Movement - Athletics & Climbing: This skill is focused on raw physical power and endurance. You are a master of climbing, swimming, and other athletic feats, able to scale sheer cliffs, swim through raging rapids, and run for miles without breaking a sweat. You are also skilled in using tools like ropes, grappling hooks, and pitons to aid your ascent. Whether you're scaling a mountain, diving into a raging river, or running a marathon, your athletic abilities make you a force to be reckoned with.
Your body is a weapon, honed to perfection through years of intense training and discipline. Your muscles are like steel cables, capable of supporting your weight and propelling you forward with incredible speed and agility. You can run, and climb like a superhero, in addition to raw physical power, you also have the mental fortitude to keep going no matter what.
You can push through pain, exhaustion, and fear, relying on your instincts and training to guide you through even the most perilous situations. You are a force to be reckoned with, a true master of movement and athleticism.
Each athletic challenge will have a difficulty rating based on the physical demands, environmental conditions, distance or height involved, and time pressure. The more strenuous the activity and hazardous the conditions, the higher the difficulty.
When you attempt to climb surfaces, swim through water, run long distances, lift heavy objects, perform feats of strength, or maintain physical endurance, you will make a Movement - Athletics & Climbing skill check against the task's difficulty rating. The GM may apply Boons or Banes based on factors such as equipment quality, weather conditions, physical exhaustion, or terrain hazards.
Rather than spending skill points to move up skill levels, you may instead spend skill points to purchase any of the following tricks.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: Your grip strength is exceptional. Once per operation, you can maintain a handhold or grip that would be impossible for others - hanging from a ledge one-handed while firing a weapon, holding onto a speeding vehicle, or catching a falling ally. You automatically succeed on grip checks and can hold on for up to 1 minute before fatigue sets in.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You can push your running speed to the limit. Once per operation, you can sprint at 150% normal speed for up to 1 minute. This explosive burst of speed allows you to catch fleeing targets, escape pursuing enemies, or cover ground incredibly fast. After the sprint, you're winded but not exhausted.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You can run for extended periods without fatigue. Once per operation, you can run for up to 4 hours at a steady pace without needing rest. Your cardiovascular conditioning is exceptional - you can maintain speed that would exhaust others within minutes. This allows long-distance pursuits, marathon escapes, or covering vast terrain on foot.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You can climb sheer surfaces without ropes or safety equipment. Once per rest, you can free solo climb any surface - rock faces, building exteriors, cliffs - using only your skill and strength. You gain a +1d8 Boon to climbing checks and can ascend at normal climbing speed. One slip could be fatal, but your confidence and technique make that unlikely.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You can swim through challenging water conditions with exceptional strength and technique. Once per rest, you gain a +1d8 Boon to swimming checks and can swim at 150% normal speed. You can power through rough water, strong currents, or storm conditions that would drown others. You can also hold your breath for twice as long as normal.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You can make explosive dynamic moves while climbing - jumping from one hold to another, lunging for distant grips, or launching yourself up the rock face. Once per rest, when climbing, you can make a dynamic leap to reach holds that would otherwise be unreachable. Add +1d8 to your climbing check for this spectacular move. Observers will be amazed.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: You can perform one feat of strength that seems superhuman. Once per mission, you can lift, push, pull, or carry twice what should be physically possible - holding up a collapsing ceiling while others escape, ripping a security door off its hinges, throwing a vehicle, or carrying multiple people to safety. For this one moment, your strength is legendary.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: Your physical endurance becomes limitless. For one extended challenge (a marathon run, an all-night climb, swimming across an ocean channel, or similar endurance trial), you cannot be stopped by fatigue, pain, or physical exhaustion. You keep going no matter what, pushing through barriers that would break others. You complete the task, no matter how long it takes.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: You achieve the absolute peak of human athletic capability. For one mission, all your athletic abilities function at superhuman levels - you climb like Spider-Man, swim like an Olympic champion, run like a world-record sprinter, and demonstrate strength that seems impossible. You automatically succeed on all athletic checks during this mission unless facing truly impossible challenges. You are the pinnacle of human physical achievement.
Each training regimen grants a stacking Boon to Movement - Athletics rolls in that specialty:
Boons apply when:
Training regimens provide practical advantages:
GM Note: Training regimens require ongoing maintenance. Skip training for a month and benefits degrade.
Training regimens require consistent practice:
"Spider" Chen develops climbing excellence:
Special forces maintain peak fitness: