I know that obviously Athletics was a combination of Climbing and Swimming (and Escaping, which was basically a vestigial skill anyhow) so I completely understand that initially Athletics is essentially just for climbing and swimming, but I'm curious if there are ways being developed to use (and train!) the Athletics skill outside of these two, narrow methods. There are a few thoughts I have on what would be neat to see, which I'd like to present briefly, in the hopes that if similar stuff isn't already in the works, a GM or two might be amused enough by these notions to take some of them on as projects.
>> Free Exercise <<
Tumbling, conditioning, cardio. Something that can be trained without the need of a specific obstacle to bypass; possibly a command functioning vaguely like PERFORM/CLIMB PRACTICE/APPRAISE FOCUS that starts an "exercise regimen" which teaches Athletics, basing the length of the regimen and fatigue cost on physical stats.
>> Jogging/Sprinting <<
A movement command similar to how horses can charge through multiple rooms, which would be based on (and train) Athletics skill; probably cap it at 3 rooms (if memory serves, horses can go 5; if they cap at 3 then cap running at 2). Drain on fatigue, chance at falling and sustaining minor injury, maybe based on a Reflex check.
>> Jumping <<
I feel like it only makes sense that if we're using Athletics as a method of bypassing obstacles, jumping should be a viable application. It could be both a vertical leap (jumping up to grab a branch, to assist a climb?) or a horizontal, running jump (bypassing a small ditch or similar?). The logical conclusion to which this leads is free-running; I'd envision short-cut routes set throughout the game in cities (jumping roof to roof) and wilds (branch to branch). Nothing nearly as robust as Thief passages or Ranger trails, but rather specific all-player-accessible routes more akin to swimming one of the big rivers or climbing the dunes in Velaka, which would train Athletics.
>> Bonus Idea: Humanoid Pack Mule <<
I thought of this just now, and it's honestly sort of a lark, but what about simply moving heavy loads from place to place? Kinda like a retrieval Task on steroids. You can drag the item, maybe... It invites the risk of loss at the hands of crash, so it would require some clever coding, or possibly storage of the item in the at-feet slot. Actually, docking it at your feet would allow special commands like PUSH and PULL to move it around, and eliminate the chance of loss. Anyhow, it would give roundtime and fatigue drain the same as dragging, but would train Athletics. You could also pick it up and carry it; carrying a load would drain fatigue more, have a roundtime to movement similar to (greater than?) dragging, but train Athletics better.
I'd be tempted to say that all dragging should train Athletics, but I feel that's too easily abused... Even if you imposed a weight minimum, there's going to be folks who fill a backpack with rocks and break the system. Then again, maybe this isn't necessarily abuse, but just a method of training? I dunno, I'm just spit-balling here.
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"Q: This is stupid. / Work on something we actually need changed! / Why aren't you working on something I want you to work on?
"A: Kindly shut up." ~ GM Naohhi
