Rope Monkey

Rope Monkeys are those sailors who may as well have been born in the rigging. They always seem to know just the right rope to cut and pull to swing to some other part of the ship and can ride the lines down to avoid an otherwise nasty fall.

Rope Monkey has two functions. The first is to allow a character on the exterior of the ship to move to any other exposed part of the ship by swinging from the rigging. This counts as the character’s movement and requires a Climbing roll. If successful, he moves to any other external area of the ship. He may not move further this action even by “running.” With a raise, he can move and gains momentary surprise on any foes, adding +2 to any Fighting attacks and damage rolls for the round. This can also be combined with a Trick maneuver.

Rope Monkeys may also use this ability in forests with tall trees. In that case, the Climbing roll is made at –2 and the character may reposition himself within d10”.

A foe who wants to take his free attack at a Rope Monkey swinging out of melee must subtract 2 from his roll. The same applies to characters with First Strike—they suffer a –2 penalty to their Fighting roll.

Rope Monkeys may also make a Climbing roll any time they fall from a ship’s rigging (and are conscious). Success means they take half the usual falling damage by grabbing onto ropes as they tumble. With a raise, the sailor manages to slide down a rope and suffers no damage.