Proficiencies

These are the skills that you will be rolling the dice in order to use. These are skills that have a substantial penalty for failure and/or are very immediate. Skills used for combat are examples of this type of skill. These skills are listed numerically. Having Crossbow I means that you know little more than which end is the one to point towards your target. Having Intimidation IX means that you usually can get your way when need be. Level I is minimally trained; level III is a talented beginner. Level V is a professional; level VII is an expert. Level IX is a master; levels XI+ are stuff of legend.

Should you need to compare proficiencies and apprenticeships, levels I to III are equal to apprentice, IV to VIII are equivalent to journeyman, and levels IX and higher are equal to master. For benchmarks, requirements to learn a skill, and similar purposes, bonuses are added to the effective skill level. For example, to even attempt climbing a wooden wall Climbing VIII is needed, but a very dextrous climber with a 16 Agility needs only Climbing V due to the +3 bonus for the high attribute. Additional benefits gained from increasing skill levels (such as those from Wrestling) only consider the actual skill level known, rather than with the bonuses added.

Non-martial proficiencies have an attribute listed. This attribute is used to modify the chance that the skill is used successfully according to the chart at right. Each attribute point above 10 grants a +1 to Social skills, whereas every two full attribute points above 10 increase Technical skills by +1. Mystic skills are affected less by natural inclination than they are by skill, each +1 to the skill roll is from a full 3 attribute points above 10. The listed attribute is the default, for everyday use. This is so that you can do all the math for your character sheet ahead of time, to avoid slowing the game in progress. Some players write down the total modifier (what you would add to the 1D20 roll) after the skill level in parenthesis, such as Walking III (5) for a character with a 14 Stamina. Others use a slash between the two (Walking III/5), and yet others prefer the modifiers listed separately and wish to add the total with each roll (Walking 3+2). Use whatever is easier for you. If another attribute is more appropriate in a specific situation, then use that one. If no attribute is relevant—such as in an uncommon pure-skill situation—then use only the skill level to modify the die roll.

Unless otherwise noted, a total roll (with the skill level and modifiers added) of ten or more is successful. Some skills are inherently more difficult (such as Teaching or Telekinesis) and are successful on a 15 or higher. This will be specified in the skill description, as will any other number to beat or other involved mechanics. The higher the total number rolled (with bonuses, of course), the better the skill was performed. This sometimes gives a specific bonus such as martial proficiencies causing greater damage or Hypnosis inflicting a saving throw penalty, but for most skill checks this is purely descriptive. Great success can even be ignored in many routine instances, a prime example being the Balancing skill: anything over "don't fall" is just showing off.

Unlike attack rolls or saving throws, there is no such thing as either critical success or failure on a standard (non-martial) skill check. This is something skill checks have in common with defence rolls. In other words, if your skill level and bonuses together are already more than enough to succeed without rolling the dice, then you don't usually need to bother rolling—barring substantial penalties, of course. In many cases, you can re-attempt to use a skill after a failed roll. Each additional attempt suffers a cumulative -2 penalty on the skill check. This is not a free retest. It still takes time to accomplish (the next round at the very least), and you still suffer any possible effects of failure. For example, if you fail in a Climbing skill check you fall back to the ground. You can pull yourself off of whomever you landed on, and start back up the wall again, only this time you have a -2 to the roll. If you fall again—take damage again, land on that poor bloke again (and you'd think he'd know not to stand there by now)—you can attempt a third climb, but this time the penalty is -4. A fourth effort would have a -6 on the skill check. This guideline is intended to be used after an unsucessful skill check, but can be used for multiple successful attempts. For example, if the Game Master is getting annoyed with you using the Glare skill 24-7, she may start sticking this repeat effort penalty on you.

1D20 is normally rolled for a skill check. This is the same die used for attribute checks and challenges, saving throws, and combat (which is really just a rather involved form of proficiency check), so is usually ready at hand. This gives a nice random and even numeric spread. Some gaming troupes prefer their skill checks to be more averaged, with mediocre successes common but both great success and catastrophic disaster much rarer. For these players 2D10 may be used instead. This gives nearly the same spread (2-20 instead of 1-20), but the results are heavily weighed towards the middle. That is, results of ten or eleven are going to occur far more often than two or twenty—or even the combined odds of both two and twenty. 2D10 graphs out into a wide bell curve rather than the flat results of 1D20, for those interested in that sort of thing (but if you are such a person, you probably already know that). Rolling 2D10 also adds the tiny extra bit of work in rolling two dice (or one die twice) and adding the results. However, many feel that this is a small price in exchange for enhanced verisimilitude. We'll leave it up to each gaming troupe (and this should be a group thing, not per each roll) to decide if they want the somewhat more natural probabilities or slightly faster gaming.