Basic Actions

There are two types of actions, basic actions and compound actions. Most skills and actions are basic actions. Some, like combat or contests between two vehicles, require the more options and depth provided by compound action checks.

A check is usually performed when a player announces an action, but occasionally the GM will ask the player to perform a check in response to unknown or surprising situations.

Any time a player needs to know whether or not his character succeeds or fails at an action he must perform a “check” (also called a “skill check” or “attribute check.”) The steps to perform a basic check are:

1. The player describes what the character is attempting the GM.
2. The GM determines what skill (if any) is to be used and which attribute will modify the check.
3. The GM determines any addition situational modifiers that will affect the success of the check. This can include the difficulty of the action (the “difficulty modifier” or simply the “difficulty”) as well as opposing forces. The player does not necessarily need to be told all applicable modifiers.
4. The player draws a number of cards equal to the character’s skill from his karma deck. Further rules will refer to this as the draw. If the character does not have the appropriate skill, or no skill is involved, the player draws one card (see “defaults” below).
5. The player chooses which card to play. The unmodified number on the card is called card value. Note: while it is almost always preferable to use the highest card drawn, there may be instances when a player will chose another card instead.
6. Add all the modifiers to the card value; this is the modified total (MT).
7. If the modified total is greater than zero, the action succeeded. Otherwise, the character failed.

For example:
Enris the barbarian wizard is out in the mountains seeking the lair of the dreaded Dreaccle. He knows that the monster had to have come this way, and so he is searching for any tracks it may have left in the snow.

Enris’s player tells the GM he is looking for tracks, and the GM decides that this requires a tracking skill check, modified by awareness. The GM also decides that it is easy (because of the snow on the ground and the Dreaccle’s great weight) so he includes a +3 difficulty modifier.

Enris has a tracking skill of 3 so he draws three cards from his karma deck: -3, -4 and –7. He selects the highest, -3, and modifies it by his awareness (+2) and the situational modifiers (+3 for difficulty), for a total of +2.

The check’s total is greater than zero, so the GM tells the player that the character has found the tracks.

Difficulty Modifiers
The GM can modify a skill or attribute check based on his understanding of the action and guidelines presented in the rules. The table below lists generic modifiers based on the difficulty of the situation:
Difficulty of Task Modifier
Very Easy +5
Easy +3
Moderate 0
Difficult -3
Very Difficult -5
Nigh Impossible -8

Opposed Checks
Any use of skill to best another character is an opposed skill check. For instance, when trying to hide from someone a character is using his stealth skill against the other’s awareness. An opposed skill check is successful when the character’s modified total is greater than the opponent’s modified total. Unless the character is also trying to accomplish something, the MT does not have to be greater than zero, it merely needs to be greater than the opponent’s.

For example:
Enris drank more than he could pay for one evening, and came to realize he would either have to fight his way out, or charm his way out. Being, in general, a good person, he tried to appeal to the large barkeeper’s kind nature.

The GM decides that Enris’s player needs to make a charm check modified by his finesse opposed by the barkeeper’s awareness. Enris draws a +5, modified for his finesse the total is +6. The barkeeper draws a +8, and even with no modifiers (the GM determined he had an average awareness of 0) can see through Enris’s drunken arguments.

Skill Results
Typically you will only need to know whether an action succeeds or fails. But sometimes you will want to know exactly how well a character performed. The GM can compare the character’s modified total to the appropriate Result Chart below to gauge how well a character did. For opposed skill checks, compare the difference between the two character’s totals. Remember that if one character has a negative MT you add it to the opponent’s MT.

General Result
The general result column of the chart gives a brief, qualitative description of how well a character did. It can be used as a benchmark for determining difficulty numbers as well as a way to add description to a character’s success.

Information
The information column should be used both for checking how much a character knows about a subject as well as research checks. The information column is also used when a PC is trying to learn data from an NPC through either charm or force. The result is the amount of data gained from the NPC.

Money
The money column lists the percentage of a cost. During bargaining checks or other checks that will affect the price of an item, the GM should first establish a fair price for the item in question, and then adjust it by the factor determined through the check. This chart is based upon a character selling an item. For a character buying an item, find the inverse (positive is negative and vise versa) of the result and adjust the price accordingly.

Reaction
The reaction column is used to determine NPC reaction to the player character. It should be used only when the NPC and players first meet, but can also be used to determine reactions for request for aid.

Speed of Execution
The speed of execution column adjusts how long it takes to complete an action. The GM should assign the base amount of time (many skills include a time taken in their description), and then adjust this card to determine the speed of execution.

Multiple Results
The value of a check should not be used to determine multiple variables on the result chart. For instance, a check could determine how fast something took, but not how well it succeeded. The medicine skill, for example, takes half an hour to perform. A check is made to see how many hit points are healed during that half-hour. You can not modify the time taken based on the result, since it is already determining how well it worked. The cleansing skill, however, returns one card an hour, and only one card. By performing better on the skill check you can decrease the amount of time it takes to regain that one card.

MT General Result Information Money Reaction Speed of Execution
-10 Incompetence Erroneous Information -200% Loathing x5
-9 None -150% Hate x5
-8 Horrific None -125% Hate x5
-7 None -100% Aversion x4
-6 Awful None -75% Aversion x4
-5 None -50% Dislike x4
-4 Bad None -35% Dislike x3
-3 General Feeling -25% Annoyance x3
-2 Poor General Feeling -15% Annoyance x3
-1 General Feeling -10% Neutral x2
0 General Feeling 0 Neutral x2
1 Sufficient Basic Information +10% Neutral x1
2 General Information +15% Fondness/Impressed x1
3 Average General Information +25% Fondness/Impressed x1
4 Additional Trivia +35% Pleased/Intimidated ½
5 Good Additional Trivia +50% Pleased/Intimidated ½
6 Commonly Known Secrets +75% Affection/Afraid ½
7 Excellent Secrets Known to Some +100% Affection/Afraid 1/3
8 Secrets Known to Few +125% Delighted/Scared 1/3
9 Superb Secrets Known to Few +150% Delighted/Scared 1/3
10 Extraordinary Anything +200% Love/Terrified ¼