[DEX] BALANCE [ARMOUR CHECK]

Balance (Dex; Armor Check Penalty)
Check

You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. A failure by 4 or less means you can’t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the surface, as follows:
Narrow Surface Balance DC1 Difficult Surface Balance DC1
7–12 inches wide 10 Uneven flagstone 102
2–6 inches wide 15 Hewn stone floor 102
Less than 2 inches wide 20 Sloped or angled floor 102

1. Add modifiers from Narrow Surface Modifiers, below, as appropriate.
2. Only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can’t run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.

Epic Surface DC
1–2 inches wide 20
Up to 1 inch wide 40
Hair-thin 60
Liquid1 90
Cloud 120

1. Includes any other surface that couldn’t support the character’s weight, such as a fragile branch.

Narrow Surface Modifiers

Surface DC Modifier1
Lightly obstructed +2
Severely obstructed +5
Lightly slippery +2
Severely slippery +5
Sloped or angled +2

1. Add the appropriate modifier to the Balance DC of a narrow surface. These modifiers stack.

Being Attacked while Balancing

You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can’t move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). If you have 5 or more ranks in Balance, you aren’t considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing.
Accelerated Movement

You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a –5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. (Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Balance checks, one for each move action used.) You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Balance check for each multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof ) that you charge.
Action

None. A Balance check doesn’t require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
Special

If you have the Agile feat, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.
Synergy

If you have 5 or more ranks in Tumble, you get a +2 bonus on Balance checks.