I've had players ask me from time to time about swinging on ropes to board ships as opposed to climbing a boarding line or swimming across and climbing the side of the boat. It's a pretty basic concept, but surprisingly Pathfinder has no rules whatsoever for it. I am trying to develop a way to do it that has some downsides so it doesn't completey over shadow other methods. Looking for feedback.
Step 1. Move to edge of ship. Throw grapple into rigging as a standard action. Should this be AC 5? I don't know how many range increments it should be to hit something in the rigging. Maybe 50 ft.?
Step 2. DC 15 climb check to mount the rope and swing as a move action. Fail by <4 equals go no where, movement lost. Fail by >4, PC falls in the water. Use a die corresponding to the number of sqaures between the ships to determine where he lands. Should this be limited by character's movement speed? I think that seems artificial for what it's doing and defeats the purpose of the tactic of getting over faster so I say no. Making this a climb check instead of an acrobatics necessitates stowing weapons to use all hands and makes it interruptible by a readied action from enemies. If a character takes damage in his swing, DC 10 reflex save to keep from falling just like climbing rules. This also allows for a Rope of Climbing to be used for assistance here.
Step 2. As a second move action, make an acrobatics check to make sure you stick the landing. Failing means you still land on the ship but fall prone. What's a fair DC for this acrobatics check? Maybe 17? Should this be part of the same move action as the climb check or a separate move action?
Step 3. Draw weapon as a move. Attack. If fallen, stand up as a move, draw weapon as a move, attack next turn.