This is a very long writeup of the paradrop (parachutes and grav chutes) use for the tumble skill.
Tumble (Dex)
Paradrop (New Use): Airborne insertions are a powerful military tool for inserting soldiers behind enemy lines for scouting, surprise raids, and special operations. In modern warfare, heavily fortified positions can be bypassed, encircled, and defeated with far less casualties than were taken in past conflicts. This skill allows a character to land precisely where she wishes to, and also allows parachuting under less than ideal conditions (from a very fast-moving craft, a low-flying craft and so forth). This skill also covers preparing equipment to be dropped. Characters without the Jump School feat take a –4 on any Tumble skill check made during a paradrop attempt (both the skill check to land on target and any skill check required to avoid damage).
Failing this check means the character lands 100 yards off target for every two points by which his roll missed the DC. Failing a check by more than 5 means the character has landed somewhere dangerous (depending on the situation, a dangerous landing could be in proximity to enemy soldiers, power lines, dense foliage, etc).
Failing the check from a high speed or low altitude insertion results in 1-4 points of damage per 2 points by which the character missed the DC (in addition to possibly landing off target, and landing somewhere dangerous). The character may attempt either a Reflex save (DC 20), or a Tumble check (DC 15) to reduce this damage by half.
While in freefall, or hanging from a parachute, characters may guide their flight path toward a landing zone by making a Pilot check, with the Vehicle Operations (un-powered aircraft) and Zero-G training feats adding bonuses to this check.
Forces on the ground need to roll a Spot check (DC 10) to detect incoming paratroopers 1-6 rounds (50-300 ft) before landing. Paratroopers in the air are extremely vulnerable to enemy fire, being treated as flat-footed both while in the air, and for 1-4 rounds after they land (while the soldiers get free of their heavy parachute riggings). A successful Paradrop skill (DC 15) will allow a character to get clear of his riggings in the minimum time (1 round).
For these reasons, soldiers will only be dropped into a hostile landing zone when absolutely necessary. Often Special Operations forces will be sent in first, to make sure an area is secure (neutralizing any enemy forces encountered) before more conventional troops parachute in.
The following uses of the Tumble skill may not be used at all by characters without the Jump School feat:
BASE (New Use): BASE is an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth, jumping off fixed items rather than from a flying craft. Usual jumps are between 75 meters and a few hundred meters. While not a standard tactic of covert military operations, many extreme sport fanatics perform BASE jumping regularly.
HALO (New Use): For special operations, the HALO, or High Altitude Low Opening method of deployment is considered the ideal. Troops are dropped from extreme altitude, making the presence of aircraft harder to detect. The soldiers so deployed then wait until they are extremely low before deploying their parachutes. HALO landings are only spotted by forces on the ground on a Spot check of 20 or higher, and if a HALO drop is spotted, forces on the ground only have 1-2 rounds during which to attack the incoming Paratroopers.
LALO (New Use): LALO, or Low Altitude Low Opening method of deployment is also very popular, used when aircraft must come in under the radar of a potentially hostile group, or to avoid a diplomatic incident. LALO insertions are risky, as the soldiers are pulled from the craft, their chute opens, and they hit the ground, all in under a minute. On a LALO jump, characters receive 2d6 points of nonlethal damage from the stress and impacts of the jump (if they fail their paradrop skill check the damage inflicted above is added to this nonlethal damage as well).
HAHO (New Use): HAHO or High Altitude, High Opening is another covert insertion procedure. The soldiers jump from a commercial airliner at altitude or starship on landing approach and open their parachutes immediately, relying on their small size to avoid notice by airspace control systems. Because the HAHO drops spend longer with their parachutes open, they can go much further from the jump point to the drop point.
Exo-atmospheric jumps (New Use): This is skydiving from the edge of space, starting at 20km or more. The skydiver requires a space suit with life support system in addition to the parachutes. Note, this is not jumping from orbit, just orbital height. The human body cannot withstand the effects of aerobraking from orbital velocity (about 27,000kph).
Table 6 2: Paradrop skill difficulty table
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Sample Actions DC
Land within 100 feet of target 15
Land within 100 yards of target 10
Land within one mile of target 5
Paradrop equipment 20
Clear riggings in 1 round 15
HALO +5
LALO +5
BASE +5
HAHO +5
Exo-Atmospheric +5
Moderate wind +5
Strong Wind +10
Severe Wind +20
Windstorm strength winds +30
Hurricane strength winds +40
Moderate ground clutter (some trees or structures) +5
Heavy ground clutter (light forest, town) +10
Dense ground clutter (heavy forest, city) +15
Suicidal ground clutter (power substation, wind farm) +20</pre>[/QUOTE]Special: Characters with 5 or more ranks in Jump receive a +2 Synergy bonus on Paradrop checks.
Tumble (Dex)
Paradrop (New Use): Airborne insertions are a powerful military tool for inserting soldiers behind enemy lines for scouting, surprise raids, and special operations. In modern warfare, heavily fortified positions can be bypassed, encircled, and defeated with far less casualties than were taken in past conflicts. This skill allows a character to land precisely where she wishes to, and also allows parachuting under less than ideal conditions (from a very fast-moving craft, a low-flying craft and so forth). This skill also covers preparing equipment to be dropped. Characters without the Jump School feat take a –4 on any Tumble skill check made during a paradrop attempt (both the skill check to land on target and any skill check required to avoid damage).
Failing this check means the character lands 100 yards off target for every two points by which his roll missed the DC. Failing a check by more than 5 means the character has landed somewhere dangerous (depending on the situation, a dangerous landing could be in proximity to enemy soldiers, power lines, dense foliage, etc).
Failing the check from a high speed or low altitude insertion results in 1-4 points of damage per 2 points by which the character missed the DC (in addition to possibly landing off target, and landing somewhere dangerous). The character may attempt either a Reflex save (DC 20), or a Tumble check (DC 15) to reduce this damage by half.
While in freefall, or hanging from a parachute, characters may guide their flight path toward a landing zone by making a Pilot check, with the Vehicle Operations (un-powered aircraft) and Zero-G training feats adding bonuses to this check.
Forces on the ground need to roll a Spot check (DC 10) to detect incoming paratroopers 1-6 rounds (50-300 ft) before landing. Paratroopers in the air are extremely vulnerable to enemy fire, being treated as flat-footed both while in the air, and for 1-4 rounds after they land (while the soldiers get free of their heavy parachute riggings). A successful Paradrop skill (DC 15) will allow a character to get clear of his riggings in the minimum time (1 round).
For these reasons, soldiers will only be dropped into a hostile landing zone when absolutely necessary. Often Special Operations forces will be sent in first, to make sure an area is secure (neutralizing any enemy forces encountered) before more conventional troops parachute in.
The following uses of the Tumble skill may not be used at all by characters without the Jump School feat:
BASE (New Use): BASE is an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth, jumping off fixed items rather than from a flying craft. Usual jumps are between 75 meters and a few hundred meters. While not a standard tactic of covert military operations, many extreme sport fanatics perform BASE jumping regularly.
HALO (New Use): For special operations, the HALO, or High Altitude Low Opening method of deployment is considered the ideal. Troops are dropped from extreme altitude, making the presence of aircraft harder to detect. The soldiers so deployed then wait until they are extremely low before deploying their parachutes. HALO landings are only spotted by forces on the ground on a Spot check of 20 or higher, and if a HALO drop is spotted, forces on the ground only have 1-2 rounds during which to attack the incoming Paratroopers.
LALO (New Use): LALO, or Low Altitude Low Opening method of deployment is also very popular, used when aircraft must come in under the radar of a potentially hostile group, or to avoid a diplomatic incident. LALO insertions are risky, as the soldiers are pulled from the craft, their chute opens, and they hit the ground, all in under a minute. On a LALO jump, characters receive 2d6 points of nonlethal damage from the stress and impacts of the jump (if they fail their paradrop skill check the damage inflicted above is added to this nonlethal damage as well).
HAHO (New Use): HAHO or High Altitude, High Opening is another covert insertion procedure. The soldiers jump from a commercial airliner at altitude or starship on landing approach and open their parachutes immediately, relying on their small size to avoid notice by airspace control systems. Because the HAHO drops spend longer with their parachutes open, they can go much further from the jump point to the drop point.
Exo-atmospheric jumps (New Use): This is skydiving from the edge of space, starting at 20km or more. The skydiver requires a space suit with life support system in addition to the parachutes. Note, this is not jumping from orbit, just orbital height. The human body cannot withstand the effects of aerobraking from orbital velocity (about 27,000kph).
Table 6 2: Paradrop skill difficulty table
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Sample Actions DC
Land within 100 feet of target 15
Land within 100 yards of target 10
Land within one mile of target 5
Paradrop equipment 20
Clear riggings in 1 round 15
HALO +5
LALO +5
BASE +5
HAHO +5
Exo-Atmospheric +5
Moderate wind +5
Strong Wind +10
Severe Wind +20
Windstorm strength winds +30
Hurricane strength winds +40
Moderate ground clutter (some trees or structures) +5
Heavy ground clutter (light forest, town) +10
Dense ground clutter (heavy forest, city) +15
Suicidal ground clutter (power substation, wind farm) +20</pre>[/QUOTE]Special: Characters with 5 or more ranks in Jump receive a +2 Synergy bonus on Paradrop checks.
