Using Skills

This section details how a characters skill descriptions are translated into game events. Skills should be used when the character performs related actions, or when the character's skills would indicate she has relevant knowledge that the role-player should share. Usually, the role-player informs the Narrator that the character has a relevant skill, and the Narrator decides which skill resolution system is appropriate and uses that system to determine the success or impact of the skill.

We divide uses of skills up in several ways.

1. Routine uses, where the exact outcome is not critical to events. The Narrator determines the effect of the skill using her judgement and guidelines provided. There is no probabilistic element involved.
2. Qualitative, unopposed actions. The character is attempting to perform an action which will have two outcomes, success or failure. No one is actively trying to make the character fail. Success is usually determined probabilistically, rolling dice, although the player can choose instead to substitute the expected value for this Skill Roll.
3. Quantitative, unopposed actions. The character is attempting to perform an action which will have degrees of success or failure. No one is actively trying to make the character fail. Success is usually determined probabilistically, rolling dice, although the player can choose instead to substitute the expected value for this Skill Roll.
4. Character background knowledge. The roll is determining whether a general knowledge skill means that the character knows specific information. This is basically a quantitative, unopposed action, but some more specific guidelines are included for interpreting success.
5. Qualitative, opposed actions. The character is attempting to perform an action which will have two outcomes, success or failure. Another character is using a skill to make the character fail. Success is usually determined probabilistically, rolling dice for the initiating character, and computing deterministically based on the resisting character's skill. However, either player can choose instead to substitute the expected value of a die roll for the roll, or vice versa.
6. Quantitative, opposed actions. The character is attempting to perform an action which will have degress of success. Another character is using a skill to make the character fail. Success is usually determined probabilistically, rolling dice for the initiating character, and computing deterministically based on the resisting character's skill. However, either player can choose to substitute the expected value of a die roll for the roll, or vice versa.
7. Combat. Attacking another character in combat is basically a quantitative opposed action, but there are some specific guidelines for evaluating success and failure for attacks. There are a few other special rules for actions in combat.

Routine skill use

Routine use of a skill is using the skill in a non-pressured, non-competitive way, where no one is actively opposing the character. The Narrator simply declares that the results are about those typical for the character's level of expertise.

Most uses of many skills should be routine. For example, suppose ArmorMan is using his ``Computer Programming'' skill to create a web-page to advertise his new superteam. Since there is no time pressure and ArmorMan's programming skill is beyond the professional level, the Narrator decides he should be able to create a decent webpage. On the other hand, if a hacker is attempting to vandalize the webpage, the Narrator might decide to require a Skill roll, to determine whether ArmorMan's security measures are adequate to defeat the intruders.

To relate the character's skill rank to their level of expertise, use the following table:

• Rank 10 or below
Beginner or improvised skill.

• Rank 11-12
Amateur.

• Rank 13-14
Professional: as good as people who use the skill on a regular basis;

• Rank 15-16
Top Professional: as good as the top 10% of people who use the skill on a regular basis.

• Rank 17-18
Expert: as good as people with a reputation for the skill.

• Rank 19-20
First-class: probably the best at the skill within a community.

• Rank 21-24
World-class: has few peers at the skill.

• Rank 25-30
Unique: without peers at the skill; a champion, genius, or acknowledged master of the skill (e.g., Einstein (physics) or Jack Kirby (comic book art)).

• Rank 31-35
Legendary: almost unbelievable skill, worthy of a poem in its honor.

• Rank 36 +
God-like: unbelievable skill, well beyond the capabilities of mortals.

In the above list, no distinction is made between the two scales. Switching a character from a fine-grain setting to a course-grain setting without changing their skill values will make them objectively better, but at the same relative position compared to others.

Note that the above categories are defined in terms of some presumably "normal" society, averaging over the cultures in the game. The world designer may create cultures that are reknowned for having a certain skill, or known for their limited grasp of other skills. This is usually translated to giving all members of that culture skill bonuses or penalties in these area. This may shift the interpretation of skill ranking within that culture by a fixed amount, either up or down. However, it shouldn't change the ``global'' interpretation of the skill. For example, if Elves are generally at rank 14 in Archery, and Gilroy the Elf has an archery skill of 15, he may be considered an amateur by elven standards, although his ability would be that of a Top Professional among humans. He could use his Archery skill routinely to earn a living teaching humans archery; but if he tried the same thing among Elves, he would just be laughed at.

