Check

Meaningful Checks A check should only ever be attempted when both potential outcomes have consequences. Say you need to make a strength check to push open a door. The effect of success is obvious (the door is opened), but is there a consequence for failure other than just having to try again? If there is, then it's a valid check. But if there isn't, assume you eventually manage to push the door open and move on. Time and effort are potential consequences, but only if they'll make a difference for the next decision or encounter. Likewise, be prepared to follow through on either possibility if the check dictates it. If that sounds untenable or uninteresting then don't check, just narrate the success. Narrating an automatic failure is possible but much more frustrating. Any time you take this option you should highlight that the failure is due to circumstances outside the players control, and call out those circumstances so they have an avenue for changing them. Never cheat a check. When you get a result you don't want it introduces precisely the chaos and surprise that makes a dice driven game different from a story driven game. What you thought was the climactic victorious moment is actually a tragedy or a setback. Go with it, and see what's down that path.

When it isn't certain whether you will succeed or fail at something (and the outcome makes a difference) you roll a check to find out what happens. Roll dice equal to your score in the most appropriate attribute or skill. Each has examples of appropriate checks, but you can negotiate which makes most sense for the situation with the referee. The referee has final say on which score to use when there is any doubt. A 6 (red) adds a new die to the check, just like elsewhere. Take the highest value of any die rolled.

• Only 1's: Fumble
• Highest 3 or lower: Fail
• Highest 4 or greater: Success
• Two or more 6's: Triumph

Modifier

Modifiers for your circumstances may change how you make sets. Modifiers are either a bonus or a penalty. A bonus adds another die to the roll. A penalty removes a die from your roll. If a penalty would remove your last die, roll it and then remove dice (highest first) for any remaining penalties. If no dice remain, the result is a fumble. Bonuses and penalties negate one another before the check is rolled.

Han needs to dive out of a room before a heavy door slams down and traps her within. Agility is the most appropriate skill, and she has a 4 score. The door falls very quickly so the referee applies a penalty to the check check. Han rolls 3d and gets 1, 4, and 5. The highest result is 5 so Han succeeds, slipping under the door in the nick of time.

Failure

A failed check doesn't necessarily mean you don't accomplish what you were attempting to do. You might still get the result you desire if you can propose a sufficient consequence for that success. The referee is the final judge of whether your proposal is adequate and may negotiate terms as well. Common costs include losing hits, wits, or items. Just like a check, a failure cost has to make a difference. Once the terms are accepted you decide whether to apply them or suffer the original failure consequence.

Tenacious Chen is attempting to build a barricade before enemies arrive. The referee rules that this is a strength check, and a success indicates that the barricade is complete in time. Chen fails the check, but his player proposes a cost: the barricade is completed, but Chen is exhausted (a state) for the upcoming battle due to the effort to get it done in time. The referee agrees that's a valid consequence, and now Chen must decide whether that barricade is worth it.

Contest

Many checks are contests, directly opposed by an opponent's check. The check with the highest die wins. On a tie, a result with more dice of that result will win. If still tied the character with the higher reflex wins (deal reflex if necessary). A failure doesn't become a success even if it wins a contest. Contesting a check generally requires a defense during an encounter.

Han kicks Tenacious Chen, and he dodges with his guard. They roll a contest. She rolls 3d for her Combat score, he rolls 2d for Agility. Han's results are 2, 4, and 5, so a success at a 5. He rolls a 1 and a 6, the extra die comes up a 2, so a success with a 6. The 6 is the higher die, so Chen wins the contest and dodges her kick.

Cooperation

When allies help you make a check they roll their own dice and all the results are pooled together to find the highest result. Bonuses or penalties are applied to each individual check before it is combined with the others. A cooperating check doesn't need to be rolled against the same attribute or skill, so long as there is a reasonable explanation for how a different one could help. If a cooperating check fumbles everyone involved gets interference.

Margin

Sometimes sets will give you extra effects. Your margin is the number of extra dice equal to your highest result. So a set of two of a kind has a margin of 1, three of a kind has a margin of 2, and so on. Margins may affect failures as well as successes.

Venture

You can risk big to get better results on a future check (or damage roll). Before you make a check, you can declare a venture and set a level from -1 to -3, describing just what you're doing to make your check harder and how it will benefit an upcoming roll. After your roll, you take away the highest resulting die for each venture. If you fail or lose the contest there is no further effect. If you succeed, you gain an extra die to your specified check or damage roll. The bonus only lasts through your next action, so if you don't use it you'll lose it. You may also specify that your venture bonus will go towards an ally's check, but the same time limit is in effect. A venture should make sense, but beyond that there is no real limit to how it functions.

Han is facing a gang in an alley, and is hoping to intimidate them into leaving her alone. When one throws a punch, she declares a venture on her defense. She'll take -1 venture to reflect a fancy dodge using the splits and flicking the thug on the nose, and if she succeeds that will give her +1 die on her check to threaten them.

Triumph and Momentum

If you roll two or more 6's it is called a triumph. You gain momentum for your next check, or you can trigger a momentum stunt if you have one. If you have momentum when you roll a check you pick up any die with a 1 result and re-roll it until it isn't a 1. Momentum is lost whether you pick up a die or not. You must make the choice whether to use a stunt immediately when you triumph, otherwise you gain momentum instead. Some encounters or zones have built in stunts that can be triggered when you gain a triumph.

Fumble and Interference

When all your dice roll 1's or you have no dice left at all it is called a fumble. You gain interference for your next check. Some faults, keywords, or locations have effects that trigger on a fumble in place of interference. If you have more than one fumble effect that can trigger you choose which one to suffer. A common trigger is if you are in an area with a ledge, a fumble knocks you down into holding the ledge, and if you are climbing or holding the ledge a further fumble causes you to fall. If you have interference 6's no longer explode on your next check. If you have interference and gain momentum the two cancel out and you lose both.

See Also

• For the 3d6 version see: Check (Old)
• Game Play
• Complication
• Encounter
• Modifier

Version 2.5.2
©2014 Frameworks Games

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