Can you Leap while standing on uneven ground?

Question

Uneven Ground says that you need to Balance:

Uneven ground is an area unsteady enough that you need to Balance (see Acrobatics) or risk falling prone and possibly injuring yourself, depending on the specifics of the uneven ground.

Balance seems to say that the only way to move is to roll an Acrobatics check:

You move across a narrow surface or uneven ground, attempting an Acrobatics check against its Balance DC.
Success You move up to your Speed, treating it as difficult terrain (every 5 feet costs 10 feet of movement).

This seems to exclude flight, or the Jump spell, which makes no sense.
But can you also jump, for example with Blast Boots that don't require a running start? Can I avoid rolling for Acrobatics?

Answer 1

Balance is weird.

I want to point out that to begin with. Nothing about narrow surfaces or uneven ground says you can't otherwise move, only that you must balance. Balance itself doesn't explain any further since its there to inform you['re GM] how to adjudicate attempts to Balance. There doesn't seem to be any reason to use it other than narrow surfaces and uneven ground saying you must.

My interpretation: you can Leap if you already Balanced

For my money, and the way my group has run it the couple times it has come up, is that Balance is an 'Action tax' for spending at least part of your turn on precarious ground. You must spend at least one Action Balancing in order to remain there (similar to the rules for flying). Once you do so, you are then able to continue taking your turn as you otherwise would have, including performing other Move actions. While neither type of terrain specifies it, we generally count them as Difficult Terrain when performing non-Balance movement.

Answer 2

You Need to Balance

With no other rules covering what a character can do while standing on uneven ground we're left with one pretty strict requirement:

Uneven ground is an area unsteady enough that you need to Balance (see Acrobatics) or risk falling prone and possibly injuring yourself, depending on the specifics of the uneven ground.

The rule doesn't mention only applying when trying to move, so technically the only thing a character can do on uneven ground or narrow surfaces is Balance. Even further, such a character must Balance for as long as they are in those types of terrain.

Should You be Able to Leap?

Balancing is likely more restrictive than it needs to be, and the Success and/or Critical Success entry should allow for other types of movement like Leaping. This would enable characters with sufficient acrobatic skill to perform acts of trapeze artistry, definitely something reasonable to support.

Characters with a fly speed should probably still need to Balance if they're standing on these types of terrain, but they would be able to Arrest a Fall if they fail.