<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_u">Skill Checks</span></span>(p. 63)<br/><br/><strong>SKILL BONUS</strong><br/>A character’s bonus with a skill is equal to his ranks in it + his<br/>modifier with the skill’s key attribute (which may be negative).<br/><br/><strong>SKILL CHECKS</strong><br/>When a character uses a skill, he makes a “skill check,”<br/>rolling 1d20 and adding his appropriate skill bonus to obtain a<br/>skill check result. If the result equals or exceeds the attempt’s<br/>Difficulty Class or “DC” (which generally falls between 10 for<br/>a relatively simple action and 60 for an extremely tricky one),<br/>the character succeeds; otherwise, he fails. A character may only<br/>retry a failed check when the GM determines it’s plausible (e.g.<br/>retrying an Acrobatics check to jump at a tournament might be<br/>fine, but leaping across a chasm doesn’t offer much chance for a<br/>fresh effort).<br/><br/><strong>UNTRAINED SKILL USE</strong><br/>A character with no ranks in a skill is considered “untrained.”<br/>He may attempt checks with the skill but his result cannot exceed<br/>15 and his error range increases by 2.<br/><br/><strong>Skill Name</strong>|<strong>Key Attribute</strong><br/><br/>Acrobatics                               Dex<br/><hr/>Athletics                                  Str<br/><hr/>Blend                                      Cha<br/><hr/>Bluff                                        Cha<br/><hr/>Crafting                                   Int<br/><hr/>Disguise                                  Cha<br/><hr/>Haggle                                    Wis<br/><hr/>Impress                                  Cha<br/><hr/>Intimidate                               Wis / Str<br/><hr/>Investigate                             Wis<br/><hr/>Medicine                                  Int<br/><hr/>Notice                                     Wis<br/><hr/>Prestidigitation                       Dex<br/><hr/>Resolve                                  Con<br/><hr/>Ride                                        Dex<br/><hr/>Search                                    Int<br/><hr/>Sense Motive                          Wis<br/><hr/>Sneak                                     Dex<br/><hr/>Survival                                  Wis<br/><hr/>Tactics                                    Int<br/><hr/><br/><strong>TAKING 10 AND TAKING 20</strong><br/>Sometimes a character doesn’t want to chance failure so he<br/>takes his time. In this case he can “take 10,” which requires twice<br/>the normal time. He does not roll 1d20 when making the skill<br/>check; instead, his result is calculated as if he’d rolled a natural 10.<br/><br/><em>Example: Lorelei has an Acrobatics skill bonus of +8 and<br/>faces a jump with a DC of 15. She chooses to take twice as long<br/>to set her result to 18 and automatically succeed.</em><br/><br/>Alternately, a character might have all the time in the world<br/>and want to take advantage of it. In this case he can “take 20,” which<br/>requires twenty times the normal time. As with taking 10 there is<br/>no roll; the result is calculated as if he’d rolled a natural 20.<br/><em><br/>Example: Lorelei has a meager Impress skill bonus of +4<br/>when she finds herself fortuitously snowed in at a prince’s home.<br/>She decides to take her time wooing him, taking 20 for a total<br/>result of 24. With any luck it’s high enough to turn his head.</em><br/><br/>In both cases there was no roll, so the character may not<br/>spend an action die to boost the result. Also, a character taking<br/>10 or 20 may not score a threat nor be activated as a critical<br/>success.<br/><br/>A character may not take 10 or 20 when distracted or<br/>endangered, nor may he do so when the GM determines that the<br/>element of chance is unavoidable. This option is also unavailable<br/>when making opposed, cooperative, and team checks (see page<br/>66).<br/><br/><strong>MULTI-TASKING</strong><br/>Sometimes a character must split his attention between<br/>multiple skill attempts — stabilizing a wounded friend while<br/>balancing on a precarious surface, for instance, or scanning a<br/>house for clues while listening for signs that the owner is lying to<br/>him. A character may split his attention between no more than<br/>two skill checks at a time and the GM must determine that any<br/>combination of skill checks is plausible. When multi-tasking,<br/>a character suffers a –5 penalty with<em>both</em>checks and his error<br/>range with each increases by 2.<br/><br/><strong>SPECIAL SKILL RESULTS</strong><br/>Every skill check has an error range and a threat range,<br/>which are natural die results that trigger special skill results.<br/>Unless otherwise specified, a skill check has an error range of 1<br/>and a threat range of 20, though character options, gear choices,<br/>and other effects may modify these base values. Bonuses expand<br/>the range of natural die rolls that trigger an error or threat, and<br/>penalties scale them back. Modifiers may not eliminate error and<br/>threat ranges.<br/><em><br/>Example: A character’s error range with a particular skill<br/>check increases by 2 and his threat range increases by 1. Unless<br/>other modifiers are in play, the check has an error range of 1–3<br/>and a threat range of 19–20.