Tests

When To Make a Test

As much as possible, actions should be resolved by describing an approach, and the Game Master adjudicating the result. A test is only needed when an action is taken with an uncertain outcome.

When Not To Make a Test

Tests should almost never be made for the following situations.

todo Make this less of a rip off of Knave

Social Tests

The results of social interaction should be resolved through roleplay and reason. If the GM is uncertain of a how a character would respond, they may consult a reaction table, but players should not be rolling to see how persuasive their argument is.

Knowledge Tests

Characters know everything that’s common knowledge or would make make sense for them to know. Anything else should be discovered in game.

Search Tests

Characters shouldn’t generally need to make a test to perceive their surroundings. See information.

How To Make a Test

1. Determine the Attribute. Might, Knack or Will. The GM has final say.
2. Set the Difficulty. The GM sets the Difficulty between 6 and 11.
3. Build your Dice Pool Start with 2d6. Add additional d6s equal to your Attribute.
4. Roll the Pool Roll all dice in your Dice Pool at once.
5. Read the Result The sum of the highest two dice is your Result. Compare your Result to the Difficulty.
   • If the Result is equal or higher, you succeed with degrees of success equal to to the amount you exceeded the Difficulty by.
   • If the Result is lower, you fail with degrees of failure equal to the difference.

If you would ever remove dice from your pool such that you’d have less than 2 dice, instead add those dice. You’re pool is now negative. Instead of summing the highest 2 dice, you will sum the lowest 2.

Example

Grog is fleeing from a horde of zombies, and attempts to jump across a large gap. The GM calls for a Might Test with Difficulty 8. The Dice Pool starts at 2d6. Grog has a Might of 2, so he adds that to his pool for 4d6. He also has nimble boots, which grant +1d6 in feats of athleticism, bring him to 5d6. Finally he is burdened with treasure, exceeding his load by 1. This reduces his pool to 4d6. He rolls 4d6, and sums the highest 2 dice to determine the result of his test.

Setting the Difficulty

The GM should typically be transparent about the difficulty of a task. The difficulty should represent the minimum needed to succeed at all, with higher results representing a better success.

Adjudicating the Result

It is the GMs job to adjudicate the result of a test. All players should have an idea of what success and failure look like before the test is made.

The degree of success or failure should influence the fiction. A result of 12 represents the best possible outcome, while a 2 represents the worst. Everything else should fall between those extremes. Meeting the Difficulty is a success that scrapes by.

EXAMPLE

A character is trying to jump across a dangerous gap. The GM gives this a difficulty of 7 and a cost of 2 fatigue. While a 2 could represent plunging into the abyss, any other failure is better handled by increasing the fatigue cost, or even potentially suffering Wounds. Each degree of success should reduce the fatigue cost.

Extended Tests

Some tests cannot be completed in a single action, and must instead be attempted over the course of an entire turn or more. The GM determines the difficulty of the test, and how much progress will need to be made to clear it. Each attempt at an extended test takes at least a turn. Like a regular test, roll 2d6 + the tested ability. Increase your progress by the difference of the difficulty (failing doesn’t decreases progress). When enough progress has been achieved, the test is passed.

Extended tests can often be attempted by multiple people at the same time. The entire party can work together to clear away rubble, but only one person can work on picking a lock. When it makes sense, all players participating in the test make the roll each turn, and increase the progress collectively. The GM may rule that there is a limit to how many people can attempt a test at a time.

Things to keep in mind:

• Like all tests, they should only be made when there is a cost for failing. When exploring, the cost is often in the form of time, and the risk of being discovered.
• Difficulty represents how hard it is to make progress.
• Progress represents how much time a task will take.
• Some tasks may be low difficulty, but require a lot of progress to complete.
• Unless something is actively working against it, progress should remain even if the characters stop working towards it for a while. 
• The amount of progress required should be clear to players, unless it makes sense in the fiction that it would be obscured.
• This system can be extended to longer timeframes, such as searching an area of wilderness at a 1 hour timescale, or crafting an intricate mechanism at a 1 day scale, or constructing a large for at a 1 week scale,