Climbing: budget movement before making a check
A climbing route has a movement cost even when no check is needed. A difficult surface can add a check at the GM’s option; success does not itself make the climb cost no movement.
Use it at the table
- Without using a Climb Speed, budget two feet of movement for each foot climbed.
- In Difficult Terrain, the climbing cost is three feet of movement per foot.
- A slippery surface or few handholds may call for DC 15 Strength (Athletics), as the GM decides.
Make the call
A character without a Climb Speed has 30 feet of movement and climbs an ordinary wall. No check or other effect changes the climb. How far can that movement take them?
The ruling
15 feet, because each foot climbed costs two feet of movement.
Each foot of climbing costs its normal foot plus one extra foot. Thirty feet therefore pays for fifteen feet of climbing. A Climb Speed used for the climb would remove that extra climbing cost. A check on a slippery surface is a separate issue from paying for the distance.
Watch for this mistake
Do not charge three additional feet in Difficult Terrain. The wording says two extra feet, for a total cost of three feet per foot climbed.
Ask the table
Which movement mode is being used, and what is the total cost per foot on this surface?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, pages 178–179. Read the official PDF.
While you’re climbing, each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in Difficult Terrain). You ignore this extra cost if you have a Climb Speed and use it to climb. At the GM’s option, climbing a slippery surface or one with few handholds might require a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check.
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.