Skill Checks

Every test asks: are you ready, or do you fall?

A check is not just a roll—it is the world answering your claim. When you leap a ravine, defy a god, or argue for peace with blade drawn, your dice do not ask if you try. They measure how much you commit when the moment turns against you. Vitals are capability, Action Dice are intent, and Skill is preparation. The outcome is the story's reply.

When risk meets intent, the dice decide.

What Is a Skill Check?

Where preparation faces consequence.

A Skill Check occurs when your character attempts something risky, dramatic, or meaningfully uncertain. You spend Action Dice (AD) to show effort, then roll those dice. Skill Level (SL) determines how many extra Action Dice you may commit when boosting the check. During your activation, Skill Level also limits how many proactive uses of that Skill you may initiate. The total must exceed the target Difficulty Rating (DR) or fixed score to succeed.

Ask yourself:

• Is the action uncertain or dramatic?
• Could failure shift the fiction?
• Is another creature's capability involved?

Tip: Use checks only when outcomes matter. If there is no narrative risk, skip the roll and tell the story.

Skill Check Process

Steps:

1. Declare what your character attempts.
2. The Guide confirms whether a Skill Check is required.
3. The Guide confirms the Skill, Linked Vital, and target number being tested.
4. Commit the required Action Dice. Most Skill Checks made as actions require at least 1 AD.
5. Decide whether to Boost, adding no more extra AD than the Skill Level of the Skill being tested.
6. Roll all committed Action Dice.
7. Resolve the Edge Phase, if Advantage or Disadvantage applies.
8. Count dots: ⚫⚫ = 2, ⚫ = 1, ⚪ = 0.
9. Compare the result to the target number.
10. Resolve the Class Power Phase, if triggers apply.

Success = total dots exceed the target number.

Failure = total dots equal to or less than the target number.

Note: Skill Level does not grant default rerolls. Rerolls come from Advantage, Disadvantage, class powers, equipment, conditions, or specific rules.

Proactive Skill Uses

During your activation, you may initiate each Skill a number of times equal to:

Skill Level + 1

An untrained Skill at SL 0 can still be initiated once during your activation.

This proactive-use limit applies only to actions you initiate during your activation. It does not limit responses outside your activation. A combatant who has Ready AD and can plausibly respond may still answer a Melee Exchange as the combat rules allow.

This rule separates two pressures:

• Skill Level limits how many trained openings you can deliberately create.
• Ready AD limits how much effort, response pressure, and survival pressure you can afford.

Boosting and Reactions

Boosting normally applies to Skill Checks made as actions. Before rolling, you may spend extra AD up to the Skill Level.

Reactions and responses do not normally use open-ended Boosting. A Reaction or response may only be Boosted if a rule, class power, item, condition, or Guide ruling specifically allows it. Melee Exchange responses are the default combat exception: a responder who chooses Full Guard or Clash may add Boost AD within the usual Melee Skill Level limit.

Tip: Actions are where characters usually push harder by Boosting. Reactions are fast responses unless a rule says otherwise.

Difficulty Ratings and Fixed Scores

When you make a Skill Check, the Guide sets or identifies the target number. That number may come from the world, from another creature's Readiness Score, or from a special active response rule.

Difficulty Ratings (DR)

Example: Skill Check Types

Routine Skill Check

Javi climbs a steep cliff face under calm weather. The risk is real, but conditions are fair. The Guide calls for a Routine Athletics Skill Check at DR 2.

Modified Skill Check

Rika leaps across a collapsing bridge during a violent storm. The challenge is the same kind of action, but the conditions make it far more dangerous. The Guide raises the target to Challenging DR 5.

Opposed Skill Check

Zale attempts to sneak past an alert guard. The challenge is not only the terrain—it is the guard's awareness. Zale makes a Stealth Skill Check against the guard's Observation Readiness Score.

Active Opposition

Mira presses a bandit in close combat. The bandit is aware, in reach, and has Ready AD, so the bandit chooses how to answer the Melee Exchange. If the bandit Clashes, both combatants roll Melee and compare totals. If the bandit chooses Full Guard, the bandit rolls to stop or blunt the exchange but cannot deal damage back.

Contested Roll

Seris debates a rival speaker in a formal duel of rhetoric where the rules call for both sides to roll. This is a Contested Roll. Unless a rule specifically calls for it, Narateer usually resolves opposition by having the active creature roll against a fixed score.

Edge Phase

Immediately after rolling your committed Action Dice (AD), if your character has Advantage or Disadvantage, you enter the Edge Phase. This phase must be resolved before any other reroll, conversion, or modifier can occur unless a specific rule says otherwise.

Edge Phase Sequence

Steps:

1. Roll all committed AD together.
2. If Advantage or Disadvantage is active, reroll the affected dice.
3. New results replace old results—the second roll stands.
4. Proceed to the Class Power Phase, if triggers apply.

Reminder: Edge rerolls apply to all dice rolled for the check. Each die may be rerolled once during this phase.

Example: Edge Phase With Advantage

Veyra sneaks across a smoky battlefield while enemies are distracted by a burning wagon. The Guide calls for a Stealth Skill Check with Advantage against the enemy soldiers' Observation Readiness Score of 4.

Setup:

• Veyra's Stealth Skill Level is 2, so she may Boost this Stealth Check with up to 2 extra AD.
• Veyra's Stealth Skill Level is 2.
• Veyra commits 1 AD and Boosts with 2 extra AD.
• Total Dice Rolled: 3 AD.

Initial Roll: Miss | Hit | Critical

• Miss x1 = 0
• Hit x1 = 1
• Critical x1 = 2
• Total = 3 dots

Edge Phase: Because Veyra has Advantage, she rerolls all Misses.

Reroll 1 Miss -> Hit

Post-Edge Pool: Hit | Hit | Critical

• Miss x0 = 0
• Hit x2 = 2
• Critical x1 = 2
• Total = 4 dots

Outcome: With 4 dots, Veyra equals the soldiers' Readiness Score of 4, so she still fails. Meeting the target is not enough; she needs to exceed it.

Skill and Rerolls

Skill Level does not grant a default reroll phase.

Rerolls come from explicit rules:

• Advantage and Disadvantage.
• Class powers.
• Equipment.
• Conditions.
• Specific scene or feature rules.

When a rule grants a reroll, use that rule's timing, target dice, and limits. If no rule grants a reroll, the result after Edge is the final roll.

Example: Boost From Skill Level

Tarin tries to force open an ancient iron-banded door while water floods the chamber. The Guide sets the check at Challenging DR 5.

Setup:

• Tarin's Athletics Skill Level is 2.
• Tarin commits 1 AD and Boosts with 2 extra AD.
• Total Dice Rolled: 3 AD.

Initial Roll: Hit | Miss | Miss

• Hit x1 = 1
• Miss x2 = 0
• Total = 1 dot

Edge Phase: No Advantage or Disadvantage applies.

Final Pool: Hit | Miss | Miss

• Hit x1 = 1
• Miss x2 = 0
• Total = 1 dot

Outcome: Tarin's total is well below DR 5. He strains against the door but cannot force it open yet. His Skill let him commit more effort, but it did not give a default reroll.

Class Power Phase

Class Powers are special abilities tied to your chosen Class, triggered by specific Events during play—including Skill Checks. If the conditions of a Power are met now, you may activate one of them.

Using a Class Power

• Only resolve a Power if its conditions are met by the current Event in play.
• You may trigger one Class Power per Event.
• Execute the Power's outcome exactly as written.

For full rules on Class Powers and their tiers, see:

• Character Classes and Class Powers.

Degrees of Success and Failure

In Narateer, how far you beat—or miss—the mark matters as much as whether you pass or fail. A single check can range from legendary triumph to catastrophic collapse, giving Guides narrative and mechanical levers to heighten drama.

How It Works

1. Roll your dice and apply Edge or other explicit reroll rules.
2. Compare your final total to the target number.
3. Success Margin = The difference in points above or below the target number determines the Outcome Tier.

Tip: As a Guide, you can preplan degrees of success and failure when designing encounters or improvise them in the moment based on the narrative flow.

How to Calculate Your Success Level

Success Margin = Your roll - target number

Success begins at +1. Stronger success tiers now use compressed upper bands: +3, +6, and +9.

Combat Note: Success Margin and Hit Margin

In general Skill Checks, the difference between your roll and the target number is called your Success Margin.

In combat attacks, this same kind of comparison is called Hit Margin to make it clear that the number measures how well the attack lands.

Hit Margin may determine attack Outcome Tiers and Class Power scaling. It is not the same as Damage Score.

Example: Tier Calculation

Raeline desperately tries to hide from the beast stalking her. The beast's Observation Readiness Score is 4. Raeline throws everything into her Stealth roll and scores 7.

• First, she calculates the Success Margin: 7 - 4 = +3.
• A +3 Success Margin is a Strong Success.

The Guide allows Raeline to vanish into the ruined brush and gain a strong positional advantage before the next scene begins.

Example: Strong Success

Kaelen attempts to pick a simple lock at Routine DR 2 and rolls 6. The Success Margin is +4, resulting in a Strong Success. He not only opens the lock but does so quietly, leaving no obvious sign of tampering.

