Athletics
Body Skill
Athletics is a Body Skill that represents physical training and endurance developed through sports and exercise. Characters with a high Athletics Rank tend to be very active and either spend time training their physique or have physically strenuous occupations.
The Athletics Skill is used to make general skill checks whenever your character’s physical endurance is tested, such as when running, climbing, or jumping.
Some situations where you might make use of the Athletics Skill are when climbing a tree or the side of a cliff in the wilds and when trying to keep yourself afloat in the ocean during a storm. A GM may also call for Athletics Checks during a day of long travel, especially over treacherous terrain, to determine how fatigued your characters become from the long and continuous exertion.
Opposed Athletics Checks can be called for determining who tires out first during an extended chase or for someone holding a door closed against someone trying to push it open.
When in doubt, if characters are taking actions that involve strenuous physical activity but not necessarily anything that requires precision and finesse, Athletics is the go-to skill. A GM may also simply look at a character’s Athletics Rank and make a judgment call about whether or not that character is able to perform a certain task without becoming fatigued. If a GM assigns penalties for exhaustion, Athletics may be consulted in that case as well.
Having a high Athletics Skill improves a character’s movement speed and throwing range. See Step 6 of Character Creation for further details (page 16). It is also used when fishing (page 217). Athletics can be tested when using Intercept Maneuvers (page 242). Carrying especially heavy loads also requires continuous Athletics Checks (page 222).
Prerequisites: Adept Athletics
Effect: You learn the Move Agility.
Mounted Prowess
Prerequisites: Novice Acrobatics or Athletics
Effect: You automatically succeed at Acrobatics and Athletics Checks made to mount a Pokémon, and you gain a +3 Bonus to all Acrobatics and Athletics Checks made to remain Mounted.
Power Boost
Prerequisites: Expert Athletics
Effect: Increase your Power Capability by +2
Swimmer
Prerequisites: Novice Athletics or Survival
Effect: You gain +2 to your Swim Speed. You may spend X minutes underwater before you begin to suffocate, where X is the higher of your Athletics or Survival Ranks.
Stamina
Prerequisites: Expert Athletics or Expert Combat
Effect: Whenever you Take A Breather or take Massive Damage or a Critical Hit, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Athletics or Combat Rank after the triggering action has resolved.