Skill Basics
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SKILL BASICS
Using Skills
To make a skill check, consult your rank in the skill. It should be something like:
| Abysmal | Terrible | Poor | Mediocre | Fair | Good | Great | Superb | Legendary |
|---|
Roll 4dF and use the results to modify the level of your skill. A die showing @@+@@ will move this performance of the skill to the right, making it one degree better or more successful. Similarly a die showing @@-@@ will make this performance on degree worse, moving it to the right. The blank sides of a Fudge die do not change the result of the roll.
So, a character with Move Silently: Good rolls @@[ + + 0 - ]@@ yield a net increase of one degree, for a Great attempt. If a character with Mediocre Computer Use rolls @@[ - - 0 + ]@@ he only managed a Poor job this time.
Acquiring Skill Ranks
As the game progresses, your GM will award you with skill advances or Fudge Points.
Difficulty (Unopposed Checks)
Some checks are made against a set Difficulty. This is a difficulty set by the GM (using the skill rules as a guideline) that a character must attain to succeed.
| Table: Difficulty Class Examples | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty (Fudge) | Example (Skill Used) |
| Very easy (Abysmal) | Notice something large in plain sight (Spot) |
| Easy (Terrible) | Climb a knotted rope (Climb) |
| Average (Poor) | Hear an approaching security guard (Listen) |
| Tough (Mediocre) | Disarm an explosive (Demolitions) |
| Challenging (Fair) | Swim against a strong current (Swim) |
| Formidable (Good) | Break into a secure computer system (Computer Use) |
| Heroic (Great) | Leap across a 30-foot chasm (Jump) |
| Superheroic (Superb) | Convince the guards that even though youre not wearing an ID badge and arent on their list, they should let you into the building (Bluff) |
| Nearly impossible (Legendary) | Track a trained commando through the forests of Brazil on a moonless night after 12 days of rainfall (Survival) |
Opposed Checks
Some skill checks are opposed checks. They are made against a usually another characters skill check result.
| Table: Example Opposed Checks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Task | Skill | Opposing Skill |
| Sneak up on someone | Move Silently | Listen |
| Con someone | Bluff | Sense Motive |
| Hide from someone | Hide | Spot |
| Win a car race | Drive | Drive |
| Pretend to be someone else | Disguise | Spot |
| Steal a key chain | Sleight of Hand | Spot |
| Create a fake ID | Forgery | Forgery |
Trying Again
If a character fails on a skill check, he or she can sometimes try again. Check the skill description to find out if, and under what circumstances, a character can try again. Many skills, however, have natural consequences for failing that must be accounted for. Some skills cant be tried again once a check has failed for a particular task. If the use of a skill carries no penalty for failure, a character can take 20 and assume that he or she keeps trying until he or she eventually succeeds.
Untrained Skill Checks
Generally, if a character attempts to use a skill he or she doesnt have any ranks in, the character makes a skill check using a base level of Poor. Some skills can be used only if the character is trained in the skill.
Favorable and Unfavorable Conditions
Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill modifier or a change to the skill checks DC. The GM can alter the odds of success in four ways to take into account exceptional circumstances:
- Give the skill user a +1 circumstance bonus to represent conditions that improve performance, such as having the perfect tool for the job, getting help from another character, or working under conditions that are significantly better than normal.
- Give the skill user a 1 circumstance penalty to represent conditions that hamper performance, such as being forced to use improvised tools or possessing misleading information.
- Reduce the DC by 1 to represent circumstances that make the task easier, such as having a friendly audience when making a Perform check or searching for information on an extremely well documented topic with a Computer Use check.
- Increase the DC by 1 to represent circumstances that make the task harder, such as making a Perform check in front of a hostile audience or searching for information on a very poorly documented topic with a Computer Use check. Conditions that affect a characters ability to perform the skill change the characters skill modifier. Conditions that modify how well the character must perform the skill to succeed change the DC. A bonus on a characters skill modifier or a reduction in the DC of the check have the same resultthey create a better chance for success. But they represent different circumstances, and sometimes that difference is important.
Time and Skill Checks
Using a skill might take a few seconds, a minute, or even longer. It might take no time at all. You can use your own judgement to determine how much time using a skill might take. In general, using a skill that requires concentration while in close combat is dangerous.
Tools
Some skill applications require the use of tools. If tools are needed, the specific items required are mentioned in the skill description. If the character doesnt have the appropriate tools, he or she can still attempt to use the skill, but the character takes a 2 penalty on his or her check. A character may be able to put together some impromptu tools to make the check. If the GM allows it, reduce the penalty to 1 (instead of 2) for using impromptu tools. It usually takes some time (several minutes to an hour or more) to collect or create a set of impromptu tools, and it may require a skill check as well.
Checks without Rolls
A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually in the face of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favorable conditions and eliminate the luck factor.
Taking 10
When a character is not being threatened or distracted, he or she may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 4dF for the skill check, calculate the result as if the character had rolled a @@[ 0 0 0 0 ] = 0@@ (an average roll on a 4dF). For many relatively routine tasks, taking 10 results in a success. Distractions and threats make it impossible for a character to take 10. A character also cant take 10 when using a skill untrained.
Taking 20
When a character has plenty of time, is faced with no threats or distractions, and the skill being attempted carries no penalty for failure, a character can take 20. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate the result as if the character had rolled a @@ [ + + + + ] = +4.@@ Taking 20 is the equivalent of attempting the check over and over again until the character gets it right. Taking 20 takes twenty times as long as making a single check (about 2 minutes for a typical skill).
Aiding Another
In some situations, characters can cooperate to accomplish a given task. One character is designated as the leader in the effort, while the others try to aid the character in his or her efforts. If the two character’s have equal skill in the task at hand, then the helper grants a +2 bonus to the roll. Otherwise, he grants a +1. A character cannot grant a bonus to a skill check using a skill in which he or she is untrained.
Modifier Types and Stacking
Unlike a lot of other game systems, Fudge doesn’t use a forest of modifiers for this and that and the other thing. Very rarely should something give a modifier of more or less that +/- 1. Follow the guidelines under Favorable/Unfavorable Conditions(above).