I sat down and made a Merfolk awhile back, and gave him a glance over to make sure everything was correct. I noticed his Swim skill was awfully low.
Do creatures with a Swim speed get a bonus to Swim, similar to Climb Speeds with Climb?
The only actual reference to the "standard" bonus I could locate was from the Touch of the Sea spell.
You cause webs to grow between the target's fingers and its feet to transform into flippers, granting a swim speed of 30 feet along with the standard +8 bonus on Swim checks and the ability to take 10 even if distracted or endangered.
Swim Speed A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.
Silly me. The one place I didn't look. Thanks Carl!
My pleasure, happy to help!
There ARE instances where you get a swim speed without the bonus but those are anomalies that are spelled out in the ability. [example skill unlock: swim 10 ranks] Otherwise CampinCarl9127 is spot on.
Hard to be wrong when I did nothing but quote directly from the CRB :P
Hard to be wrong when I did nothing but quote directly from the CRB :P
LOL I wasn't trying to be difficult, just letting the OP know he might run into a situation at some point that doesn't follow the standard: ie, there are examples of swim speed without the bonuses. Nothing more or less was intended.
Hard to be wrong when I did nothing but quote directly from the CRB :PLOL I wasn't trying to be difficult, just letting the OP know he might run into a situation at some point that doesn't follow the standard: ie, there are examples of swim speed without the bonuses. Nothing more or less was intended.
I'm just a grognard who wanted it all to be presented for him straightforward. I think in 3.5, they may have reminded you about the +8 bonus for a natural climb swim speed. It makes sense to save some word count by just putting it next to the Skill itself.
I forgot all about that skill unlock. That's kind of funny.