Skill Checks
A skill check is a roll the player makes when they want to perform some simple action whose outcome is uncertain: you roll a d20, then add the skill’s associated stat mod and skill points to the roll. If you are not in a strife, you might also have Stakes and Flaws This roll is then applied against a difficulty class, or DC.
If you beat the DC, you pass the skill check. If you don’t, you fail the check and suffer some consequence; you are assumed to still perform that action, but modified by the consequence in question. The consequence may be as minor as incurring cuts and bruises as you do it, or major, like failing to do the action. (failure and partial failure are the most common consequences).
Alternatively, if there is an actively opposing force, an opposed skill check can be made, where instead of a DC, the player rolls to beat an opponent’s roll. Ties are won by the player.
Difficulty Class
Difficulty class describes, well, the difficulty of a given check.
- DC 10: Easy. Just about anyone has a decent shot, and skilled players will usually succeed. Incredibly skilled players will eventually auto-pass these.
- DC 15: Medium. A skilled player will find this about average. An unskilled player will find it a challenge. This is the average difficulty.
- DC 20: Hard. Even skilled players will find this a challenge, and the most skilled are still not guaranteed success.
- DC 25: Extreme. Skilled players must fall back on assistance, or bring supernatural powers to bear, to have any hope in succeeding. The incredibly skilled only have a decent shot at best.
Stakes and Flaws
Stakes and Flaws dice are d6s that can further modify a skill check. They represent a wide variety of tools, talents, circumstances, approaches, and the like that increases (Stakes) or decreases (Flaws) your odds of success.
Whenever making a skill check outside of a strife, roll up all Stakes dice, or all Flaws dice, and take the highest die. If you rolled Stakes dice, add the die to the check. If you rolled Flaws dice, subtract the die from the check. If you have both, remove one of each until you only have one kind of dice left (or none!).
Commonly, you can get Stakes dice from Decors, which reward you for utilizing your skills in a particular manner.
Roleplay and alchemy are the other common methods; in general, you receive one Stakes die for something that helps you in some way. Two dice if it was incredibly helpful. More specific examples can be found in the later sections of this chapter.
List of Skills
Players have the following skills:
Athletics (Strength) describes your training in arduous physical activities, such as climbing a rocky cliff, quickly ascending a steep slope, and so on, and is used in grappling.
Endurance (Constitution) describes your health, your ability to stave off ill effects and push yourself beyond normal physical limits, whether it be for the moment or over longer streaks, such as resisting the urge to throw up, shrugging off some debilitating effect, pushing onwards through harsh weather, or holding your breath for long periods of time. Just as Sanity describes mental resilience, Endurance describes physical resilience.
Acrobatics (Dexterity) describes your deft body movement capability, and covers attempts to stay on one’s feet, as well as maneuvers that require agility more than strength. It includes activities like escaping a grapple, performing flips and dives, and keeping one’s balance.
Sleight of Hand (Dexterity) describes your fine finger control and your ability to perform small actions without others noticing, such as switching two player cards, pickpocketing someone, or hiding a dagger up your sleeve.
Stealth (Dexterity) describes your ability to conceal yourself and pass by unnoticed.
Engineering (Intelligence) encompasses technological background and efficacy in building, constructing, and working with technological devices. This could be synthesizing chemicals, rewiring an electronic alarm, programming a computer, building a complex rope and pulley system, or designing an architectural structure.
Investigation (Intelligence) describes how well you are able to piece together clues, make inferences, and logically deduce things. Investigation checks could be made to figure out how to disarm a trap mechanism, infer that public dormitory style housing could mean a fairly regimented society, and so on.
Occult (Intelligence) describes your knowledge about psionics and magic, as well as other mysterious and hidden knowledge.
Animal Handling (Wisdom) describes your ability to interact with animals, and how well you can calm them, teach them, and direct them to do what you wish them to do.
Insight (Wisdom) describes your ability to read people and situations to uncover true intentions. Insight involves listening and reading body language, and is often used to determine if someone is lying, or to predict someone’s next move or ulterior motivations.
Medicine (Wisdom) describes your ability to diagnose and effectively treat wounds. It also describes your grasp of the underlying knowledge behind the biology and chemistry of the body, as well tangential knowledge, from epidemiology, to diets and poisons, to weaknesses in the human body.
Perception (Wisdom) describes your awareness of your surroundings. This encompasses things such as noticing hidden creatures or objects, finding traps, or eavesdropping.
Sanity (Wisdom) describes your mental fortitude and ability to resist harmful influences and retain your sense of self in the midst of traumatic circumstances. Just as Endurance describes physical resilience, sanity describes mental resilience.
Survival (Wisdom) describes your ability to survive in the wild, including finding safe food, navigation, making effective shelters, tracking creatures, avoiding natural hazards, and predicting weather.
Deception (Charisma) describes your ability to convince others a falsehood is true. This could be outright lying, feinting in combat, visually disguising yourself, or mimicking another creature.
Intimidation (Charisma) describes your ability to scare others and present yourself as more threatening. This could be attempting to threaten someone, attracting attention in combat, scaring others away, or other hostile actions.
Performance (Charisma) describes your ability to put on a public display, either through some form of speech, musical performance, dance, acting, romance, or other entertainment.
Persuasion (Charisma) describes your ability to influence people in good faith without deception. This includes using logical arguments to convince someone, etiquette to help someone be more friendly to you, or make cordial requests. It may also be used for small talk, schmoozing, or flirting.