On jumping, grabbing onto a ledge and pulling yourself up

[cmastah]

I want to surprise my players with some acrobatic foes, mainly villains that'll climb up real quick, then switch to melee. They will most likely be monks as well.

How would that figure out? Acrobatics to make a straight jump up, then what to grab hold and pull yourself up and over a ledge? Also, if someone tries to follow up and do the same, would he provoke an AoO from the first guy?

This also has me wondering about a guy who tries to get some headstart on climbing a cliff by making a straight jump up, grab a handhold and start climbing, is that possible? If so, what am I looking at in terms of checks?

[Ciaran Barnes]

Vertical jumps are very difficult, so the "head start" would be a small enough distance to ignore.

I like playing characters that jump and climb so this sounds fun. Make sure the terrain allows for these skills to shine, such as scaffolding, several small boats at the pier, or a building falling apart. Even a 10 foot jump is enough to scare a low level wizard or armored cleric.

[Cyberwolf2xs]

Hmm. Since getting up from prone is a move action, I think you could assume pulling yourself up a ledge also is. It probably doesn't need a roll, just check carrying capacity.

In order to make an AoO, you have to threaten the square (or better: cube, as we are talking about threedimensional combat here) your potential target leaves. So, if someone stands up on the ledge and has a weapon (or IUS like your monks do), yeah, he can make an AoO against someone climbing up.

Against PCs, I'd use something with a climb speed so that you can always take 10.
In addition, the Nimble Moves and Acrobatic Steps allow you to ignore 15 ft of difficult terrain per round.

[cmastah]

Thanks for your tips guys, I also found a feat that's PERFECT for monks, it allows them to move up flat surfaces and move along the ceiling like spider climb (though I don't remember the prerequisites).