Tests

TESTS: RESOLVING OUTCOMES WITH DICE

One of the most exciting elements of a roleplaying game is to let fate decide the outcomes of efforts. The Monitor should only ask for tests when the outcome is important and exciting. Tests fuel this excitement by showing how a Legend can challenge the odds and either taste victory or face annihilation.

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

All tests are made using a d100 percentile dice roll, with the dice roll’s value compared to the value of either an ability score x5 or a skill rating. There are four possible outcomes, each one called a “step”: Success, Failure, Crit, and Fumble.

Certain aspects of the game call for test outcomes to be interpreted as one step higher or lower.

A Crit is one step higher than a Success. A Success is one step higher than a Failure. A Failure is one step higher than a Fumble. A test’s outcome steps can never be modified one step higher or lower than the original outcome, regardless of the source of the outcome’s modification.

SUCCESS

The objective of a test is to roll equal to or under the value of the skill or ability score x 5, which is called a success. On a success, the Legend achieves what they wanted to.

For example, a test of a skill rating of 60% means that with a d100 percentile roll with any number 60 or lower would succeed.

FAILURE

Inversely, if the dice roll is over the value of the skill or ability score x 5, it is a failure.

On a failure, the Legend does not achieve what they wanted to, or at the discretion of the Monitor, achieves success but with an unintended consequence or an additional cost.

For example, a test of a skill rating of 60% means that with a d100 percentile roll with any number 61 or greater would fail.

FAILURE AND IMPROVEMENT
If you test an ability or skill test during an Encounter and fail, make note of it.
Later, during the After Action Review (a phase of play that occurs after Encounters) there may be a chance for the score or skill to improve. For more, see AFTER ACTION REVIEW under the ENCOUNTERS section.

CRIT

A critical success, called a “Crit,”for short, is any success where the d100 dice match (11, 22, 33, etc). For example, a test of a skill rating of 60% means that with a d100 percentile roll a critical success would occur on 11, 22, 33, 44, and 55.

A Crit automatically succeeds, and goes beyond the Legends expectations. As a rule of thumb, a Crit is twice as good as a regular success, but what twice as good means must be taken in context of what is being tested. For example, a Crit with an attack roll means double damage or a Crit during an investigation might mean the action takes half as long or you uncover more than what you were looking for.

A Crit is only possible on a test, never on checks.

FUMBLE

The opposite of a critical success is a critical failure, which is called a “Fumble.” A Fumble always occurs on any failure where the dice match (99, 88, 77, etc) or a roll of 100 (0/00 on percentile dice or 0/0, if using two ten-sided dice) on the dice is always a fumble. For example, a test of a skill rating of 60% means that with a d100 percentile roll a fumble would occur on a 66, 77, 88, 99, and 00.

Fumbles always have disastrous, enormous consequences. If the Monitor cannot immediately think of consequences, they may give a Legend a status condition (see CONDITIONS) or a temporary Bane (see BOOSTS AND BANES).

A Fumble is only possible on a test, never on checks.

SECRET TESTS

There may be occasions where the game is better served by the Monitor making the dice test on

behalf of the Legends in secret, only revealing the result through gameplay or at a later point in time.

The Monitor should take care when rolling secret skill tests to not remove fun and enjoyment from the players. Used with discretion and at times where the outcome may not be immediate, certain, or clear-cut, secret skill tests can be a great way of introducing drama to a situation.

The Monitor may choose to roll a skill test on a Legend’s behalf in secret for a few good reasons:

• The Legend using the skill would have little or no way of knowing how successful his skill attempt has been until it is put to a practical test.
• The test’s outcome is not immediate.
• Revealing the outcome of the test incrementally or at a later point in time will create a better sense of tension, suspense, and surprise.

For example, a Legend might be attempting to disguise themself to go undercover while infiltrating a rebel cell. The Legend is not aware of how convincing the disguise attempt has been until

it is put into practical use, infiltrating the cell’s lair. If the Stealth (Disguise) skill test is made secretly by the Monitor then it becomes easier to build an air of suspense and tension as the Legend makes his attempts to bypass the cell’s members as he wanders into their buildings.

Actions and Activities moments marked with the [secret] trait are suggested to be rolled using these rules.

SIDEBAR: TRAITS

Throughout the Legendary rules you will find words in brackets, such as [secret], [mental] or [ranged]. The brackets are used to denote traits, to better index and make rules interactions more clear. For example, a weapon may have the [explosives] trait, which would mean that it has an inherent 20% circumstance bonus on Strike tests for its blast radius.

MODIFIERS TO TESTS

When a skill or ability test is performed, it is not unusual for the test to be modified by internal and external factors, such as being helped or hindered by someone, having a piece of gear that makes the task easier or harder, or being in an advantageous or disadvantageous position.

These modifiers take the form of bonuses and penalties. Modifiers affect the skill rating or ability x5 rating directly, not the dice face. For example, a skill with a 30% rating that receives a 20% bonus would then be tested at a 50% rating.

There are four types of modifiers: circumstance, status, equipment, and personnel.

