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Under the Climb skill it states the following:
You need both hands free to climb, but you may cling to a wall with one hand while you cast a spell or take some other action that requires only one hand. While climbing, you can't move to avoid a blow, so you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). You also can't use a shield while climbing. Anytime you take damage while climbing, make a Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall from your current height and sustain the appropriate falling damage.
Let's say that a character is hanging from a 90 degree ledge such as an edge of a pit or cliff (handhold only; no foothold). Instead of climbing up, he is trying to maintain his position.
From the passage above, it appears that no climb check is needed for the character to maintain his position. I can understand that no climb check would be needed if the character had a foothold and at least one handhold, but I would think that a check would be needed when only using hands.
I would also look to apply this to characters who swing on ropes.
Does anyone know if there are any more detailed climbing rules outside the core rulebook?
FYI, I am asking as a GM so I can fairly adjudicate situations with one of my players whose character is a skilled at climbing and acrobatics (a bit of a parkourist).
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Although I do not know of any more detailed climbing rules, I would think that you would still need to make a climb check to "hold" your position.
However, the plus side to that is this: if you fail the DC by 4 or less, then you still maintain your position as you make no progress but you do not fall either.
Strictly speaking, I don't think the rules require you to make a climb check to simply hold your position, even with one hand:
With a successful Climb check, you can [/b]advance up, down, or across[/b] a slope, wall, or other steep incline
and
(or even across a ceiling, provided it has handholds) at one-quarter your normal speed.
and
You need both hands free to climb, but you may cling to a wall with one hand while you cast a spell or take some other action that requires only one hand.
Based on this you need to make a climb check to advance, and you only need handholds (no footholds required, though not having footholds seems to rule out the lower DC options in the table).
So a character dangling from a handhold and not advancing is not required to make a check. Presumably he could hang from one hand all day, all week, until he falls sleep from the exhaustion rules, or possibly when he begins taking damage from hunger or thirst (but he can use one hand to eat and drink if he brought supplies with him).
Silly, but it seems to be RAW.
Dipping into the houserules realm, I would at the very least I would apply the mechanic from the Swim skill that you need to roll a check every hour to avoid taking exhaustion damage, but shrink the time interval to every minute since it's harder to dangle from a ledge than it is to swim. Of course, every time the character takes non-lethal damage this way, a climb check is needed to avoid falling.
I would really give it a lot of thought based on the ledge.
It is a lot easier to stay in a tree than it is to climb one. A lot of rock walls would be the same.
If it is a rough surface, like a natural rock wall (not a pretty smooth one) then wedging a bit of gear into place or locking a leg into a crevice shouldn't be too difficult. If one is trying to attach themselves to a 90' surface or hang over the edge by just their hands, I would imagine a check would be in order.
Casting a spell while hanging by one hand has no concentration check (the measure of extra difficulty to cast a spell due to external factors). Why then require a climb check for doing nothing?
Being in a position as a climber/parkour type is boring. They want to be moving a lot. This means plenty of checks. No need to add any not called for by RAW.
/cevah
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I think that there are some good insights here. The main reason for my question was that if Paizo HAD some rules somewhere, it would be nice to see what THEY came up with. After all, their rules would already have some sort of balance with the rest of the system. RAW is great if it covers a situation...but if it does not, then time to use that GM creativity.
After some thought, I also don't think a Climb Check is reasonable when you are simply hanging from a ledge by your hands unless you are hanging there for some time. The only hiccup that occurs is that Pathfinder really does not have mechanics for short-term exertion between 5 minutes and an hour. I do like using the mechanics for holding breath as a model if needed, but I doubt it will come up much (if at all).
Anyway, thanks guys.
Generally, a character would make a Climb check and get back on solid ground. Specifics aide, we will assume that the player can not or will not ascend the ledge. Assign a DC based on how difficult you think it is to hold on. Perhaps four hand/foot holds equates a DC 5 Climb check while three points of contact equates DC 10, but hanging by one hand is a bit tougher. Vary the difficulty as you see fit based on the situation, not the capability of the character.
Part of what makes you the game master that your players know is the stories you tell and the characters you portray. But, another part is the heroic deeds they can undertake in your stories. When a character tries something crazy, then letting the dice decide their fate - and I don't mean situations where the player knows both the DC and their bonus - means allowing a fighting chance. Sure, the barbarian or rogue has a great chance of holding on, but the wizard who has run out of spells and laying his life on the line might deserve the honor of a 50/50 chance.