Jump (Str; Armor Check Penalty
Use this skill to leap over pits, vault low fences, or reach a tree's lowest branches.
Check: The DC and the distance you can cover vary according the type of jump you are attempting (see below). Your Jump check is modified by your speed. If your speed is 30 feet (the speed of an unarmored human), then no modifier based on speed applies to the check, if your speed is less than 30 feet, you take a -6 penalty for every 10 feet of speed less than 30 feet. If your speed is greater than 30 feet, you gain a +4 bonus for every 10 feet beyond 30 fees. For instance, if your have a speed of 20 feet, you a -6 penalty on your Jump checks. If, on the other hand, your speed is 50 feet, you gain a +8 bonus.
All Jump DCs given here assume that you get a running start, which requires that you move at least 20 feet in a straight line before attempting the jump. If you do not get a running start, the DC for the jump is doubled.
Distance moved by jumping is counted against your normal maximum movement in a round. For example, Krusk has a speed if 40 feet. If he moves 30 feet, then jumps across a 10-foot-wide chasm, he's then moved 40 feet total, so that's his move action. If you have ranks in Jump and you succeed on a Jump check you land on your feet (when appropriate), if you attempt a Jump check untrained, you land prone unless you beat the DC by 5 or more.
Long Jump: A long jump is a horizontal jump, made across a gap like a chasm or stream. At the midpoint of the jump, you attain a vertical height equal to one-quarter of the horizontal distance. The DC for the jump is equal to the distance jumped (in feet). For example, a 10-foot-wide pit requires a DC 10 Jump check to cross. If your check succeeds, you land on your feet at the far end. If you fail the check by less than 5, you don't clear the distance, but you can make a DC 15 Reflex save to grab the far edge of the gap. You end your movement grasping the far edge. If that leaves you dangling over a chasm or gap, getting up requires a move action and a DC 15 Climb check.
| Long Jump Distance | Jump DC¹ |
| 5 feet | 5 |
| 10 feet | 10 |
| 15 feet | 15 |
| 20 feet | 20 |
| 25 feet | 25 |
| 30 feet | 30 |
| ¹ Requires a 20-foot running start. Without a running start, double the DC. | |
High Jump: A high jump is a vertical leap made to reach a ledge high above or to grasp something overhead, such as a tree limb. The DC is equal to 4 times the distance to be cleared. For example, the DC for a high jump to land atop a 3-foot-high ledge is 12 (3 X 4).
If you jumped sip to grab something, a successful check indicates that you reached the desired height. If you wish to pull yourself up, you can do so with a move action and a DC 15 Climb check. If you fail the Jump check, you do not reach the height, and land on your feet in the same spot from which you jumped. As with a long jump, the DC is doubled if you do not get a running start of at least 20 feet.
| High Jump Distance¹ | Jump DC² |
| 1 foot | 4 |
| 2 feet | 8 |
| 3 feet | 12 |
| 4 feet | 16 |
| 5 feet | 20 |
| 6 feet | 24 |
| 7 feet | 28 |
| 8 feet | 32 |
| ¹ Not including vertical reach; see below. ² Requires a 20-foot running start. Without a running start, double the DC. | |
Obviously, the difficulty of reaching a given height varies according to the size of the character or creature. The maximum vertical reach (height the creature can reach without jumping) for an average creature of a given size is shown on the table below. (As a Medium creature, a typical human can reach 8 feet without jumping.) Quadrupedal creatures (such as horses) don't have the same vertical reach as a bipedal creature; treat them as being one size category smaller.
| Creature Size | Vertical Reach |
| Colossal | 128 ft. |
| Gargantuan | 64 ft. |
| Huge | 32 ft. |
| Large | 16 ft. |
| Medium | 8 ft. |
| Small | 4 ft. |
| Tiny | 2 ft. |
| Diminutive | 1 ft. |
| Fine | 1/2 ft. |
Hop Up: You can jump up onto an object as tall as your waist, such as a table or small boulder, with a DC 10 Jump check. Doing so counts as 10 feet of movement, so if your speed is 30 feet, you could move 20 feet, then hop up onto a counter. You do not need to get a running start to hop up, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.
Jumping Down: If you intentionally jump from a height, you take less damage than you would if you just fell. The DC to jump down from a height is 15. You do not have to get a running start to jump down, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.
If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did. Thus, if you jump down a from height of just 10 fees, you take no damage. If you jump down from a height of 20 feet, you take damage as if you had fallen 10 feet.
Action: None. A Jump check is included in your movement, so it is part of a move action. If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action (either on this turn or, if necessary, on your next turn) must be a move action to complete the jump.
Special: Effects that increase your movement also increase your jumping distance, since your check is modified by your speed.
If you have the Run feat, you get a +4 bonus on Jump checks for any jumps made after a running start.
A halfling has a +2 racial bonus on Jump checks because halflings are agile and athletic.
If you have the Acrobatic feat, you get a +2 bonus on Jump checks.
Synergy: if you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Jump checks.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Jump, you get a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.
Expanded Description - Stormwrack
Fast swimmers can hurl themselves entirely out of the water in order to leap over a horizontal barrier such as a net, dock, or jetty; to reach a target high over the water; or (in the case of creatures that can both swim and fly) to launch themselves into the air. Some fish and aquatic animals are skillful jumpers and routinely use this tactic to escape predators, avoid obstacles, or surprise prey. Others simply lack the inclination. Barracudas have been known to throw themselves into boats and viciously bite, while sharks rarely do so. Creatures with swim speeds use their swim speed to determine their Jump skill modifier for jumps made in water, gaining a +4 bonus for every 10 feet by which their swim speed exceeds 30 feet. If their swim speed is less than 30 feet, they take a -6 penalty for each 10 feet by which it falls short of 30 feet. For example, a creature with a swim speed of 50 feet has a +8 bonus on Jump checks made from water. Creatures without swim speeds generally can't make jumps our of water.
Long Jump: Crossing a horizontal distance in the air requires a long jump, just as described above.
High Jump: A swimming high jump works much like the high jump described above, except that there is a -10 penalty for executing this jump in water. The height you reach measures the distance you get between the water and your feet (or tail, as the case may be). If you achieve a negative result, you don't actually get completely out of the water. For example, if your result is a -4, your jump distance is -1 foot - which means that all your body except for the last foot of your body length gets out of the water, at least for a moment.
Launch into Air: With a successful high jump that gets you entirely clear of the water (a result of 0 feet or better), you can begin flying at an elevation of 5 feet (presuming you have a fly speed).