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Our sorcerer is not an athlete, so she bought a climbers kit to explore the steep slopes of the tundras & snow caps of the sword mountains. This entails some 30, 40, 50 feet climbs on rock and ice. I don't think the kit should make her a master climber, anymore than owning a stove should make someone a master chef.

I made a mini game involving climbing with climbing kit gear. Such as Piton AC, "special" piton AC, Athletics bonuses to cletes and gloves, etc. It seems to be fun and challenging Terrain puzzle for the PC, but it can be tedious and bring the session to a crawl.

Is there an official way to use piton and harness gear when climbing, or are kits like that made for such mini-game tomfoolery at the DM's discretion? With the thieves tools kit, you have to be proficient with tools to gain a bonus. I thought maybe every kit was this way. I am looking for clarity regarding using the kit proficiently, as opposed to using it generally.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Are you looking for rules about what a climbing kit does, or are you asking it it's possible to be proficient with climbing kits (the way one can be with thieves' tools, etc.) and what benefit that gives? \$\endgroup\$
    – Oblivious Sage ♦
    Apr 10, 2018 at 12:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ both sort of. someone edited my post and added the second part. Mainly, i want to know the point of cletes , gloves, harness, and the carry weight it all involves, if the only rule about any of it is 25foot piton range. dungeoneers pack have pitons and rope, but climbers kit have "Special Pitons". Is this a joke, to add conversation to our imaginations? Just checking that there wasn't something i was missing. It clearly seems like the use of all these tools are for expanding creative problem solving in the imagination, to add color and clarity and perhaps inspire the DM to show favor. \$\endgroup\$
    – Saviorself7
    Apr 10, 2018 at 23:01

1 Answer 1

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The rules for the climbing kit already describe how to use the gear:

You can use the climber's kit as an action to anchor yourself; when you do, you can't fall more than 25 feet from the point where you anchored yourself, and you can't climb more than 25 feet away from that point without undoing the anchor.

The pitons and harness are already encompassed in those rules. If you want to create other rules for them then that's up to the DM.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ this is helpful. TY. I guess i'm confused mostly about tool proficiency. Like with thieves kit, you have to be proficient with tools to gain a bonus. I thought maybe every kit was this way. I was looking for clarity regarding using the kit proficiently, as opposed to using it generally. TY tho. \$\endgroup\$
    – Saviorself7
    Apr 10, 2018 at 8:25
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Saviorself7 you should make that clear in your question. If you're trying to ask about one thing but ask about another thing then you're not likely to get the answer you're looking for. \$\endgroup\$
    – Purple Monkey
    Apr 10, 2018 at 9:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Saviorself7 I added that comment to your question, since it seems to be part and parcel to your question. \$\endgroup\$
    – KorvinStarmast
    Apr 10, 2018 at 12:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ @VinStJohn If you feel an answer does not fully answer the question, feel free to add your own (making sure to answer all of it) or leave a comment encouraging the answerer to include the missing part. (Or start a bounty, if you're able/up for that.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Someone_Evil ♦
    Sep 25, 2019 at 13:32

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