Core Mechanics

Skill Check

Whenever a character attempts an action whose outcome is uncertain and whose failure could bring real negative consequences for them or their group, they must make a skill check to find out how the action plays out.

To make a skill check , the player rolls 1d12, adds the bonus of the character's skill best suited to the task, and compares the result against a difficulty value set by the GM .

If the final result is greater than or equal to the difficulty value, the character succeeds at the task; otherwise, they fail. When faced with a failure, the player has two options:

• Accept the failure and grant the group a Boon .
• Spend a Boon to gain an additional chance on the check.

If the player chooses to spend a Boon for an additional chance and fails again, the group does not receive a new Boon for this second failure.

Group Checks

There are situations in which every character involved must make a skill check at the same time. In these cases, the group's resolution falls into one of two categories:

ONE SUCCESS IS ENOUGH: Situations in which it is enough for just one character to succeed to resolve the problem, such as noticing an enemy's stealthy approach.

ONE FAILURE IS ENOUGH: Situations in which a single character's failure means the whole group fails as well, such as slipping unseen through a guarded area.

In both cases, the group receives only 1 Boon , but only in the situation where the group, as a whole, fails the challenge.

Difficulty

The GM can use the table below as a reference for the difficulty value of tasks at different levels.

Critical Success and Failure

CRITICAL SUCCESS: Whenever the die result on a skill check is a 12, a critical success occurs. Regardless of the check's difficulty or the character's bonuses, this result is always counted as a success. In addition, when a player scores a critical success, the group also receives a Boon .

CRITICAL FAILURE: Whenever the die result on a skill check is a 1, a critical failure occurs. Regardless of the difficulty or the character's bonuses, this result is always counted as a failure, and the player cannot gain additional chances by spending Boons . In addition, when a player suffers a critical failure, the GM receives a Bane .

Success Level

The success level defines how well the character performed a task. While this is not very relevant for most tasks, for others it is essential. The outcomes of tasks such as casting a spell, shoving a character during combat, or playing in a tavern for a few coins depend directly on how well the character performed them.

The success level of a skill check is calculated as follows:

Manipulating the Chances

POSITIVE CHANCES: The player may make one extra roll for each positive chance they have and choose the best result among them.

NEGATIVE CHANCES: The player must make one extra roll for each negative chance they have and must choose the worst result among them.

Boons

Boons are a resource shared by the group to overcome failure. The group begins the session with no Boons , but gains a Boon , up to a maximum of 10 per session, whenever a player scores a critical success or fails a skill check and decides to accept the failure.

A player can spend 1 of the group's Boons in the following situations:

AFTER A ROLL: If the player fails a skill check with no negative chances , they can spend 1 Boon to gain a positive chance and thus make a new roll.

BEFORE A ROLL: If the player has negative chances on a skill check , they can spend 1 Boon before making their roll to gain a positive chance , canceling out a negative chance .

Banes

Just as the players have Boons , the GM has Banes to complicate the characters' lives and add tension to the story.

The GM begins the session with 1 Bane for each PC at the table. In addition, the GM gains 1 extra Bane , up to a maximum of 10 per session, whenever a player suffers a critical failure .

The GM can spend 1 Bane at any time to:

• Impose a negative chance on a PC 's skill check , before they make their roll.
• Grant a positive chance to an NPC 's skill check .
• Bring a character's complication into play.

Types of Action

Overcome Obstacle

A character takes an overcome obstacle action when they try to get past an obstacle or overcome a challenge imposed by the environment or created by another character's opposition.

To do so, the player makes a skill check against a difficulty set by the GM or against the difficulty imposed by the opponent's resistance offered .

Create Opportunity

A character takes a create opportunity action when they try to create a favorable situation for themselves or their allies, whether by aiding a companion, hindering an opponent, or simply altering the environment.

To do so, the player makes a skill check against a difficulty set by the GM or against the difficulty imposed by the opponent's resistance offered .

On a success, the character creates a tactical benefit in the scene that grants a positive chance to the next check made by an ally who takes advantage of the situation, or imposes a negative chance on the next check made by an opponent affected by it.

Offering Resistance

When a character tries to resist, avoid, or otherwise prevent an opponent from succeeding at an action, they are said to be offering resistance to that opponent's action.

Instead of rolling dice, the character offering resistance sets a difficulty value that the opponent must beat. This difficulty equals 7 + the bonus of the skill best suited to the form of resistance being used.

Skill Challenge

When a task requires the combined effort of the whole group, the characters must make a skill challenge . In a skill challenge , each character contributes to the task through an individual skill check and adds their result to those of the others to reach a difficulty value set by the GM .

How a character contributes to the skill challenge determines which skill must be tested. In situations where all characters must contribute in the same way to resolve the challenge, they must all use the same skill on their individual checks. However, there can also be situations where each character can contribute in a different way to the challenge, allowing them to test a skill in which they have more levels of training.

In addition, the characters involved in a skill challenge can choose to spend a Boon to reroll their individual skill check , but the group receives a Boon only if the skill challenge fails. There are no critical successes or critical failures in skill challenges .

Difficulty

Players can use the table below as a reference for the difficulty value at different difficulty levels of skill challenges .

Experience

At the end of a session, each character receives one experience point (XP) for every Boon the group accumulated but did not spend during that session.

Skill Improvements

At the start or end of a session, the characters have the opportunity to spend XP to improve a skill. The amount of experience points required varies according to the skill's current level: