Same Roll, No Matter What

When a player has her character do something that is dramatic (that is, the outcome matters to the story), that player will probably have to chuck some dice, the results of which will determine the severity of that the character’s success or failure. We call this a skill-check. Of course, skill-checks manifest in many ways:

• Unopposed skill-check (Alice jumps over obstacle)
• Opposed skill-check (Alice hits Bob in the face)
• Opposed skill-check versus a group (Alice chucks a fireball at multiple orcs)
• Simultaneous opposed skill checks (Alice and Bob arm-wrestle)
• Simultaneous unopposed skill checks (Alice and Bob are in a race).

Luckily, we keep things simple… no matter the circumstances, an action is Trivial, Challenging, or Tough. That is all that matters.