TTRPG:Skills

Skills represent the various abilities that a character can use. They are either innate, honed through practice and training, or a bit of both.

Since skill checks are made using percentile dice, a character's relative proficiency in a skill can be expressed by saying, for example, "Frederick has a 35% chance of successfully picking that lock".

Determining Skill Rating
When creating a character, the base amount for each skill is equal to the governing attribute; this amount is written in the Attribute Modifier box on the character sheet. The exception is expertise skills, which do not gain the attribute bonus unless at least one skill point has been put into that skill.

The next step is determining how many skill points are to be put into each skill. At character creation, and upon leveling up, the normal amount of skill points given is equal to twice the character's Intellect.

If there are any other modifiers (from race, etc), these are written in the Miscellaneous Modifier box on the character sheet. Even if no skill points have been put into a skill, a racial modifier can give a miniscule chance of pulling off even an expertise skill.

Finally, for class skills, an immediate bonus of +10 is given; this amount is added after all other modifiers have been totaled, and allows for the attribute bonus whether or not any skill points have been used in that skill.

To summarize, the total skill rating is equal to Attribute + Skill Points ± other modifiers.

Making Skill Checks
To make a skill check, roll percentile dice. If the amount shown on the dice is equal to or less than your character's total skill rating, the attempted action was successful; if not, the attempt was unsuccessful. Unless the check was made in a life-or-death situation, or the character is pressed for time, there is usually no reason that another attempt cannot be made; such a decision is ultimately up to the Game Master.

Sometimes a situation calls for a change to be made to the character's chances of success. For instance, Frederick has a 35% chance of successfully picking most locks. But say he comes across a lock that is particularly well made, with a more complex mechanism. Because of the quality of its construction, the lock imposes a -15 penalty; accordingly, Frederick's chances drop to 20%.

The modifier to a character's chances of success can also be a positive one. For example, if Frederick has a set of thieves' tools that are expertly crafted, his chances to pick normal locks can increase by 10%. This can help partially negate the penalty from the aforementioned high-quality lock; with all appropriate modifiers added to and subtracted from Frederick's normal chances, the total penalty imposed on him is only -5 instead of -1, giving him a 30% chance of success.

Critical Success, Marginal Success, and Critical Failure (Optional Rule)
If a character rolls a total result of 01 on their skill roll (assuming they have any chance at all of succeeding normally), they succeed in a dramatic fashion. For instance, Frederick's attempt at picking the lock goes off flawlessly; the lock opens silently, and he leaves no traces of his tampering.

If a character rolls exactly the number they would need to succeed (in Frederick's case, rolling a result of exactly 30), they succeed, but just barely; the lock might click open loudly enough to alert a guard, or Frederick's tools might leave a scratch that is visible to anyone who inspects the lock. A marginal success is still a success...but it might have been close enough to cause a small amount of trouble further down the road.

If a character rolls a result of 100 (00 on the dice), they not only fail, they fail in a way that is a serious inconvenience. Continuing with the above example, Frederick might make a mistake that breaks the lock, forcing him to bash the door down if he wants to get inside. The exception occurs when a character has an effective skill rating of 100 in the relevant skill; they will still fail on a roll of 100, but they'll never get a critical failure.