Non-routine uses of skills

For other uses of skills, there is a procedure to determine the success or failure of the skill use, perhaps measured quantitatively.

The procedure follows the outline below, but we interpret the steps slightly differently for different kinds of skill uses:

Skill Resolution Steps

1. The Narrator determines the Difficulty Level of the action, a number that indicates how hard it is to succeed.
2. The player chooses one of two ways to determine the skill roll . The player either rolls a set of dice and adds the total to the character's skill rank; or adds the expected value of the same set of dice (rounded down to the nearest integer) to the character's skill rank.
3. The difficulty level is subtracted from the skill roll. The result is the Success level if positive or zero and the Failure level if negative.
4. The Narrator uses the Success or Failure level to determine the outcome of the action.
How Difficulty level is determined and how the outcome is determined from the Success or Failure level depends on the nature of the action. There are different guidelines for the different categories: Unopposed Qualitative, Opposed Qualitative, Unopposed Quantitative, Opposed Quantitative, Attacks, and Background Information.

The default set of dice is 3 six-sided dice, with the alternative of adding 10. Some modifiers might also be added to the skill roll in this step.

A narrator might choose to use a different set of dice (or none at all) to make skill use more or less predictible. The narrator might even decide to use different sets of dice for different skills. The following guidelines tell how to compute the standard deviation, which is a good guide to how predictible the results will be. The smaller the standard deviation, the more predictible the results. See Using other sets of dice for a discussion.

• Unopposed Qualitative Skill Use
A use of a skill is considered qualitative if the result just has two possible outcomes, success or failure. The use is unopposed if no other character is actively trying to cause the user to fail. For example, jumping across a wide, bottomless chasm might be a qualititative unopposed skill use. This assumes that it is only important whether the character reaches the other side or plummets to certain doom, and that no one is trying to stop the character from jumping across. However, a broad-jump competition would be quantitative, not qualitative, since the exact distance jumped matters. A jump-off in basketball might be qualitative, but opposed, since the two centers would be competing against each other's skill for the tip-off.

In qualitative actions, the last step, determing the outcome from the Success or Failure level, is simple. If the success level is 0 or positive, the action is a success; otherwise, it is a failure. The Narrator may use the exact level of success to add color to the description of the outcome, (e.g., ``In a burst of adrenaline, you effortlessly glide across the chasm'' vs. ``You end up clinging to the other side, panting and sweat-drenched, but alive!'') but not its essential nature.

To set the difficulty level, the narrator can use the following chart:

• Success only an issue for the unskilled or incompetent: difficulty 15. (Skilled, competent characters should be able to succeed as a routine use of skill.)
• Possible failure for a beginner: difficulty 18
• Challenging task (50/50 success) for a beginner: difficulty 20
• Challenging task for an amateur: difficulty 22
• Challenging task for a professional: difficulty 25
• Daunting task for a professional/ challenging task for an expert: difficulty 28
• Daunting task for an expert: difficulty 32
• Nigh impossible for expert, challenge for master: difficulty 35
• Daunting task for master: difficulty 38 , challenge for genius
• Nigh impossible for master, daunting for genius: difficulty 40
• Legendary, stretching the borders of the conceivable: difficulty 45
• Superhuman: difficulty 48+
Alternatively, a task that involves using a power as described has a default dificulty of (20+ ranks of power). For each aspect that needs to exceed the described power by 10% in the fine-scale or 20% in the course-scale, add one to the difficulty factor. If an additional power rank is required for success, add 4 to the difficulty in the course scale and 8 in the fine scale. If more than two such ranks are necessary, the action always fails, unless the power has the Improved Maximum enhancement. For each rank of power used above that required for success, subtract 3 from the difficulty.( Note: net effect is -2 difficulty, since it still increases default difficulty). Some powers have additional guidelines for difficulty. See Power list .
• Unopposed, quantitative actions
These are actions where no one is actively preventing success and where a quantitative outcome is relevant. For example, a character wants to know how far they jumped in a broad-jump competition. It is important to know an (approximate) distance, since the distance will be used to sort various contestants.

