Tests are a method of task or situation resolution, generally with a single roll of the dice. This allows the rules to intrude as little as possible into the game and hopefully creates an atmosphere conducive to role-playing.Steps of Testing
- Announce the Attribute, Statistic, or Skill to be Tested.
- Announce any modifiers (bonuses to value or subtraction to value) to the tested value and determine the Adjusted or Effective value.
- Roll the twenty-sided die.
- Determine the Result.
All Test resolution is performed with a single twenty-sided die. A player or GM rolls against an Attribute, Statistic, or Skill of a character on the twenty-sided. Then any modifiers to that value, whether additions for ease of the task or subtractions for difficulty, are stated. the Adjusted Value is determined. Note that any modifiers are always applied to the tested value and not to the die roll unless explicitly stated. Then the die is rolled. If the die result is equal to or below the tested value, then the test is successful. If the die result is above the tested value, then the test has failed. The lower the die roll was under the Adjusted value, the greater the success. The higher the die roll was over the value, the worse the failure
Skill Example: Olaf is trying the fish for his supper. He has a Fishing skill of 12. But he has only a pin and a bit of line and no real bait, so the fish are unlikely to bite. The GM assesses a -3 to his Fishing skill because of the rudimentary nature of his tackle. Olaf's Effective Skill is therefore a 9. He rolls to Test his skill, and fails with a roll of 15. He spends a fruitless hour fishing, without a bite to be had. He spends another hour at it and wants to Test again. Because it is now at dusk and the fish have started to be more active, the GM rules that Olaf has a +1. With the -3 for his poor tackle and no bait, the modifier is now a -2 total. His Effective Skill is now a 10. Olaf rolls again and succeeds with a 7. He happily pulls in his dinner.
Attribute Example: Farthan the Fearsome is in a burning tomb and the giant stone door is swinging shut. He races across the floor and tries to brace against the door to prevent it from trapping him in here. The GM declares that Farthan needs to make a Strength Test to see if he is able to keep the door open. The GM also states that because the door is solid stone, Farthan has a -3 modifier to his Strength to keep it open. Additionally, because of the smoke from the fire, Farthan is choking a bit, so has an additional -1 modifier to his Test, for an overall modifier of -4. Farthan has a natural Strength of 13, so his Effective Strength is (13 - 4 =) 9. He rolls a twenty-sided die and the result is a 9. He succeeds, but only just by the skin of his teeth. The GM says that Farthan is barely keeping the door open and can hold it only for a little while longer, so he'd better get out while he can.
Strong Successes
At the GM's option, if a Test succeed by more than 1/2 of the Tests Level, then a Strong Success has occurred. This simply means that not only was the action or Test successful, but it looked good and maybe was slightly better than normal. No added bonus is necessary, but a slight extra bit of advantage or information may be given at the GM's wish.Example: Iridal is making pots to sell at the market. She Tests her Pottery Skill for each pot she makes. Her skill is 12. One on Test she rolls a 5. This is less than 1/2 of her Skill of 12. Therefore it was a Strong success. The GM, feeling generous, says that she has made a nice, sturdy, and attractive pot (nothing revolutionary, just a nice pot) that should fetch an extra silver at the market.
Critical Successes
If the die result is ever a natural 1 or 2, then a Critical Success has been rolled. A roll of 1 is the best possible success of any case, and is referred to as an Extraordinary Success. In the case of an Extraordinary Success, not only does the task succeed, but it succeeds beyond the hopes of the character. Whatever was the ideal level of success has occurred, plus it was accomplished with style, grace, ease, and more was accomplished than was expected. The GM is free to determine what, if any, additional bonus has occurred. If a 2 is the result, then a Extreme Success has been rolled. An Extreme Success is a lesser version of an Extraordinary Success. The task was successful and was very well performed. There may or may not be an additional bonus that has occurred, the GM will determine.Example: Jokkler is trying to impress a tavern full of people with his stories. He spends a while spinning tales and the GM lets him test against his Bard Skill. The GM assess a +1 modifier because most everyone is drinking ale and so their wits are dulled and they are more easily impressed. The GM has Jokkler describe the tale he is telling and then allows him to roll. Jokkler Tests against his Bard Skill and rolls a 2. The GM tells Jokkler that the people in the tavern are not only enthralled by his story, but when he finishes, they buy him some ale and beg him for another tale. The GM also notes that they may be receptive to any persuasion attempts or questions that Jokkler may now ask, because they have started to like him.
Critical Failures
When a natural 19 or 20 is rolled, then a Critical Failure is the result. A 20 is a case of Catastrophic Failure. Not only does the task fail, but it fails in an embarrassing, terrible way that may also be dangerous and have important repercussions. The GM is free to determine effects to confound and injure both pride and health of the characters involved. A 19 is an example of a Extreme Failure. It is a lesser case of a Catastrophic Failure. The task has failed badly, and the character has revealed his intent and lost the initiative. He also probably has some unfortunate rebound from attempting the task.Example: Hargus has a Broadsword skill of 14. He is in battle with a maddened pirate and is fighting for his life. He takes a swing at the pirate and rolls to hit. The die roll is a 20. The GM describes how Hargus swings and over balances himself when he misses. The power of the sword swing is so great that when Hargus stumbles forward to regain his balance, he hits himself in the leg. He rolls damage for the Broadsword and his Base Damage combined and receives 12 points of damage because of his errant swing. Not only that, but he is so shocked by this that he loses his defense action for that round and the pirate gets an open attack on him. Poor Hargus is in dire straits.
Special Types of Tests
Will Tests are used generally under one of three situations: (a)Contest of Wills; (b) Resisting (Usually a Social Skill or Magickal Attack); (c) Making a Horror Check. A GM may state other situations where he wishes to use a Will Test to resolve something, but these are the three main reasons.
Contest of Wills
A Contest of Wills is the generic case of two intelligences opposing each other. These rules are used in some, but not all, of Will Tests. When a Contest of Wills is declared, there is one of two types: Directed and Mutual. A Directed Contest of Wills is one in which one party is the attacker and one party is the target who is resisting (this is the most common case). The Mutual Contest of Wills in one in which both parties actively engage the other in a Contest of Wills simultaneously.-Directed Contest of Wills
The Attacker initiates the Contest of Wills by Testing against his Will. If he fails, the Contest immediately ends and the Attacker's action is ineffective. If he Critically Fails, then he is mentally Stunned for a round. If he succeeds, then the Target gets to resist. If the Attack Critically Succeeds, then the target has a -5 to his Will Test to resist (the next one only), or the Attacker automatically wins the Contest of Wills (GM's fiat). If the Target can resist, he Tests against his Will. If he fails, the Attacker has won the Contest of Wills. If he Critically Fails, then the Attacker's action is even more effective (GM's fiat as to actual effect). If the Target succeeds in his resistance, then the Contest of Wills continues, going back to the Attacker (who must start again and Test against his Will and following the pattern as above). If the Target Critically Succeeds, then the Attacker has a -5 to his Will Test to Attack (the next one only) or the Target automatically wins the Contest of Wills (again, choice is GM's). Contest of Wills continues until the Attacker gives up, leaving the action unsuccessful and unresolved, or one of the parties fail and the other succeeds.-Mutual Contest of Wills
In this case, there is two antagonistic parties who engage each other. The party with the highest Wits goes first, he is Party A (the other is Party B). Party A Tests his Will. If he fails, then Party B must Test his Will. If Party A Critically Fails, he automatically loses the Contest and the losing condition occurs to him. If he is successful, Party B has to Test against their Will. If he Critically succeeds, Party B has a -5 to their next Will Test when they Test against it. Party B then Tests his Will (unless Party A had Critically Failed). If Party B fails, and Party A has succeeded, then Party A wins and the losing condition occurs to Party B. If Part B fails, and Party A had also failed, the Contest continues and goes back to Party A to Test his Will. If Party B succeeds, and Party A failed, then Party B has won and the losing condition occurs to Party A. If Party B succeeds, and Party A had also succeeded, then the Contest of Wills goes back to Party A to Test his Will again. In cases of Critical Success or Failures for Party B, it doesn't matter what the other party had done, the same results apply for Party B as they had for Party A at the beginning of the Test (i.e. A Critical Failure in either case for Party B means that Party B loses; a Critical Success in either case means that Party A has a -5 to his Will for the next Will Test if he had previously succeeded on his own Will Test) The Contest continues until one Party has Succeeded and the other Party has Failed.Resisting
