{"id":2996,"date":"2022-09-20T14:25:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T21:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/?p=2996"},"modified":"2025-04-27T18:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T01:04:10","slug":"dd-5e-rules-athletics-and-acrobatics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/2022\/09\/dd-5e-rules-athletics-and-acrobatics.html","title":{"rendered":"D&#038;D 5e\/5.5e Rules &#8211; Athletics and Acrobatics!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2984\" src=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules-300x196.webp\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules-300x196.webp 300w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules-650x425.webp 650w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules-768x502.webp 768w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules-1200x784.webp 1200w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules.webp 1300w\" alt=\"Know the Rules\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" \/><em><a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/2022\/09\/dd-5e-rules-a-prologue.html\">Part of an ongoing series of <strong>5e (2014)<\/strong> Rules notes.<\/a>\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #800000;\">See the end of the post for notes on <strong>5.5e (2024)<\/strong> rules.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Part of the confusion is &#8230; they are sometimes interchangeable, mechanically. But let&#8217;s first talk about the differences.<\/p>\n<h1>Strength (Athletics)<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/5e.d20srd.org\/srd\/skills\/usingEachAbility.htm#athletics:~:text=Athletics.%20Your%20Strength%20(Athletics)%20check%20covers%20difficult%20situations%20you%20encounter%20while%20climbing%2C%20jumping%2C%20or%20swimming.\"><em>Succeeding in difficult situations while climbing, jumping, swimming, or other physical exertions.<\/em><\/a> E.g.,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Climbing a cliff, or clinging to one while someone is trying to knock you off.<\/li>\n<li>Jumping a long distance, or pulling a stunt mid-jump.<\/li>\n<li>Struggling to swim or stay afloat in treacherous currents, or with something trying to interfere with you.<\/li>\n<li>Forcing your way through something in your way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Dexterity (Acrobatics)<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/5e.d20srd.org\/srd\/skills\/usingEachAbility.htm#athletics:~:text=Acrobatics.%20Your%20Dexterity%20(Acrobatics)%20check%20covers%20your%20attempt%20to%20stay%20on%20your%20feet%20in%20a%20tricky%20situation\"><em>Staying on your feet in a tricky situation.<\/em><\/a> E.g.,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Running on a sheet of ice.<\/li>\n<li>Balancing on a tightrope.<\/li>\n<li>Staying upright on a rocking ship deck.<\/li>\n<li>Performing acrobatic stunts (dives, rolls, somersaults, flips, tumbles)<\/li>\n<li>Avoiding damage when falling. [Old school D&amp;D, but <em>not<\/em> in 5e]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Using Athletics vs Acrobatics<\/h1>\n<p>In many way, you can narratively figure out which one makes sense, and different characters might use one or the other for the same action.\u00a0\u00a0Consider how Aragorn (an Athlete) would do something, vs. how Legolas (an Acrobat) would do it. A crowd of orcs to get past? Aragorn bulls his way through, while Legolas tumbles and leaps and dodges past, but the final effect is the same.<\/p>\n<p>In a couple of cases in the rules there are explicit options as to which you can\u00a0 use.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/5e.d20srd.org\/srd\/combat\/MakinganAttack.htm#:~:text=Grappling,Strength%20(Athletics)%20check.\"><strong>Grappling<\/strong><\/a>: The Grappler rolls an <em>Athletics<\/em> check vs. the Grapplee rolling either with either <em>Athletics<\/em> (think &#8220;breaking free&#8221;) or <em>Acrobatics<\/em> (&#8220;slippling free&#8221;). If the Grapple succeeds, the Grapplee can repeat the contest as their action on their turn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/5e.d20srd.org\/srd\/combat\/MakinganAttack.htm#:~:text=for%20improvising%20others.-,Shoving%20a%20Creature,the%20target%20prone%20or%20push%20it%205%20feet%20away%20from%20you.,-The%20Hypertext%20d20\">Shoving<\/a><\/strong>: Same as Grappling, only with a push-back or push-down as the result.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the two skills are also quite different, something blurred by the Real Life fact that most Acrobats are also Athletes, and many Athletes have Acrobatic skills. People often think of Gymnastics as acrobatic (rolls and tumbles, and amazing acts on the balance beam). But those activities are also highly athletic. As has been commented, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/DnD\/comments\/6nv49b\/atheltics_vs_acrobatics_how_interchangeable_are\/#PostBadges--Archived--t3_6nv49b:~:text=raw%20athleticism%20that%20lets%20them%20climb,it%20gracefully%20or%20maintain%20their%20balance\">Raw athleticism lets them climb things and jump through the air. It&#8217;s being acrobatic that allows them to do it gracefully or maintain their balance.<\/a>&#8221; Or, as another person put it, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/DnD\/comments\/6nv49b\/atheltics_vs_acrobatics_how_interchangeable_are\/#CommentTopMeta--Created--t1_dkcgl4d:~:text=Athletics%20is%20when%20you're%20going%20up%2C%20and%20Acrobatics%20is%20when%20you're%20coming%20down.\">Athletics is when you&#8217;re going up, and Acrobatics is when you&#8217;re coming down.<\/a>&#8221; The gymnast&#8217;s leap from the balance beam is clearly <em>Strength (Athletics)<\/em>, but sticking the landing is <em>Dexterity (Acrobatics)<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Or if gymnastics isn&#8217;t your thing, consider a parkour routine; there are clearly both STR and DEX things going on there. (And CON, and INT, if not WIS, for that matter.)