To interpret success and failure, zero successes represents normal performance. Each additional success level can mean one aspect of the outcome is improved over normal by 10% (in fine-scale) or 20% (in coarse-scale). Alternatively, each 4 successes (coarse-scale) or 8 successes (fine-scale) can allow the action to act as if one additional rank of power were used, up to a maximum bonus of 1/2 the base ranks of power.

The normal difficulty for unopposed, quantitative actions is 20 for mundane actions, or 20+ power ranks used for using powers. Each circumstance that would typically improve outcomes by 10% (fine) or 20 % (coarse) subtracts 1 from difficulty; each circumstance that would typically impair outcomes by the same amount adds 1 to difficulty. Some powers have additional guidelines for difficulty. See Power list .

• Background knowledge
A background knowledge action is a use of a skill that represents how much a character knows about a subject. It differs from other actions in that it is actually concerned with the character's prior activities, learning and researching a subject, rather than the outcome of a current action. Mechanically, it is determined as a quantitative unopposed action. This is usually allowed only once; the character can of course research the topic during the game, gaining a specialized skill in the topic. However, use the following guidelines for setting difficulty and interpreting success. Note that difficulty is determined by how closely a subject matches the skill being invoked:
1. The subject is essential to the skill; no one could study the skill without learning about this subject. E.g., concept of programming language as a subject for computer science. Difficulty: 15
2. The subject is a central part of the skill. It would be unusual to study the skill without learning about this subject. E.g., Common programming language (C,JAVA) as a subject for computer science. Difficulty: 18
3. The subject is a typical but advanced part of the skill. Most people would eventually learn about the subject in studying the skill. E.g., compilers as a subject for computer science. Difficulty: 20
4. The subject is an elective part of the skill. It is neither typical nor atypical to learn about the subject as part of the skill. E.g., computer security as a subject for computer science. Difficulty: 24
5. The subject is an unusual aspect of the skill. Only a small fraction of skilled people would know something about the subject, e.g., quantum computing as a subject for computer science. Difficulty: 28.
6. The subject is an esoteric aspect of the skill, studied by only a few specialists, e.g., complexity theory of randomized algorithms as a subject in computer science. Difficulty: 32.
7. The subject is only tangentially related to the subject, and is not currently researched as a part of the discipline. E.g., alien robots as a subject in computer science. Difficulty: 36.

To interpret success/failure, use the following guidelines:

1. 4+ failures: The topic is totally unfamiliar to the character, at least as an aspect of the skill.
2. 1-3 failures: The topic is familiar to the character, but her recollection may be faulty. The player can ask the narrator simple questions, but the answers may be incorrect or misleading.
3. 0 successes: The topic is familiar to the character, but the character cannot recall much now. The player can ask the narrator a few yes/no questions and get accurate answers.
4. 1-3 successes: As above, except the questions can be short (one or two word) answers.
5. 4-7 successes: The character has some background in the subject, but her recollection isn't perfect. The narrator should fill the player in on basic background, about a paragraph or so. The character would know who to ask, what books to use, or how to further research the topic given sufficient time. The player can choose to record a specialized skill on this topic at partial inheritance.
6. 8+ successes: The character studied the topic extensively. The narrator should allow the player with answers to most questions (directly) on the topic on request. The player can choose to record a specialized skill on this topic at full inheritance.
• Qualitative opposed actions
This is an action for which the only relevant information is success or failure, and for which the main obstacle to success is another character's actions.

Success/failure levels is interpreted as for qualitative unopposed actions : zero or more successes means the action was a success, otherwise the action was a failure.

The difficulty factor is set at the opponent's skill roll (usually an NPC opponent will take the deterministic roll, 10 + skill level) modified as follows:

