Ability
Abilities define how well you perform different activities in dramatic situations.
Ratings
Each Ability has a Rating from one (the worst) to six (the best). The higher your Rating, the better you are at that activity. If a Rating isn’t listed assume it is (1) Amateur. Only the rarest of heroes or villains achieve a Rating beyond (3) Expert.
Checks and Saves
When a situation is uncertain it is resolved by a die roll. These fall into two categories: Checks and Saves.
You roll a Check when you take the initiative and focus on doing something. When you roll a Check, you roll dice equal to the most appropriate Ability’s Rating. The more dice you roll, the more likely you are to succeed.
Saves, on the other hand, are special rolls performed as a reaction. When rolling a Save, you only roll dice equal to half your Ability Rating—rounding up.
Named Uses
Each Ability lists some specific named Checks and Saves. These grant an idea of what you can do with the Ability, but you aren’t limited to just what’s listed. Some Modifiers and Distinctions apply to specifically to named uses.
Masteries
Each Ability covers a broad range of related skills or fields of study, and has general uses which don’t require any Mastery at all. Masteries are for situations where it doesn't fit that everyone is proficient with a particular aspect of that Ability.
A Mastery is a specific subdivision of knowledge within an Ability. Masteries default to Locked—the character has no special familiarity or knowledge of them. It costs 1 Build Point to purchase a Mastery, called Unlocking it.
If a Mastery applies to a roll it suffers a –1 Penalty unless the relevant Mastery is Unlocked. You can still try to do things within a Mastery you aren’t familiar with, you’re just not very good at them.
Some Masteries are listed as a group with an asterisk (*). In these cases every example within the group is a separate Mastery. Languages (*) are one example of a Mastery group.
Masteries are listed under the Ability that best applies, but one may become relevant to the rolls of other Abilities. When that situation occurs you suffer the Penalty if you don’t have the necessary Mastery. When multiple Masteries apply to one roll, each one you don’t have applies an extra –1 Penalty.
Build Points
You have a number of Build Points determined by your Rank. You start with a minimum Rating of one (1) in each Ability without spending any points. Each point spent increases one Ability Rating by +1, up to the maximum Rating allowed by your Rank.
| Score | Save | Points | Label | Description |
| 1 | (1) | 0 | Amateur | You dabble, or try to get by on luck. |
| 2 | (1) | 1 | Proficient | You are trained and competent. |
| 3 | (2) | 2 | Expert | You are talented or extensively trained. |
| 4 | (2) | 3 | Master | You are an accomplished expert. |
| 5 | (3) | 4 | Genius | You have a rare and extraordinary gift. |
| 6 | (3) | 5 | Paragon | You are the greatest of all time. |
See Also
Version 3.0.0
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