Success Rolls

Whenever a character attempts to perform an action (e.g., use a skill), roll three dice to determine the outcome. This is called a success roll. The task in question succeeds if the total rolled on the dice is less than or equal to the number that governs the action – most often a skill or an attribute. Otherwise, it fails.

Example: If you attempt to pick a lock with a Lockpicking skill of 9, you must roll 9 or less on 3d to succeed. On a roll of 10 or more, you fail.

Regardless of the score you are rolling against, a roll of 3 or 4 is always a success, while a roll of 17 or 18 is always a failure. 

In general, the player makes the die rolls for his character’s actions. However, the GM may always choose to roll the dice in secret.


WHEN TO ROLL

To avoid bogging down the game in endless die rolls, the GM should only require a success roll if there is a chance of meaningful failure or gainful success. In particular. 

The GM should require success rolls when:

The GM should not require rolls for:

When the GM Rolls:

There are two sets of circum stances under which the GM should roll for a PC and not let the player see the results:

1. When the character wouldn’t know for sure whether they have succeeded. This is true of all rolls to gain information, whether through skills such as Detect Lies, Interrogation, Meteorology, and Search, advantages like Intuition and Oracle, or supernatural divinatory abilities. In this situation, the player declares that they are using their ability and the GM rolls in secret. On a success, the GM gives the player true information – the lower the roll, the better the information. On a failure, the GM either gives no information at all or lies (the higher the roll, the more severe the lie), as appropriate.

2. When the player shouldn’t know what’s going on. This includes most Sense rolls, rolls to use Danger Sense, etc. 

Suppose the party is walking along a jungle trail. A jaguar is on a limb ahead. The GM should not say, “There’s a jaguar ahead of you. Roll to see if you notice it.” Neither should he say, “Everybody make a Vision roll. Does anybody have Danger Sense?” Either of these approaches gives too much away. Instead, the GM should roll for each character in secret. If anyone succeeds, the GM can say, “You notice a jaguar on a branch 20 yards ahead!” If nobody succeeds . . . they’re in for a surprise.

Modifiers

The rules often specify modifiers for certain success rolls. These bonuses and penalties affect the number you are rolling against – your “target number” – and not the total rolled on the dice. Bonuses always improve your odds, while penalties always reduce them.

For instance, the Lockpicking skill description states, “-5 if working by touch (e.g., in total darkness).” This means that if you are working in the dark, you must subtract 5 from your Lockpicking skill for that attempt. If your Lockpicking skill is 9, you roll against 9 minus 5, or 4, in the dark. 

A specific scenario might provide modifiers to allow for the relative ease or difficulty of a particular situation.

For instance, an adventure might state that a lock is +10 to open due to the fact that it is primitive and clumsy. If your Lockpicking skill were 9, you would roll against 9 + 10, or 19. Since the highest roll possible on 3d is 18, it would seem that success is assured. This is almost true, but not quite – see Critical Failure below.

Modifiers are cumulative unless stated otherwise. For instance, if you tried to open that primitive lock in the dark, both modifiers would apply, and you would roll against 9 - 5 + 10, or 14. 

See Culture, Language, Tech-Level Modifiers, Familiarity, Equipment Modifiers, and Task Difficulty (below) for discussions of common modifiers.


Base Skill vs. Effective Skill

Your base skill is your actual level in a skill, as recorded on your character sheet. Your effective skill for a particular task is your base skill plus or minus any modifiers for that task. In the Lockpicking examples above, base skill is 9 in all cases, while effective skill is 4, 19, and 14 in three different situations.

The terms “base skill” and “effective skill” apply to all success rolls, not just to skill rolls. When you make an attribute roll, defense roll, self-control roll, etc., your base skill is your unmodified score, while your effective skill is your final, modified target number. You may not attempt a success roll if your effective skill is less than 3, unless you are attempting a defense roll.


Task Difficulty

If the GM feels that a success roll should be easier or harder in a particular situation, he may assess a difficulty modifier. This is separate from modifiers for the culture, equipment, language, tech level, etc. of the person attempting the task, in that it applies to anyone who attempts the task. It is cumulative with all other modifiers.

For instance, if the GM rules that the only way to sway a particular audience is to make a Public Speaking roll at -2, the difficulty modifier is -2. Any speaker has -2, in addition to personal modifiers (for culture, language, Voice, etc.), when dealing with that audience.

Many skills suggest difficulty modifiers – e.g., the -5 to use the Lockpicking Skill by touch – but the possible variety of tasks is essentially infinite. Here are some guidelines for GMs:

+10 – Automatic.
Tasks so trivial that the GM should waive the need for a success roll, except under extraordinary circumstances.
Example: A Driving roll to start a car.

+8 or +9 – Trivial.
Situations where failure is extremely unlikely, and would require incredibly bad luck.
Example: A Driving roll to drive around an empty parking lot.

+6 or +7 – Very Easy.
Tasks where failure is possible, but would require bad luck.
Example: A Driving roll to drive down an empty suburban street.

+4 or +5 – Easy.
Most mundane tasks, including rolls made by ordinary people at day-to-day jobs.
Example: A Driving roll to commute to work in a small town.

+2 or +3 – Very Favorable.
Mildly risky tasks that most people would undertake without hesitation.
Example: A Driving roll to commute to work in a teeming metropolis.

+1 – Favorable.
Tasks that most people would hesitate at, due to the risk, but that a career adventurer would regard as easy.
Example: A Driving roll to compete in a road rally.

0 – Average.
Most adventuring tasks, and the majority of skill use under stress.
Example: A Driving roll in a car chase.

-1 – Unfavorable.
Stressful tasks that would challenge a novice adventurer, but not an old hand.
Example: A Driving roll in a high-speed car chase.

-2 or -3 – Very Unfavorable.
Stressful tasks that would challenge a professional. Skilled adventurers still routinely accept such risks!
Example: A Driving roll in a high-speed car chase on a busy freeway.

-4 or -5 – Hard.
Tasks so challenging that even an expert will look for alternatives. A true “master” is still unlikely to feel challenged.
Example: A Driving roll to keep the car on the road while shooting a gun out the window during a high-speed chase.

-6 or -7 – Very Hard.
Situations that even the masters might have second thoughts about.
Example: A Driving roll in a high-speed chase during a blizzard.

-8 or -9 – Dangerous.
Tasks at which even the greatest masters expect to fail.
Example: A Driving roll while shooting a gun in a high-speed chase during a blizzard.

-10 – Impossible.
No sane person would attempt such a task. The GM may wish to forbid such attempts altogether.
Example: A Driving roll to steer a car with the knees while firing a bazooka two-handed during a chase through a blizzard.

These modifiers assume a trained character. To get an idea of how tough a task would be for someone working at default, add the default penalty to the difficulty modifier.

Example: Someone who never learned to drive is using Driving at its DX-5 default. For him, an everyday commute – “Easy” (+4 or +5) for a trained driver – would be “Average” (DX) or even “Unfavorable” (DX-1), and almost certainly a stressful experience!

The GM can use difficulty modifiers in place of other modifiers if the outcome of a task is too unimportant – or the action too hot – to justify stopping to add up a long string of modifiers. For instance, in a car chase involving a car in bad repair, the GM might bump the difficulty up a level or two instead of assessing an  equipment modifier for the car.


Default Rolls

When a task calls for a skill roll, you must have some ability with the required skill in order to attempt the task.
Ideally, you want points in that skill . . . but an untrained person can take a stab at most tasks. For instance, anyone can swing a sword – although only a trained warrior is likely to have much success at it.

A skill that anyone can attempt without study is said to “default” to an attribute or another skill. This means you can attempt the desired action by rolling against one of your attributes or other skills at a penalty. This “default roll” is just an ordinary success roll. 

Example: Lockpicking skill defaults to “IQ-5”; that is, anyone can open a lock, without training, by making a success roll against 5 less than his IQ. If your IQ is 10, you can open an ordinary lock on a roll of 5 or less on 3d. The smarter you are, the better your chances – but training is always preferable!

The description of each skill shows what skills or attributes it defaults to, and at what penalties. If a skill offers multiple defaults, always choose the best one.

Example: Interrogation defaults to “IQ-5, Intimidation-3, or Psychology-4.” If you’re not a trained interrogator, you can still get answers out of a prisoner by outthinking him (IQ-5), frightening him (Intimidation-3), or playing “mind games” with him (Psychology-4). If you had IQ 12, Intimidation at 14, and Psychology at 13, your defaults would be 7, 11, and 9, respectively. Roll against 11, the highest of the three.


The Rule of 20

If you have a basic attribute over 20, treat it as 20 for default purposes. For instance, if you have IQ 25, your default Lockpicking skill (IQ-5) is 15 – not 20. No such limit applies to defaults to other skills.


“No Default”

Some actions are impossible without training. Skills like Alchemy, Karate, and magic spells have no default. If you lack the proper training, you can’t attempt these things at all.


Degree of Success or Failure

Once you have calculated effective skill by applying all relevant modifiers to base skill, roll 3d to determine the outcome. If the total rolled on the dice is less than or equal to your effective skill, you succeed, and the difference between your effective skill and your die roll is your margin of success. 

Example: If you have effective skill 18 and roll a 12, you succeed; your margin of success is 6.

If you roll higher than your effective skill, you fail, and the difference between the die roll and your effective skill is your margin of failure.

Example: If you have effective skill 9 and roll a 12, you fail; your margin of failure is 3.

Always note your margin of success or failure, as many rules use these margins to calculate results that matter in play. Even when the rules don’t call for these numbers, the GM might wish to reward a large margin of success with a particularly favorable outcome, or assess especially dire consequences for a large margin of failure!

Extremely high or low rolls have special effects – beyond those for normal success and failure – regardless of your exact margin of success or failure.


Critical Success
A critical success is an especially good result. You score a critical success as follows:

When you roll a critical success, the GM determines what happens to you. It is always something good! The lower the roll, the better “bonus” he gives you.

A critical hit is a critical success scored on an attack. The GM does not determine the result. Instead, use the Critical Hit Table. 


Critical Failure
A critical failure is an especially bad result. You score a critical failure as follows:

When you roll a critical failure, the GM determines what happens to you.
It is always something bad – the higher the roll, the worse the result.

A critical miss is a critical failure scored on an attack. The GM does not determine the result. Instead, use the Critical Miss Table.