5e rules on vaulting?

[therealkimona]

Hi!
I just went down a rabbit hole concerning my monk, staves and all the possible fun, and couldn‘t find any hard rules for fifth edition on doing a pole vault.
Are there any and if so could you please point me in the right direction book-wise? If no, and because I’m interested, how would you deal with this? Just adapt the 3.5 rules (from dragon compendium) and turn it into a feat?

[Man_Over_Game]

There are no rules for Vaulting, or anything similar.

There's probably two ways you can go about it:

Treat your Step of the Wind feature as a vault (as it increases your jump range and provides other movement-related benefits)

Add an Acrobatics/Athletics check somewhere. I'd probably say it takes a bonus action to vault, and increases your jump height or distance by 1 foot for every point above 10. If you hit 10 or less, you fail the vault and provoke an Opportunity Attack from adjacent enemies. If you hit 5 or less, the same thing happens and you fall prone.

[NecessaryWeevil]

I wouldn't make it a feat. 3.5 required a feat for almost everything up to tying your shoes, but every character received multiple feats. 5E feats are much rarer and thus more valuable.

[Man_Over_Game]

I wouldn't make it a feat. 3.5 required a feat for almost everything up to tying your shoes, but every character received multiple feats. 5E feats are much rarer and thus more valuable.

Agreed. A feat is worth about 2/3 worth of features of a player level in 5E. Compare Magic Initiate to 1 level into Druid, or Barbarian level 9 (Brutal Critical, +1 damage during Rage) vs. Great Weapon Master.

If there WAS a feat, it roughly has to be as good as almost the level 1 features of a class.

[lunaticfringe]

Monks imx usually take Acrobatics or Athletics so I'd just make this a check. You are trying to attempt something. Pole vaulting 10ft, I probably wouldn't bother. If you didn't have Acrobatics or Athletics I might treat your staff as a tool you are proficient with If I was feeling generous.

If you want hard, concrete rules & specific distances laid down you need to speak with your DM.

[Bubzors]

As a DM I would just make it an athletic check, then set a DC depending on environment, distance you are trying to vault and if it's in combat or not. No need for anything complicated like a feat or in depth rules. Which is what I love about 5e

[Unoriginal]

Hi!
I just went down a rabbit hole concerning my monk, staves and all the possible fun, and couldn‘t find any hard rules for fifth edition on doing a pole vault.
Are there any and if so could you please point me in the right direction book-wise? If no, and because I’m interested, how would you deal with this? Just adapt the 3.5 rules (from dragon compendium) and turn it into a feat?

I would treat it as a normal "use a STR (Athletics) check to increase jump distance", but with an advantage if you have an appropriate pole.

With a normal quarterstaff, though, it'd mostly be fluffing your jump without advantage.

People tend to underestimate just fluffing your actions.

[therealkimona]

Yeah, I guess you‘re all very right. I am overthinking this one... It didn’t even occur to me to just fluff it...

[ClearlyTough69]

No need for a feat. As others have said, use the rules for jumping in the PHB (p 182) as the basis for a ruling on this.

I would rule it like this:

No action required: the vault is part of your movement. Make a run up at least three times the length of the pole you are using (you can take the Dash action to get enough movement) and make a Strength (Athletics) check. The DC is the length of the pole you are using. If you succeed you can vault over or on to an object or surface as high as the length of the pole. If you vault over an object and descend more than 10 feet on to a surface on the other side of the object, make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to land on your feet on the other side (the DC is the distance you descend); otherwise you take falling damage and fall prone on the other side. If you vault on to a surface you land prone unless your Strength (Athletics) check exceeds the DC by 5, in which case you land on your feet.

To keep the pole in your hand at the end of the vault, make a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check; otherwise the pole falls to the ground where you planted it to make the vault.

If you fail the vault DC by less than 5 you land in a position of your choice a pole's length away from where you planted your pole, on this side of the object you were vaulting. If you fail by less than 10, you fall prone where you planted your pole and the pole falls to the ground in the same position; if your pole is more than 10 feet long you take falling damage. If you also fail by 10 or more, the pole breaks.

You can vault higher than the length of the pole, up to your height, but each extra foot increases the DC by 1. Making a run up less than three times the length of the pole you are using increases the DC by 1 for each foot the run up is shorter.

[Greywander]

Here's what I would do:

Long Jump
Roll damage with your staff (1d8 + DEX mod) and add that to the total distance you can jump. Otherwise, its the same as the normal jump rules.

High Jump
Either the same as above, roll damage and add that to total jump height or the rules already allow the DM to offer you an Athletics check to jump higher than normal, using the staff to pole vault gives you advantage on that check.

Obviously, ask your DM and see what they want to do, but it doesn't hurt to present a few options for them. Make sure to start with the most broken and overpowered options, so that the other options appear reasonable by comparison.

[Tanarii]

Mostly IMX/IMC monk quarterstaff combat "vaulting" is just normal automatic-distance Jumps, or Step of the Wind ones, that are described as something similar to a combat jump-assist, usually as part of the movement leading up to an attack. I've never had a request to go further than the normal automatic distance due to using a quarterstaff, which surprises me because players love trying to eke out a mechanical advantage. :smallamused: But that's probably because the distances PCs can jump without a check are huge, and more so for a monk.

On short reflection, it seems like actual pole vaulting would need a pole with significant length and completely replace the (already significant) distances PCs can automatically jump. It's considerably different action from merely assisting a jump, and should probably replace it based on length of the pole, not increase it.


I would treat it as a normal "use a STR (Athletics) check to increase jump distance", but with an advantage if you have an appropriate pole.My first inclination on reading the OP was using a tool for jump-assistance for longer jumps was to say "lower the DC", but I like your idea of advantage more. That's a bonus on the side of the "actor", instead of a penalty to the side of the "challenge".



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As a side note, I went and looked back at the AD&D thief-acrobat. From levels 6-20:
They could:
- pole vault over something 9-16ft high using a 10ft pole, or land on top of something half that height.
- running broad jump 9-20 ft.

In other words, a Str 10 5e character can jump as far as Level 6 jumping specialist could in 1e, and a 20 Str char can go as far as a extremely high level one. :smallamused: