Athletics vs Acrobatics - Comparing Skill Checks
Header Art: Pathfinder 2e Core Rulebook (2019) by Paizo Publishing
Isn’t Athletics just the Strength version of Acrobatics? I’ve heard that question at the table and on the forums. Or they’ll ask if Acrobatics is just the Dexterity version of Athletics. While I don’t think that this is a common question, I think it’s still worth saying that the two are not the same. They cover very different aspects of your physical ability and, typically, can’t be traded out for one another just cause you happen to have a higher modifier in one than the other.
Many gravitate towards using Acrobatics because they often have a higher Dexterity score than they do a Strength score, with only Barbarians, Paladins, and heavy weapon Fighters quickly asking if they can use Athletics instead. Acrobatics is about a character’s reflex, their ability to quickly move, and be lithe. Athletics, on the other hand, is about the power you have within your muscles and body, capable of crushing, pushing, or breaking things.
Acrobatics
With grace and poise, a character relies on their ability to move quickly and with sure feet. If an effect would cause them to slip, like running across ice, a character would try to use their reflexes to keep them upright and not fall over.
A character with a high Acrobatics skill would be called graceful and that they slink like a cat. They are more likely to be a wonderful dancer since it requires them to move quickly and spring from foot to foot. They could make an acrobatic stunt, flipping off a roof to avoid falling prone or taking as much damage, or they might slide through a narrow space quickly while pursuing someone in a chase.
For example, a character that is graceful and lithe means that they can keep their balance climbing a steep slope, but they still must rely on their physical strength to pull their body weight up a cliff. In such a situation, you would call for an Acrobatics check if a sudden gust of wind would knock them off the wall.
Athletics
With well-trained muscles, a character can climb steep walls, shove heavy creatures and objects, smash through walls, or swim through a raging sea.
A character with a high Athletics skill would be described by the size of their muscles, how easily they can take the lid off of jars, and that they appear physically intimidating and large. While they might not move with the quickness or ease as someone who is lithe, when they connect with their fist it is like hitting a brick wall of muscle. They could tear a treasure chest’s lid off, smash a locked down door, or barrel through a wall while running after their foe.
For example, a character that is strong means that they can easily climb and pull their body up a steep wall. They could even swim through a raging storm, but they will struggle while trying to maintain their balance while precariously perched on a rope bridge over a raging river.
Using the Two Skills
With a deeper understanding of what each skill is and how it works within the game, let’s go over a few different situations. In certain circumstances, you can come up with a way to use either skill, but in other situations, you are bound to use only one of them.
Escaping Manacles
In this example, a character is bound by manacles, perhaps to a stone wall or simply to their party members.
Our characters could either use Acrobatics to twist and contort their hands to slip out of the restraints, easily extricating themselves from the situation quietly. On the other hand, they could rely on Athletics to break the manacles apart, snapping the chain that would try to bind them, or slamming the manacles on a stone bench, breaking the manacles apart.
In this situation, a character couldn’t use the Acrobatics skill to break the manacles open, just like they couldn’t use the Athletics skill to slip out of it. In this situation, there isn’t a single right answer, but you can follow the fiction based on what they choose to do. If a character can slip out of their manacles, that doesn’t mean that they can help their party do the same and so they’ll be unable to break out their friends using Acrobatics. If a character relies on Athletics to break the manacles, they might create a lot of noise that will attract the guards, at least they will be able to break their allies out of their manacles, though will they be able to do so before the guards show up?
Climbing a Wall
If the characters are faced with climbing up or down a wall, they are going to need physical expertise on their side… or be willing to take a risk and jump.
This example features a wall and the characters must make their way over it. To climb up a wall, it will require physical strength to pull yourself, all that gear you never track the weight of on your character sheet, and anything else you are bringing along with you, like your favorite pet dinosaur named Mongo. To climb this wall, you must use Athletics as it requires strength. You can’t simply scream parkour and try to ‘flip’ up the wall over and over to get to the top. If you are too weak to pull yourself up, you’ll just have to wait until a rope is lowered and they can pull your lithe body up.
Once you get up the wall and have to make your way down, you have options. You might rely on Athletics to slowly lower yourself down the wall and climb down, but you could rely on Acrobatics to leap from the wall, scream parkour and do a tuck and roll when you hit the ground, hopefully reducing the fall damage you would normally take. In this case, Acrobatics is much faster to get down the wall, in case ogres are firing ballista at you, than slowly climbing down with Athletics.
Swimming Through Rough Waves
The characters are on a ship being smashed by rough waves hitting from every direction, perhaps a horrific sea monster is trying to sink the ship and devour everyone on it.
In this situation, the characters are standing on the deck of the ship when a sudden wave smashes into it, knocking them over. To keep their balance on the buckling deck, the character must rely on their Acrobatics to stay on their feet and not get tossed off the ship.
If they do get tossed into the ocean, they will have to rely on their Athletics to swim through the rough waves. Their physical prowess will have to work hard against the waves, allowing them to not get pulled under and drown in the dark water below them.
Balance Across a Rope Bridge
This rickety bridge has only a few strands of rope to stand on, making it quite precarious to cross.
As a character crosses the rope bridge, they will have to rely on Acrobatics to keep their balance as they slowly cross the single rope strand. If they fail, they plummet into the chasm below them. Or, they could try and jump the chasm, relying on their Athletics to take them from one side to the next, maybe even grabbing onto the opposing cliff face and then climbing up the remaining distance instead of risking their life over a rotting rope that bridges the chasm.
Acrobatics vs Athletics
Players will often gravitate to which of these two they have the higher modifier for, but it isn’t always appropriate. While someone probably can’t argue using Acrobatics to lift a door, they will argue it for climbing - even though that wouldn’t be a proper use of Acrobatics. I hope that you have a greater appreciation of when to call for Acrobatics vs Athletics, and why there are two different skills.
Do you have odd examples of Acrobatics vs Athletics? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
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