Circumstance modifiers come from external factors at the time of the test such as weather, terrain, positioning, environmental conditions.

Status modifiers come from internal factors either at the time of the test or from preparation ahead of time, such as morale, preparation, and training.

Equipment modifiers come from specific items being used in the test, such as weapons, gear, and armor.

Personnel modifiers come from other persons or beings that are influencing the test, such as AI, companions/enemies, or combat support.

CALCULATING BONUSES AND PENALTIES

It is not uncommon to have multiple bonuses or penalties to tests.

Modifiers can be added together and both bonuses and penalties are calculated simultaneously.

Calculate all bonuses and penalties prior to rolling the dice and performing the test. For example, a test with a 40% bonus and a -20% penalty would result in a final calculation of a 20% bonus.

Modifiers of the same type do not stack; only use the highest bonus of each type. For example, if you have a 20% equipment bonus from a weapon with explosive ammunition, and a 40% equipment bonus for using elite prototype weapon, you would only use the 40% bonus.

Calculate all modifiers by type before making a test. For example, a Legend with a 40% status bonus from a combat drug and a 20% status penalty from the Frightened condition means that the status modifier is at a net +20%.

The maximum modifier that can be imposed on a test from a single type of modifier is + or - 40%. Bonuses can raise the chance of success higher than 99% (see TESTS OVER 100), but penalties can not lower the chances below 0% (which is guaranteed to be a Failure and can possibly result in a Fumble).

TESTS OVER 100

Tests with values over 100 work a little differently. Such values are possible with bonuses to skills, or with superhumans, aliens, and other creatures having an ability score over 20.

Tests with values over 100 succeed on any roll except with a roll of 00, which fails no matter what and counts as a fumble.

Additionally, tests with values over 100 gets a Crit on any success with matching digits and with any roll equal to or less than the value minus 100.

For example, an ability score with a value of 21 would get a critical on any success with matching digits, as well as any roll under 5 (21 x 5 = 105. 105-100=5).

For example, a skill rating of 90 with a total bonus of 40 would crit get a critical on any success with matching digits, as well as any roll under 30. (90+40 = 130. 130-100 = 30).

However, a test with a value over 100 may still lose an opposed test (see OPPOSED TESTS).

EXAMPLE

A DARK trooper with a Shooting skill value of 90 uses his VISR uplink to gain a 20% equipment bonus to a Shooting test, which means that the test is being made versus a value of 110 (see BONUSES AND PENALTIES). The DARK trooper will succeed on any roll that is not 00, and will get a Crit on rolls of 10 and less, in addition to the normal Crit rules involving matching percentile dice.

OPPOSED TESTS

An opposed test happens when someone takes action to interfere with an action, such as trying to stop somebody from doing something or fighting for control of something.

The Monitor should call for opposed tests with deliberation. A test has more than one barrier to pass before success can be achieved, such as having to overcome another’s resistance, is more likely to fail or having a middling outcome; not only must the Legend’s test succeed, but it must overcome the opposition’s test as well.

EXAMPLES

• Your Legend tussles with a rebel for control of a gun, calling for an opposed CQC test as part of the Disarm action.
• A team of starving carnivorous aliens hunts for your Legend, testing your Stealth versus their INT x5 during the Seek and Hide actions, respectively.
• Your Legend commands a ragtag group of colonists in battle against an alien invasion, testing your Military Science versus the enemy commander’s.

COMPARING RESULTS OF OPPOSED TESTS

An opposed test involves an acting roll and a resistance roll: the character trying to achieve something

and the opponent trying to stop it or outdo it. If it’s in doubt, the Monitor defines each.

STEP 1: COMPARE SUCCESS LEVELS

When the opponents roll dice, the competing levels of success or failure determine who comes out on top: a Crit beats a Success, a Success beats a Failure, and a Failure beats a Fumble.

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STEP 2: COMPARE DICE**

In the event that both party’s dice rolls achieve the same level of success, compare the dice rolls themselves. If both rolls are successful, higher dice results win over lower dice results (like the rules for the card game blackjack: the higher result without busting).

If both rolls are failures, either nobody wins or the higher dice roll win over lower dice results.

If two opposing rolls have the same level of success or failure and roll exactly the same number, the higher skill rating wins as a tiebreaker. If a tie still persists, a Luck test is in order. See LUCK TEST.

See the table below for help interpreting results.

RARE OPPOSING OUTCOMES RULES

These are somewhat edge cases, but this guidance is here for Monitors to make their own decisions.

OPPOSING ABILITY SCORES AND SKILLS

Usually, skills oppose skills and ability scores oppose ability scores. An ability score opposes a skill only when one character must use very specific knowledge or training (and therefore rolls for a skill) but the other does not (and therefore rolls for an ability score). This exception applies only if the Monitor says so, but it can happen commonly enough.

For example, the Seek action uses INTx5 to oppose a Stealth skill rating.

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OPPOSING CHECKS**

If two characters’ skills or ability scores oppose each other but neither needs to roll dice, the higher ability score or skill rating wins. This is extremely uncommon.