<\/p>\n<p>To complicate things further, Abilities and Skills are not fixed in their combination. One can imagine a <em>Strength (Acrobatics)<\/em> roll being legitimately allowed, or a <em>Dexterity (Athletics)<\/em>. Indeed, there is technically in 5e no such thing as a Skill check; everything is an Ability check, potentially modified by proficiency in a given Skill set.)<\/p>\n<p>No huge conclusions here, just an observation about similarities and differences and what the fundamentals of two ambiguously-named skill sets are. Again, using the guidelines described above as guard rails, narratively figure out what it is that you&#8217;re doing. And, of course, note that both of these skills are good candidates for an occasional invocation of the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/rpgmuseum.fandom.com\/wiki\/Rule_of_cool\">Rule of Cool<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h1>A House Rule<\/h1>\n<p>As noted above, in previous editions of D&amp;D, <em>Acrobatics<\/em> could help save you from a fall by reducing its damage. That was explicitly left out of 5e, so I&#8217;m reluctant to re-insert it.<\/p>\n<p>I would house-rule, though, that a successful <em>Dexterity (Acrobatics)<\/em> role might keep you from going prone after a fall, vs a DC equal to the damage you took (stick the landing!).<\/p>\n<h5>Bonus OneD&amp;D Note:<\/h5>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-2974\" src=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/onedd-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/onedd-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/onedd-100x100.png 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 85vw, 150px\" \/><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>(Not so fast! Things changed after that first play test. See below.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><del>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/onedd.png\">Character Generation playtest document<\/a>,\u00a0Grappling and Shoving are now part of the <em>Unarmed Strike<\/em> action &#8212; hit the target with an Unarmed Strike (D20 + STR mod + Proficiency) vs their AC.<\/del><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><del>If you were going for a Grapple, the target becomes Grappled, with a STR or DEX check each turn vs a DC of (8 + STR Mod + Proficiency) to break free.<\/del><\/li>\n<li><del>If you were going for a Shove, you succeed.<\/del><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><del>This reduces the number of contests, but also reduces the use of <em>Athletics<\/em> and <em>Acrobatics<\/em>.<\/del><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #800000;\">So, any changes in 5.5e?<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/dnd-55-2024-logo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4197\" src=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/dnd-55-2024-logo-208x300.png\" alt=\"dnd 5.5\/2024\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/dnd-55-2024-logo-208x300.png 208w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/dnd-55-2024-logo.png 215w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 208px) 85vw, 208px\" \/><\/a>A bit.\u00a0<a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dndbeyond.com\/sources\/dnd\/br-2024\/playing-the-game#SkillList\">5.5e (2024) now defines<\/a> <strong>Athletics<\/strong> as a pertaining to checks to<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Jump farther than normal, stay afloat in rough water, or break something.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Acrobatics<\/strong> is defined as the skill to<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Stay on your feet in a tricky situation, or perform an acrobatic stunt.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Also, in keeping with some of the initial playtest documents, these two skills have been made less essential, as part of 5.5e (2024)&#8217;s dislike of skill contests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">The most fundamental change is that Athletics (and sometimes Acrobatics) no longer play a role in <strong>Grappling<\/strong> and <strong>Shoving<\/strong>. Which seems a bit weird, to be honest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Both of those are considered part of the Unarmed Strikes category of attacks.\u00a0 The initial &#8220;to hit&#8221; is an Unarmed Strike against their AC. Then, to judge what the &#8220;damage&#8221; (effect) is, rather than doing an Athletics vs. Athletics\/Acrobatics contest as 5e did, the <em>target<\/em> must make a<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>STRength or DEXterity Save<\/em> (their choice)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\"> vs. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\">DC =<em> (8 + shover&#8217;s STRength mod + shover&#8217;s Proficiency Bonus)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">If the target fails, then on a <strong>Grapple<\/strong> they are grappled, and on a <strong>Shove<\/strong> they are shoved back five feet or knocked Prone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">There is still no canonical use of either skill to mitigate <a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dndbeyond.com\/sources\/dnd\/br-2024\/rules-glossary#FallingHazard\"><strong>Falling<\/strong> damage<\/a> or its resulting Prone status, but you can use either as a Reaction, against a DC 15, to land head or feet first in liquid (like water) and take only half damage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\">As in 5e, when taking a Long <strong>Jump<\/strong>, a DC 10 <em>Acrobatics<\/em> roll is needed if you land in Difficult Terrain and want to avoid going Prone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two valuable skills that sometimes get confused.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,44,78],"tags":[47,46,50],"class_list":["post-2996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-onedd","category-dd","category-dd-5e-rules","tag-dnd5e","tag-onednd","tag-rules"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2996"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4225,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996\/revisions\/4225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}