Tumble (Dex; Trained Only; Armor Check Penalty)
You can dive, roll, somersault, flip, and so on. You can't use this skill if your speed has been reduced by armor, excess equipment, or loot (see Table 9-2: Carrying Loads, page 162, Player's Handbook).
Check: You can land softly when you fall or tumble past opponents. You can also tumble to entertain an audience (as though using the Perform skill). The DCs for various tasks involving the Tumble skill are given on the table below.
| Tumble DC | Task |
| 15 | Treat a fall as if it were 10 feet shorter than it really is when determining damage. |
| 15 | Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past, in the order in which you pass them (player's choice of order in case of a tie). Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to this Tumble DC. |
| 25 | Tumble at one-half speed through an area occupied by an enemy (over, under, or around the opponent) as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you stop before entering the enemy-occupied area and provoke an attack of opportunity from that enemy. Check separately for each opponent. Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the Tumble DC. |
Obstructed or otherwise treacherous surfaces, such as natural cavern floors or undergrowth, are tough to tumble through. The DC for any Tumble check made to tumble into such a square is modified as indicated below.
| Surface Is | DC Modifier |
| Lightly obstructed (scree, light rubble, shallow bog¹, undergrowth | +2 |
| Severely obstructed (natural cavern floor, dense rubble, dense undergrowth) | +5 |
| Lightly slippery (wet floor) | +2 |
| Severely slippery (ice sheet) | +5 |
| Sloped or angled | +2 |
| ¹ Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog. | |
Accelerated Tumbling: You try to tumble past or through enemies more quickly than normal. By accepting a -10 penalty on Tumble checks, you can move at your full speed instead of only half your speed.
Action: Not applicable. Tumbling is part of movement. A Tumble check is part of a move action.
Try Again: Usually no. An audience, once it has judged a tumbler as an uninteresting performer, is not receptive to repeat performances. You can try to reduce damage from a fall as an instant reaction only once per fall.
Special: If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2 dodge bonus to AC (see Fighting Defensively, page 140, Player's Handbook).
If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you gain a +6 dodge bonus to AC when executing the total defense standard action, instead of the usual +4 dodge bonus to AC (see Total Defense, page 142, Player's Handbook).
If you have the Acrobatic feat, you get a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.
Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance and Jump checks.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Jump, you get a +2 bonus on Tumble checks.
Expanded Description - Complete Adventurer
You can fall from significant heights without taking damage, stand up more quickly than normal, or tumble at a full sprint.
Free Stand: With a DC 35 Tumble check result, you can stand up from prone as a free action (instead of as a move action). This use of the skill still provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.
Ignore Falling Damage: For every 15 points of your Tumble check result, you can treat a fall as if it were 10 feet shorter than it really is when determining damage. A check result of 15-29 treats a fall as 10 feet shorter than it is, 30-44 as 20 feet shorter, 45-59 as 30 feet shorter, and so forth.
Sprinting Tumble: You can try to tumble past or through an opponent's space while running by accepting a -20 penalty on your Tumble check.