[3.5] Optimizing Jump

[Dralnu]

I want to make a character that travels by jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and is able to use his jumping ability to his advantage in combat, both when attacking and escaping. The idea came after watching an episode of CyberSix but dragoon-type characters could fit the bill too.

Beating an 80 DC jump check seems like a worthy goal, because that would mean that he could leap up two-story buildings (20ft.) without much trouble. I'd like this character to be around level 10.

I'd prefer an elegant build if possible and absolutely avoid cheese. I don't want to leap across continents and gain an army of followers when I land or anything like that. Standard wealth.

Anyone know how to pull this off?

[FelixG]

thri-kreen might be a good race to start with

[jiriku]

You are probably not hitting a DC 80 Jump DC at level 10 without homebrew (although you could do it with the revised monk in my sig). You might find it easier to play a class with swift fly on its list and use that to go from rooftop to rooftop.

[Keld Denar]

At least 4 levels of Warblade would be efficient. Lots of jumping manevuers in there, including Sudden Leap and the awesome Leaping Dragon stance.

The easiest part about optimizing jump is the +4 per 10' move speed you have above 30. There are lots of ways to increase your base movement speed, from the Quick trait to various magical items and other shananigans.

Non-psionic thri-kreen are +1 LA and 2 RHD. That means that with 4 levels of Warblade you'd have an ECL7 character with an IL of 5 when he picks up his 2nd stance. That gets you Leaping Dragon stance. That alone should put you somewhere around a +40 jump check before factoring in Str, speed, or skill ranks. You still have 3 levels to increase speed, strength, and other factors. Thanks to Leaping Dragon Stance, all jumps are ALSO considered to be running jumps.

Unfortunately, its an enhancement bonus, and thus wouldn't stack with a Potion of Jumping or Boots of Striding and Springing (although the movement speed increase from the boots would give +4 which would stack).

[Greenish]

Lots of speed boosts and Leaping Dragon Stance.

Lets see… Wildshape Ranger1/barb1/warblade2/fist of the forest3/Bloodclaw Master3?

That's +10'+10'+10'+10'=40' bonus to your speed (assuming they all stack, if wildshape ranger's doesn't stack with barb's, just take Pounce instead). Leaping Dragon Stance (you'll have to pick it up with a feat, meh) allows you to treat all jumps as running, and gives you +10-foot bonus to your jumps.

That's 13 ranks + 2 (tumble synergy) + 16 (or just 12, from speed) =31, so you can jump straight up 18' (8' + 10' from Leaping Dragon Stance) if you roll 1.

Oh, and you get Con to AC while unarmoured, so no ACP. You can use a greataxe two-handed and Unarmed Strike for TWF (without -2 penalty from TWF, adding full strength to offhand attacks), and you got some maneuvers.

[Gan The Grey]

A feat most integral to your build, this is!

Vault [Fighter, General]
While wielding a polearm, you can jump great distances.
Prerequisite: Str 13, Jump 4 ranks.
Benefit: When wielding a polearm two-handed, the DC for a long jump is reduced by 5. In addition, the DC for a high jump is equal to three times the distance to be cleared. If you jump up to grab something, you must drop the polearm to grab the target.
Normal: The DC for a high jump is equal to four times the distance to be cleared.
Location: Dragon Compendium

There is another feat that I couldn't find, but it gives you +10 to jump checks.

EDIT Ah, yes. Here it is.

Mighty Leaping [General]
You have developed your leg muscles and trained yourself to make mighty leaps.
Prerequisite: Str 21, Dodge, Mobility, jump 9 ranks or a racial bonus on Jump checks.
Benefit: You gain a +10 competence bonus on Jump checks. If you intentionally jump down from a height, a successful Jump check (DC 15) lets you take damage as if you had fallen 20 feet less than you actually did.
Special: A creature with this feat is not limited by its height when jumping.
Normal: Without this feat, a successful Jump check lets you take damage as if you had fallen 10 feet less than you actually did.
Location: Savage Species

[Elfin]

Well, Boots of Striding and Springing are a good place to start, gear-wise; they're only 5.5k, and give you not only a +5 bonus to Jump checks but a 10-foot bonus to speed, which gives you a bonus on long-distance Jump checks. Tiger Claw is also great for jumping, so consider levels in Warblade or Swordsage: in particular, Sudden Leap allows you to move distance equal to a Jump check as a swift action, while Leaping Dragon Stance gives you a significant bonus on Jump checks. If you decide to go this route, also consider getting the Battle Jump feat from Unapproachable East, if you can get your DM to waive the fluff requirement.
Whenever you can, get the party caster to cast Haste or other speed-improving spells on you on for greater Jump bonuses...a 1-level dip in normal barbarian can you get you ten extra feet of speed, but that means you'll have to forgo Lion Totem barbarian.
Oh, and don't forget that 50gp can get you a masterwork tool for Jump. It's not a particularly large bonus, but still, it's hard to beat a nearly free +2 circumstance bonus.
Finally, once you have some excess gold to spend, an Improved Ring of Jumping will grant you a +10 competence bonus: remember, though, if you're wearing the boots, the two bonuses don't stack, although you'll still benefit from improved speed.

