I appreciate the skill is used for other tasks too) . It seems like it only really becomes useful when it gets higher than your movement rating.

I'm not complaining mind you , I just want to make sure I understand that this is how its handled.

I have a few other questions, but I'll keep them for a different post. I appreciate any help given.

Mara.

Move is an Attribute provided for those who use maps in their games, defining the distance a character can travel in a turn. For unobstructed movement, there's no roll needed.

If there is a measurable chance of failure, (running through broken ground, climbing a cliff wall), the player is certainly expected to make an Athletics roll to ensure the character succeeds (doesn't stumble, doesn't fall). If the roll is successful, Move then establishes how far the character travels.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the quick and useful reply . That does indeed help a lot, and its much appreciated.

Mara.

Hullo, Marachai,



Interesting points to raise. I'll do my best to answer the questions for you. Always willing to help out here.



When it comes down to it, the Move rating determines your movement rate during both combat and non-combat situations (see the Move Chart on page 74). When making a basic Move in combat or outside of combat, one doesn't roll.

That said, if one were running through a forest that has lots of stuff on the ground, or through a hilly section with uneven ground, or climbing a cliff face, the GM should call for a roll of Athletics with a Difficulty based on the situation but probably no higher than a 3 or 4 depending on the various circumstances and situational modifiers. It's important to remember that dice really only need to be rolled for a given task if there is a chance of failure. Once the character succeeds at the roll, the Move rate under the given condition determines how far one can go, travel, climb, crawl, or whatever.



Look forward to them.