Gameplay: Using Skills

When taking an action, characters make use of Abilities and Skills to make a "skill check" to determine how well they do. This skill check involves a dice roll where the higher the result of the roll, the better the character does. Open Game Content (OGC) provides rules for making skill checks, but there are two additional House Rules to keep in mind when making such checks. These additional rules are not typical of OGC. For this reason, they will be noted below in the Using Skills discussion, and clearly marked as "House Rules" for use within The Lovecraftian Traveller.

Unless otherwise marked as "House Rules," the following material is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a. The text may have been modified slightly from that of the System Reverence Document (v.3.5) or Modern System Reference Document.


USING SKILLS
To make a skill check, roll 1d20. The total of the die roll will then be added to the following:

• Ability Modifier. Add the Ability Modifier for the Skill's key Ability (the Ability associated with the skill's use). The key Ability of each Skill is noted in its description.
• Skill Level. Add the number of points in the Skill being used. Unless otherwised noted in the Skill description, a skill check can be performed even if the character has no rank in the applicable Skill--doing this is called making an "untrained skill check."
• Miscellaneous Modifiers. Add any modifiers provided by other game mechanics (armor penalties, Feat bonuses, magical modifiers, etc.)

The sum of the numbers gathered in a skill check are then compared to the Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is provided by the GM, but generally follows the list below.

DIFFICULTY CLASS
0: Very easy
5: Easy
10: Average
15: Tough
20: Challenging
25: Formidable
30: Heroic
40: Nearly impossible

HOUSE RULES: DRAMATIC FAILURE
When a skill check is performed, any roll that fails to meet or exceed the DC is considered a failure. If, however, the d20 roll lands on a "1" (even if the character exceeds the DC with the use of modifiers) this is considered a dramatic failure. Such a failure may simply be amusing for skill checks between 0-15 DC, but could risk injury or death for skill checks between 20-40 DC.

HOUSE RULES: DRAMATIC SUCCESS
Any roll that succeeds to meet or exceed the DC, other than a dramatic failure, is considered a success. If, however, the d20 roll lands on a "20" (meaning the die itself lands on a "natural 20," or a 20 without the use of modifiers) this is considered a dramatic success. Such a success allows the character to show an exemplary performance in the action they are currently taking. Or, the player may take a "hero point." A hero point may be used at any time during the game to add a 1-point modifier to a skill check, or to nullify the effects of a dramatic failure.

Click here for more information on Rolling Skills