Nonetheless, it will be quite hard to be meeting a DC80 check by level 10. But I think you know that.

Edit: Ouch. Seriously swordsage'd.

[Keld Denar]

Leaping Dragon Stance (you'll have to pick it up with a feat, meh) allows you to treat all jumps as running, and gives you +10-foot bonus to your jumps.

Are we reading the same Leaping Dragon Stance? The one I'm reading in my ToB open in front of me says "+10 enhancement bonus on jump checks" on page 88. No where does it say +10 feet on all jumps.

Just checking. I hope my copy isn't defective or something...

[Telonius]

Race: Orc, start with 18 Str, racial bonus to 22, two level bumps to 24. Total STR bonus +7.

Barbarian1/Monk9 (requires alignment shift from Chaotic to Lawful). Speed increases to +40 (10 untyped from Barbarian, 30 enhancement from Monk), giving +16 to the check.

Max ranks in jump, five ranks in Tumble, for +15.

Feats:
1 Run (+4)
3 Acrobatic (+2)
6 Leap of the Heavens (no penalty from standing)
9 Vault (DR331 p.28) DC of jump is 3x height, not 4x height

Ring of Jumping, improved: +10 competence (ovelaps +5 from Leap of Heavens), 10,000gp

Potion of Jump (spell), +10 Enhancement to Jump

Total bonus: +64
DC of 20-foot jump (from Vault): 60

Automatic success!

EDIT: Take one level of Exemplar after that, and you'll get to take 10 on jump checks, removing the need for the potion of Jump. Swap out Barbarian for Monk and you'll still have the requisite minimum 60 DC.

[Greenish]

Are we reading the same Leaping Dragon Stance? The one I'm reading in my ToB open in front of me says "+10 enhancement bonus on jump checks" on page 88. No where does it say +10 feet on all jumps.

Just checking. I hope my copy isn't defective or something...

Ah, I was consulting the maneuver cards, since they happened to be handy.

…Looking at the book, mine does read 10-foot enhancement bonus.

[Gan The Grey]

Race: Orc, start with 18 Str, racial bonus to 22, two level bumps to 24. Total STR bonus +7.

Barbarian1/Monk9 (requires alignment shift from Chaotic to Lawful). Speed increases to +40 (10 untyped from Barbarian, 30 enhancement from Monk), giving +16 to the check.

Max ranks in jump, five ranks in Tumble, for +15.

Feats:
1 Run (+4)
3 Acrobatic (+2)
6 Leap of the Heavens (no penalty from standing)
9 Vault (DR331 p.28) DC of jump is 3x height, not 4x height

Ring of Jumping, improved: +10 competence (ovelaps +5 from Leap of Heavens), 10,000gp

Potion of Jump (spell), +10 Enhancement to Jump

Total bonus: +64
DC of 20-foot jump (from Vault): 60

Automatic success!

Switch out Run and Acrobatic for Dodge and Mobility, move Vault to 6, and take Mighty Leaping at 9. This should give another +4 to your jump, and it allows to murder people as you jump past! Plus, you can now jump down off that building you jump up to without taking any damage!

EDIT Actually...I think this results in a loss of 6 points and a gain of 10K gold since you can't stack the ring with Mighty Leaping...

[gallagher]

take the feat Up The Walls so you can take advantage of the running start (assuming you dont get that stance we've been talking about).

with this feet, you run up the wall too, jump at the end. you can only travel up to your land speed in a single round, including jumps unfortunately. that means you will finish your jump on the next turn. but that isnt the important part. you are severely decreasing the amount of space you need to jump, so you can make that successful DC 60 (with the vaulting feet) stretch much further

[Shenanigans]

I'm not too familiar with ToB, but I like Telonius' Barb1/MonkX idea, although you might want to consider Goliath as a race...no need to get the running start, but you still get the speed bonus I believe.

[Person_Man]

There's a very old thread around on this using Exemplar and Jump for Diplomancy. The trick is to improve your base land speed as much as possible. For every 10 ft above 30, you get +4 to Jump.

There are tons of things that grant Jump bonuses. But you might just want to take Shape Soulmeld (Phase Cloak) and Open Lesser Chakra (Shoulders). This gives you +4 to Climb, the ability to Take 10 on Climb checks, and when you use a Move Action to move at least 5 feet you become ethereal. This allows you to move in any direction, move through solid objects (like buildings, doors, or enemies), and avoid attacks of opportunity. Although you must still end your Move action on the Material Plane - this essentially allows you to easily move from rooftop to rooftop (and through buildings) as needed, without ever making a check. And it has the added bonus of actually being useful for other things as well.

FYI, Magic of Incarnum includes a dozen different ways to buff your Jump and movement rates. Duskling Barbarian 1/Totemist 2/Whatever X has a ridiculous movement rate.

[ericgrau]

It's not at all hard to do this even without any cheese or splatbooks even.

Potion of jump +30
Ring of jumping +15 (different type so yes it stacks)
5 ranks in tumble +2
13 ranks in jump +13
Strength of 24ish +7
Boots of speed +12 (from speed)
TOTAL 79

All of that lets you use almost whatever build you please. Feats can give +3 and +2. A race with a 40' speed can get another +4. The CL 9 potion of jump is a bit pricey at 450 gp a pop. An eldritch knight casting [quickened] still jump could fix this problem, or a wand could reduce the price to only 6,750 for 50 charges (enough to last most campaigns). The ring is also expensive at 22,500 gp, but you could try a +5 or +10 ring for less money. Then try any of the feats or class levels or races suggested above to make up the difference.

[offtopic]Btw, I believe Mario is the result of abusing the jump optimization combined with falling damage rules and the ability to make your PC as fat as you want so he could one shot all his enemies. His friend liked the build so much that he made the same build, but changed the name and gave him a green outfit, so he's totally different.[/offtopic]

[NineThePuma]

There is a running joke that Thri-Kreen can jump ridiculous distances. Not sure how 'true' that is though.

[Shade Kerrin]

Well the EPH states they get a racial +30 to jump, so pretty true I guess

[Dusk Eclipse]

Well the EPH states they get a racial +30 to jump, so pretty true I guess

Also IIRC they also get 40 ft movement rate so there is a 34 bonus right there

[Wonton]

Thri-Kreen Sorcerer 1/Anything 8 with Practiced Spellcaster and a Ring of Wizardry I bunch of Memento Magicas. You can cast 4 Jumps before needing to refresh. That's a +64 without any ranks, Strength bonus, or other spells.

This build has the advantage of not needing to down costly potions all the time.
It has the disadvantage of having only 8 levels in its main class at ECL 11, when you could just be casting Overland Flight, or with a few CL boosts, riding a 240'/round Phantom Steed...

[NineThePuma]

A Thri-Kreen Limit Dragoon? (from the home brew forum)

[Forged Fury]

I want to make a character that travels by jumping from rooftop to rooftop... <snip>

I believe there is a feat tree in Cityscape that specifically deals with this method of locomotion.

Actually, two tactical feats that would probably behoove you to take (not amazingly powerful, but good flavor and fully appropriate for someone who tends to be on roofs a lot). They don't necessarily help you with jumping from roof roof, but they do give you other combat benefits when you are on a roof. Roof-Walker and Roof-Jumper

[Ranzear]

Also IIRC they also get 40 ft movement rate so there is a 34 bonus right there

I skipped town on 3.5 before Thri-Kreen were finally added, but this is exactly what I was going to chime in about since my love for them in my 2nd edition days. Glad I read the thread first. I haven't seen them in 3.5, but their racial weapons were pretty hot too.

[Dusk Eclipse]

My problem with them is the 2 RHD and the LA +2 (I like the psionic version DEAL with IT!!!)

[Sinfonian]

Ah, I was consulting the maneuver cards, since they happened to be handy.

…Looking at the book, mine does read 10-foot enhancement bonus.

As does mine.

[Draz74]

Another vote for Warblade -- it's got a lot to offer besides the Leaping Dragon Stance. Not for boosting Jump checks, but for putting them to good use.

With an IL of 7, you can get Death from Above, which does a fairly severe amount of bonus damage if you can beat your opponent's AC with a Jump check (easy). Later in the game, Swooping Dragon Strike lets you stun an opponent with a save DC equal to your Jump check (i.e. pretty much impossible), if you can physically jump all the way over them (trickier, but the build coming out of this thread shouldn't have trouble).

There are other examples, but these are the strongest two.

[Endarire]

I've done this already for Hood. See post #5.

[Wings of Peace]

Halberd of Vaulting + Thri-Kreen

[Chipp Zanuff]

Use Totemist for even higher Jump bonuses.

[Hirax]

Goliaths treat standing long jumps as though they were running long jumps. As another option, get a goliath and throttle up its speed (plenty of options already given here), and voila.

[El Dorado]

The Javelin Staff from the Animated Series Handbook gives a +5 competence (?) bonus on Jump checks.