Advancement
New skills should be more specific than the skill rolled, and relevant to the action taken.
In rule 6, "for advancement purposes only" means you can spend XP to gain a new skill by upgrading dice, but the narrative result of the action still stands as rolled.
After you fail a roll, you can immediately use the gained XP for a new skill.
Difficulty
When opposition is not from another character, the GM rolls a number of dice based on how difficult a task is, or uses a static number without rolling:
| Difficulty | Dice (D6) | Static Target |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 1 |
3 |
| Moderate | 2 |
6 |
| Hard | 3 |
9 |
| Very Hard | 4 |
12 |
Example: The GM describes a situation where Bob must ascend a wall to reach the top of a building, deeming it a Hard task. The target rating for the task can be a static
9, or the GM can roll3dice to determine the target dynamically. The GM opts to roll, and gets a total of7. This is what Bob needs to beat to succeed.
Ties
When your result is a tie with the opposing roll, you both partially succeed and fail. You don't get XP, and accomplish your goal barely with an unexpected twist or minor consequence.
Example: Bob rolls a total of
7for his climb, exactly matching the difficulty of the task. He struggles, his grip slipping occasionally, but he manages to reach the top. As he catches his breath, he realizes he's lost a shoe.
Statuses
A status is a modifier that affects actions, positively or negatively. They're written with their rating first, and modify the results of any related actions. Their rating can be also be randomized with dice, if desired.
A status will remain on a character until it's removed, either by action or otherwise made narratively untrue.
Advancement still works as normal with statuses, based on the rolled dice.
You can use a status to track many things:
- Harm or damage, rated by the result of the inflicting action
- Temporary conditions, like being Poisoned or Highly Caffeinated
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Progress: a craft project, quality of an item, etc.
Example (Disadvantage): Bob decides to try to retrieve his lost shoe. He tries to scale back down the wall, just as rain begins to fall around him. He now suffers a disadvantage penalty of -4 Raining that impacts his descent. He would roll his Climbing 3 skill, then subtract
4for the Raining status. He rolls3,5, and6, totaling14. Subtracting the Raining penalty gives him a final total of10.
Example (Condition): Bob manages to retrieve his shoe, and after letting it dry completely, finds that it's cleaner than ever. He heads to the party he's attending, where he enjoys a bonus of +2 Clean Shoe. At some point, he steps in a spilled drink, and loses the bonus.
Example (Damage): A fight breaks out at the end of the night, and Bob has to defend himself using Karate 2 vs. a moderate
6attack. He rolls a total of3, and suffers a -3 Broken Nose as a result.
Skill Slots
For longer campaigns, or games where you want to restrict advancement, consider limiting skills to a total number of slots per level. Players then must choose to replace skills when gaining new ones.
The following skill "triangle" is a good starting shape:
- Four level 2 skills
- Three level 3 skills
- Two level 4 skills
Leveling
For even longer game support, you can allow purchasing skill slots for XP, at a cost of twice the level. This cost simply makes the slot available, and while it is separate from obtaining a skill (done normally), players can buy a skill slot at the same time they obtain a skill.
Starting Skills
Depending on the scenario, characters could be customized and have additional starting skills. These could include broad archetypes/classes, specific skills for the scenario, etc.