1. Circumstances overwhelmingly favor actor, e.g., moving silently past guards while camp is being bombarded. Subtract 12 from Difficulty.
2. Circumstances greatly favor actor, e.g. moving silently past sleeping guards. Subtract 8 from Difficulty
3. Circumstances substantially favor actor, e.g., moving silently past guards distracted by an accomplice. Subtract 4 from Difficulty
4. Circumstances moderately favor actor, e.g., moving silently past arguing guards. Subtract 2 from Difficulty
5. Circumstances neither favor or hinder actor. No modifier
6. Circumstances moderately hinder actor, e.g., moving silently past highly responsible guards. Add 2 to Difficulty.
7. Circumstances substantially hinder actor, e.g., moving silently past guards warned of possible intruder. Add 4 to Difficulty.
8. Circumstances greatly hinder actor, e.g., moving silently past guards on a surface of dried leaves or creaky floorboards. Add 8 to Difficulty.
9. Circumstances overwhelmingly hinder actor, e.g. moving silently, passing between two guards standing close together. Add 12 to Difficulty.
When applicable, use the following guidelines: Each rank or difference in ranks of an appropriate power might add or subtract up to 4 to or from Difficulty in a coarse-scale game or up to 8 in a fine-scale game. Any circumstance that gives one party a 10% advantage (fine-scale) or 20% advantage (coarse-scale) in some respect affects Difficulty by 1, e.g., if one party had 20% more time than the other to perform the same task, that party should get a +1 modifier in the coarse scale or a +2 modifier in the fine scale.
• Quantitative opposed actions
A quantitative opposed action is one where the degree of success matters, and the action is being hindered by another character's actions or skill. Set difficulty as a qualitative opposed action . Interpret success as a qunatitative unopposed action .
• Attacks in combat
Making an attack in combat is a special form of quantitative opposed action. There are a few additional rules that apply only to attacks.

Setting the difficulty level: Most attacks are Initiatives, actions which provide other (aware) characters get a Resonse or Counter-Initiative action. Typically, the character will make a defensive maneuver in response to being attacked. If so, and if the maneuver is an appropriate defense, the basic difficulty for the attack is set at 10+ skill level of defender. (Other modifiers might apply.)

If the character is aware of the attack, and makes no defense or an inappropriate defense, then the difficulty is set at 6+ (Most relevant attribute), usually 6+DEX. In other words, the character is defaulting to a defense skill with partial inheritance.

If the character is not aware of the specific attack but is aware that she is in a combat situation, the difficulty is set at her most relevant attribute, usually DEX.

If the character is unaware of the possibility of attack, the difficulty is set at 5.

Three standard modifiers apply to physical attacks. First, a moving defenders Velocity (in VEL units) is added to the Difficulty. Second, a ranged attack from a distance at least twice as great as the size of the defender has +1 difficulty for each Distance Unit of range above the defender's size in Distance Units. (I.e., for human-size defenders, the penalty is the Range (in DU's) -2, and applies to 3 DU's (4 meters) and greater ranges. ) Third, if the optional OOPS (out-of-position subtraction) rule is used, the attackers OOPS add to difficulty, and the defenders OOPS subtract from difficulty.

If an area or stationary object is attacked rather than a character or moving object, as in an area attack power or target shoot, then set the difficulty as 5+ Range. Also see the corresponding note for Interpretting success.

Interpreting success. Interpret success as follows:

1. 2 or more Failure levels. Complete miss. Attack did not reach target, or was deflected by target's defense. If OOPS rule is used, and in hand-to-hand combat, each failure adds to attacker's OOPS (Out-of-position subtraction) until a recovery action is taken.
2. 1 failure level. Defender ``winged'' and takes 1/2 Base Damage, if this is meaningful. Add 1 to attacker's OOPS.
3. 0 success levels. Defender hit, and takes Base Damage of attack. Add 1 to attacker's OOPS.
4. 1 or more success levels. Defender hit for Base damage plus Bonus Damage for each success level. Bonus damage is 1/4 of attack form's damage per rank (coarse) or 1/8 of damage per rank (fine). Unless the power has the Increased Maximum Effect power supplement, the Bonus Damage is capped at half the Base Damage, regardless of success. When success levels are positive, attacker gets no OOPS in hand-to-hand.
Ranged attacks: It may be important to obtain a distance by which ranged attacks miss or hit their intended targets. In general, 0 success levels means the target is hit about midway between the center and the outskirts, i.e., about 1/2 the target's size from the center.

1 failure level means the target was hit in the outskirts, about the target's size from the center. Each additional failure level doubles the distance by which the target was missed. If other characters are around, a random direction can be chosen, and other characters or objects in the vicinity are hit if they would be hit by a roll at skill level 6. The narrator makes one roll for each character in the vicinity, in order of proximity or in a random order.

Each success level halves the distance to the center, so 1 success means about 1/4 the distance from center to outskirts, 2, 1/8 the distance, etc..