Chaos Fantasy: Source

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Chapter 6: Skills
[ | Rolling Skills | Expert Skills | How Weapon Skills Work | Choosing Skills | Creative | Engineering | Espionage | Mystical | Physical | Pilotry | Science | Technical | Technology | Weapons (Melee) | Weapons (Ranged) | Wilderness | ]
Rolling Skills

Players should know what number is the bare minimum for success before they make their roll.

Skill levels range from 1-10. This can be broken past the limit up to 15. Look at Limit Breaks in Experience for more information.

If a skill penalty is too high, your character may not be allowed to attempt it. In other words, you don't even get a chance to roll! This is up to the GM, but he will need to gauge your character's past experience based on the scene he is currently handling. If he doesn't believe your character is up to the task (regardless of your skill level), he doesn't have to let you roll.

In order to make a skill check, you'll need 1D10 where you will be rolling from 1 to 10 (0). The formula is somewhat simple; your skill level (and bonuses) determines your target number. You must match your target number or roll lower.

Stat to Skill Bonus

All skill rolls are affected by a stat when you attempt it. The GM will tell you what stat you are relying on for the purposes of the skill roll. The higher the stat, the better your skill bonus.

For every 4 points in a stat, add 1 to your skill level. This goes for every stat when added to any skill roll. You may want to record these bonuses on your character sheet.

Let's say you have a Strength of 12. That means you get to add 3 levels to any skill whenever the GM asks you to roll Strength + (chosen skill).

No matter what bonuses you get from ki or your stat, they may not add more than 5 levels to your skill roll.
Other bonuses can still affect your roll.

If the character wishes to perform a skill while being distracted, threatened, or is simply in combat, he must roll Resist Concentration Loss first. The effects of this Resist roll last the entire combat round or for a few minutes. If the character fails, performing a skill right now is impossible. The character may try again later or next round.

If the character takes damage or is otherwise messed with while performing a skill, he must roll Resist Concentration Loss. Consult the Resistance section for more details on this.

If the character ever fails a resist Primal Nature roll, skill performance is impossible.

Difficulty

First off, let's discuss Trivial Difficulty. This is when the player is attempting a skill which he actually doesn't have. So maybe a character is trying to drive a car when he doesn't actually have the skill. For most situations, driving a car isn't all that hard even if your character doesn't know it. This is what is known as Trivial Difficulty. If you run into this situation, simply allow the character to proceed with zero quality points. If the character tries to compete with someone that has the skill or the skill roll is no longer considered trivial (pulling into fast highway traffic), he outright fails. The GM may allow a skill roll based on the stat alone, if he thinks it's at least a possibility.

If for any reason, you are required to make a combat roll during a skill performance (playing football with buddies and catching the ball), you are Awkward at all times. If your buddies have the Athletics skill (to get bonuses from Quality), you may be in trouble.

Otherwise how does the GM determine the difficulty of a roll? Well, in most instances, the skill roll may require no penalty. For many situations, a difficulty is not necessary. Only in truly trying moments should the GM consider looking at the chart below.

Difficulty Meaning

-1 or -3 Perhaps just a small snag in the task at hand. Something may have come undone or your character must worry about two menial tasks simultaneously. This could be doing math equations, fixing a stubborn car engine, or anything else requiring a bit of experience.

-4 to -6 This is something that requires precision. The roll itself requires some intimate knowledge of the skill. This could be rappeling down a very dangerous cliff, swimming in a strong current, trying to stop internal bleeding in a patient, etc.

-7 to -11 Only the lucky amateurs and professionals handle these tasks. This could be delicate surgery, working with nanotechnology, doing a complex gymnastics routine, dodging incoming traffic at high speeds, etc.

-12 to -15 Only the best will do; this task requires rare knowledge and impeccable skill. It could be researching some ancient mythology, inventing a new surgical technique, seeing a small blood stain inside a cigar stain on a carpet; these are penalties that would completely discourage most and are meant to challenge only the finest of this skill.

Beyond. Unbelievable. If the GM sicks this on you, it's because you're trying to do something absolutely insane. Trying to translate an alien language or working with completely alien technology, achieving cold fusion; anything that could be considered impossible by any reasonable person.

Examples of rolling a skill:

As stated before, the GM will ask you to add any stat he feels appropriate to the skill roll. Agility + Handguns could be fancy gunplay, Intelligence + Handguns could be to recognize a model, Perception + Handguns to notice defects in the chamber; there are many different possibilities.

Let's say that Joe wants to analyze some ancient language. Well, he has Ancient Languages at Level 6 with a basic talent in Cuneiform. His Intelligence is 8.

Because he has an Intelligence of 8, he may add 2 skill levels to any Intelligence-based skill roll. He is asked to roll Intelligence + Ancient Languages to decipher some cuneiform.

Intelligence = +2 skill levels.
Ancient Languages = +6 skill levels.
basic talent = +2 skill levels.

Joe has a Skill Level of 10 for the roll. The GM states that Cuneiform is quite old and the tablets aren't entirely clear as they've been worn away by old age. Given the nature and importance of these tablets to his campaign, he makes the difficulty -9. Joe balks in disgust and decides to spend 2 Ki on this skill roll; his target number is now 3.

Is there anything else Joe can do to assure success? Read the next section to find out.