</em><br/><br/><strong>THREATS AND CRITICAL SUCCESSES</strong>(p. 65)<br/>When a skill check succeeds and the character rolls a natural<br/>number within his threat range (an actual roll of the number on<br/>a d20), he scores a threat — a potential critical success. To gain<br/>the benefits of a critical success, the character simply spends 1 or<br/>more action dice as listed in the skill description. No more than<br/>4 action dice may be spent to activate any critical success. When<br/>no cost is listed a character only needs to spend 1 action die to<br/>gain the benefit.<br/><br/>The GM could alternately apply effects of his own, let the<br/>skill user describe what happens, or even poll the other players<br/>for suggestions, especially if he thinks the result will be more<br/>interesting or make more sense in the current circumstances. This<br/>also costs 1–4 action dice based on the outcome. Most critical<br/>successes should have descriptive and mechanical components,<br/>and most of the time they should contribute to the ongoing fun<br/>and action of the scene rather than ending either.<br/><br/><strong>ERRORS AND CRITICAL FAILURES</strong><br/>When a skill check fails and the character rolls a natural<br/>number within his error range (an actual roll of the number on<br/>a d20), or when a skill result is negative, the character suffers an<br/>error — a potential critical failure. He only suffers the effects of<br/>the critical failure, however, if his opponent — commonly the GM<br/>— spends 1 or more action dice as listed in the skill description.<br/>No more than 4 action dice may be spent to activate any critical<br/>failure. When no cost is listed, the opponent only needs to spend<br/>1 action die to trigger the effect.<br/><br/>Critical failures are generally left to the GM’s discretion.<br/>The potential pitfall here is using a critical failure to punish the<br/>character — true failure is oppressive and demoralizing. A better<br/>option is to use the failure to stack the odds a little higher against<br/>the character and maybe his entire party. This offers more things<br/>for the characters to do and enhances the overall story<br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>OPPOSED CHECKS</strong><br/>When a character competes against someone else with a skill,<br/>he makes an “opposed check.” All involved make a standard skill<br/>check with the most relevant skill (e.g. Athletics for everyone<br/>in a foot race, Bluff for a lying character and Sense Motive for<br/>the listener, etc.), and the character with the highest result wins.<br/>Equal results tie unless this provides no clear result, in which<br/>case the winner is the character with the highest skill bonus. If<br/>this still ties, a random die roll determines the winner.<br/><br/><strong>COOPERATIVE CHECKS</strong><br/>When multiple characters work together to perform a task,<br/>they make a “cooperative check.” One character becomes the<br/>leader and all others become helpers. A maximum of 5 helpers<br/>may assist each skill check. The leader makes a standard skill check<br/>against the full DC and then each helper makes the same check<br/>against a DC of 15. For each helper who succeeds, the leader’s<br/>result increases by 1, and for each helper who scores a critical<br/>success the leader’s result increases by 2. If any of the helpers<br/>suffers a critical failure, however, the entire task is ruined and must<br/>be started again. The leader’s total result — after all helper bonuses<br/>are applied — determines the cooperative check’s outcome.<br/><br/><strong>TEAM CHECKS</strong><br/>Sometimes several characters perform a single task together<br/>and individual success is irrelevant — when Bluffing, for example,<br/>even one failure can expose everyone involved. Other times<br/>several characters making the same check, or even a cooperative<br/>check, unfairly tips the odds in the characters’ favor (even a few<br/>characters can practically ensure success with Notice or Search,<br/>for instance). In either of these cases the group should make a<br/>“team check.” This works like a standard skill check, except that<br/><em>only one character makes the check for the entire team.</em><br/><br/>• If every member of the team must succeed to reap the benefit<br/>(e.g. the Bluff), the character with the lowest skill bonus<br/>makes the check.<br/>• If only one character must succeed for the entire team to reap<br/>the benefit (e.g. the patrol), the character with the highest<br/>skill bonus makes the check.<br/><br/>When two or more characters qualify, the team chooses<br/>which makes the check.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>KNOWLEDGE CHECKS</strong><br/>Character knowledge differs from player knowledge and what<br/>a character knows can often mean the difference between victory<br/>and defeat, or life and death. When a character’s knowledge is in<br/>question he makes a “Knowledge check.” The player rolls 1d20<br/>and adds his Int modifier + the total number of Studies he knows<br/>(see page 61). He has the knowledge in question if his result beats<br/>the DC listed on Table 2.2: Knowledge Checks (see page 67).<br/>