i was dming last week and one of the characters has 2 immovable rods, he used them to get 20 feet in the air and placed them a foot apart. next he got on top of them and and began to fire his light crossbow, i said hold on a minute, you have to make climb checks to pull yourself up and balance checks to see if you can fire the crossbow without falling off the rods, he disagreed and the debate was on, what would you fine people rule as to firing a lightcross bow atop 2 immovable rods?
I would at least demand an Acrobatics check to sucsessfully balance the rods. There are no description of the thickness of rods, but since they must be held in the hand to be used properly they can't be more than a couple of inches thick.
According to the description of the acrobatics skill in the Pathfinder core rulebook balancing on a surface 2-6 inches wide requires a DC 15 acrobatics check and leaves you flat-footed. Climbing a surface with adequate handholds and footholds (Such as a couple of Immovable rods) is a DC 10 climb check.
IMO you were right to demand the skill checks, other than that I think it was a fine use of Immovable rods.
This is what the Pathfinder Rulebook was designed for!
Smacking obnoxious players over the head with!
I would give him a DC15-20 Acrobatics check whenever HE IS DAMAGED just like Acrobatics says.
Acrobatics otherwise only seems to apply if he moves - So if he stays in the same position he shouldn't be given additional checks, but moving atop the rods from a hanging (Climbing) position to a standing one seems like it should require an Acrobatics check (DC 10-15 since he's somewhat braced with 2 rods) in addition to a Climb check.
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i was dming last week and one of the characters has 2 immovable rods, he used them to get 20 feet in the air and placed them a foot apart. next he got on top of them and and began to fire his light crossbow, i said hold on a minute, you have to make climb checks to pull yourself up and balance checks to see if you can fire the crossbow without falling off the rods, he disagreed and the debate was on, what would you fine people rule as to firing a lightcross bow atop 2 immovable rods?
I have had similar situations arise, and here is how I have handled it.
Climb checks to pull up? yesbalance check to fire? no
but.... balance checks any time character gets damaged. I use DC of 10 plus damage dealt to keep balance. If they fail this balance check, give them a reflex save to grab onto the rods.(I know i read somewhere in PF a save to grab when failing a climb check... use that one) Of course, they have to drop their crossbow to grab that rod.......
I would do it like Greg said.
I did once have a character (my own not a player's in one of my games), dervish type that had several Immovable rods that had "delay switches" built in so he could toss them at his opponent then dance off them while fighting, but that was a special case, his specific style and he had levels in acrobat thief too.
I agree with Greg
I'm thinking
1) minor strength check to pull yourself up
2) medium balance check to mount the rods.
*character is now flatfooted in relation to combat
3) major balance check required when hit (check based on dmg)
*If he fails balance I might give him chance to drop anything he's holding for a reflex save to grab one of the rods and keep from falling.
Sounds like a cool use but... time consuming. Just imagine climbing a ladder with only your arms 20 feet straight up. Add armor, gear, etc that you are hauling up and thats quite a workout even if you are fit (imagine 20 1 armed pullups with 30 lbs of gear). I know these are heros and they do this stuff just saying it's probably more than a round.
Then getting on top would be comparable to getting onto parallel bars you are hanging below. definitely a acrobatics check. Probably DC 20+
...
WTF though... it's cool and not totally broken so make it all attainable.