Basic Check Mechanics

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In order to determine whether an action succeeds or fails, the result of a d6 roll is added to the appropriate stat (along with any modifiers) and compared to a Challenge Value (CV). Actions succeed only by beating the CV.

Challenge Values are equivalent to the stat value needed to effortlessly complete a task. On the stat scale, 0 is considered completely incapable, 5 is considered average, and 10 is considered the natural biological limit. A CV of 5 means that a character with a corresponding stat of 5 will only fail the task on a Critical Failure. A CV of 10 means that the character must roll a 6 to succeed (Stat 5 + Roll 6 > 10).

A Critical Success will cause an action to succeed regardless of the CV.

If a character has an appropriate skill, a bonus is applied to any checks made in relation to that skill, between +0 for Untrained, up to +4 for Mastery. Situations may also modify some aspect of the check - attempting to do something is harder when being attacked, for example. These modifiers are discussed more on the Challenge Value page.

( Checks come in two flavors: Dice Contests and Dice Checks)

Dice Contests occur whenever the actions of one character are pitted against those of another. In these cases, a d6 is rolled for each character and summed with the appropriate stat, and the resulting values are compared against one another. In cases in which one character is the target of the others actions, the acting character's Dice Contest value must be greater than the target character's. In all other cases, ties are settled with a re-roll.

Throughout this wiki, we have included various valuations, either (stat or skill check #) or (stat or skill check vs stat or skill check) to give an example of what sort of numbers we think are reasonable for a given check.

Extended Checks

There are a few times a simple check is insufficient. These extended checks are generally related to doing something long term. There are a few types. Repeat checks simply mean that a check only covers a certain period of time, and needs to be made again afterwards. Mediation generally needs a Repeat check, once an hour, for example, to determine if a character is able to maintain the state. Concentration checks are another, though how often a character needs one is determined by the nature of the activity. Next are a Changing Checks, checks that get harder or easier as they are continued - each round you hang off the cliff, it's a little harder to hang on as you tire out, while understanding a dialect gets easier and easier until the CV is less than 2. Lastly there are construction checks - and they come in two flavors, Blueprint and Execution. These checks are for designing and building things - either technological or magical (while there are differences in execution, the two use the same mechanic for development).

Design is the first part - The GM designates a project to be of a certain level of complexity - Untrained to Master. This does 3 things - it determines what minimum skill level is required to produce or build the design, it determines the CV difficulty to produce or build the project, and it determines the base time to produce or build the project as a one off (factory work is faster, but can't be done without a blueprint or prototype to run from).