When a character is Resisting, they are trying to fend off an attack that: (a) is hostile in intent or has a negative effect on the target, (b) the target is actively aware of, or (c) is coming from an Attacker that they are already suspicious of or dislike. If the attack meets one of these criterion, then it can be Resisted. In cases of Resisting, it is like a Directed Contest of Wills, with the Attacker being the one who initiates the Contest by using a Social Skill or a Personal Magickal Attack on the Resisting Target. In this case, if either Party rolls a Critical Success, then the other Party automatically loses. If either Party rolls a Critical Failure, then that Party automatically loses. However, the difference is that if a Social Skill is being used, the Attacker Tests against the Social Skill instead of his Will (the Resisting Target Tests against his Will, unless there is a specific Skill he has which exists to resist this type of attack). If a Magickal attack is being used, once the Attacker Tests to see if the spell itself was successful are finished, then the Contest of Wills starts.Example: Jokkler is trying to Persuade a guard to let him in to see the King. Jokkler's player explains to the GM that he is claiming to be an important messenger and that he was instructed to give his message only to the King himself, and no other. The GM has him elaborate on his story and acts the part of the suspicious guard. When he thinks Jokkler's player has talked enough, he tells him to Test his Persuasion Skill. Since the guard is suspicious of this character (and most everyone in general) he can Resist Jokkler's Skill. Jokkler Tests his Persuasion Skill (of 12) and rolls an 8. He succeeds. The guard then Tests his Will (or he could Test against the Detect Lies Skill, if he had it and Jokkler was lying). The guard's Will is a 10, and he rolls a 5. He succeeds, so Jokkler continues talking and persuading and Tests again. He rolls a 7, and succeeds against his Persuasion Skill. The guard rolls a 10, and barely succeeds against his Will. The guard still isn't convinced, but his suspicion is waning somewhat. Jokkler Tests his Persuadion skill again and rolls a 2. Critical Success! Jokkler automatically succeeds, his Skill overwhelming the guard's Will. The GM describes that when Jokkler starts explaining that the reason he is dressed so shabbily for a messenger is that he just rode into town and made his way here as fast as possible without changing into his courtier garb, the guard's suspicions are allayed and his is convinced. The guard apoligizes for delaying Jokkler, begs his master's forgiveness, and allows Jokkler inside the Palace.
Horror Checks
When a character is confronted by something terrible, frightening, unearthly, or utterly repulsive and disgusting, the GM may call for a Horror Check. This is to see if the character is greatly affected by the experience. Note that the GM does not have to demand a Horror check from every character that witnesses the same situation, as backgrounds and experience affect how disturbed a character is (for Example a Butcher or Hunter wouldn't be affected by slaughtering and bleeding a pig for dinner, but a Courtesan or Noble woman might throw-up or faint after seeing such a sight). All that is required is that the character Tests against their Will. If they are successful, beyond a slight shudder or brief nausea, they are fine. If they Critically Succeed, then they are utterly unfazed by the experience at all. If they fail, then they fell terror, disquiet, or nausea and are -2 to all Tests for as long as they are exposed to the situation and may, at the GM's decision, be paralyzed by fear, violently sick, become hysterical, or faint (conditions lasting as long as he determines or until they succeed on a Will Test -2). If they Critically fail, they are mentally stunned for a round. After this, any extreme reaction the GM specifies occurs (including wetting oneself, running in terror, and the like). Also, the GM can state that the character has developed a neurosis or psychosis arising from the experience if it was really awful (these can include phobias, catatonia, or multiple personalities and the like at the GM's fiat). I use Horror Checks relatively rarely, so they add flavor to an unusual encounter or situation by suggesting to the players how alien or horrific the experience is for the characters.