Readiness Scores

A standing measure of preparedness.

A Skill's Readiness Score represents how prepared your character is when they are not actively rolling. Readiness Scores are used when the Guide needs a fixed value for awareness, resistance, response, or behind-the-screen checks.

Readiness combines natural capacity with trained discipline, but it does not equal a full active roll. It shows how prepared your character is before they commit Action Dice to an action.

Readiness Score = 1 + half the total of your Linked Vital and Skill Level, rounded down.

Minimum Readiness Score = 2.

Use this table if easier:

Readiness Scores keep Vitals meaningful even when dice are not rolled. They represent natural capacity and training working together as standing readiness, without requiring every opposed moment to become roll-versus-roll.

Tip: Record each Skill's Readiness Score on your character sheet so it rarely needs to be calculated during play.

When Readiness Scores Are Used

A Readiness Score may be used:

• Passively — when another creature's natural capacity and training matter without that creature rolling.
• Responsively — as the base score for a fixed response or resistance when a rule calls for it.
• Reactively — when a rule uses a fixed response rather than a roll.
• Behind the Screen — when the Guide checks if your character naturally notices, recalls, or responds to something without interrupting play.

When Readiness Is Not Active

Your Readiness Score does not always apply. If you are unconscious, unaware, incapacitated, or have no reasonable way to bring the relevant capacity to bear, the Guide may ignore your Readiness Score. In those cases, success or failure depends on the acting side, the fiction, and the relevant DR.

Example: Readiness Score in Play

Kaelin walks through the dense market crowd when a cutpurse tries to swipe his coin pouch. The thief rolls a Finesse Skill Check against Kaelin's Insight Readiness Score.

Kaelin has Presence 3 and Insight SL 2.

• Linked Vital + Skill Level = 3 + 2 = 5.
• Readiness Score = 1 + half of 5, rounded down = 3.

The thief rolls 3 dots. Because the roll equals the target number, it fails. Kaelin instinctively feels the tug and grabs at the thief's wrist without declaring a check.

Behind-the-Screen Skill Checks

When trained capability meets the task, the dice stay quiet.

A Behind-the-Screen Skill Check occurs when the Guide resolves uncertainty by comparing a character's Readiness Score to a Difficulty Rating or other fixed target—no dice roll is needed from the player.

Tip: Guides should keep a quick reference of each PC's common Readiness Scores—such as Observation, Insight, Acrobatics, Athletics, Melee, and Survival—to speed up hidden or reflexive checks.

How Behind-the-Screen Checks Work

Guides resolve Behind-the-Screen Checks silently using real character scores to handle cinematic scenes without interrupting flow.

Guide Role: Silent Adjudicator

1. The Guide decides a hidden or reflexive check is needed.
2. The Guide sets the target number, usually a DR or another creature's Readiness Score.
3. Apply Edge factors only if the fiction clearly calls for them. Advantage may lower the effective difficulty by one tier; Disadvantage may raise it by one tier.
4. Compare silently: the Guide compares the character's Readiness Score to the target number.
5. Narrate the outcome without announcing a check occurred:
   • If the Readiness Score exceeds the target number, the character succeeds.
   • If the Readiness Score equals or falls below the target number, the character fails. The Guide may let the missed detail pass silently or present a cue that gives the player a chance to respond with an active Skill Check.

Guide Tip: Each Difficulty Tier equals a shift of 3 DR. You can increase or decrease the target in steps of 3 to reflect the scene's challenge. Alternatively, set any target number that best fits the moment.

Player Role: Decider of Effort

• You can accept the passive outcome and keep the story moving.
• You can choose to escalate when the fiction gives you a cue by:
  • Declaring your action.
  • Spending Action Dice.
  • Making an active Skill Check.

This is your call—you decide when to bring in the dice.

Example: Behind-the-Screen Skill Check

Scene: Elira enters the scorched remnants of a camp. Wind scatters ash. There is a chance she could spot a faint trail.

• Elira has Cognition 3 and Observation SL 2.
• Linked Vital + Skill Level = 5.
• Observation Readiness Score = 3.
• Guide sets Difficulty: DR 2 (Routine).
• Comparison: Elira's Readiness Score exceeds the DR.

Guide Resolution: Without prompting or rolling, the Guide says: "You notice a faint trail leading northeast, up the ridge."

Example: Behind-the-Screen Check With Cue

Scene: Torren enters the crypt's antechamber. The air is still, the stone walls cracked. Something here feels wrong.

• Torren has Cognition 3 and Observation SL 2.
• Observation Readiness Score = 3.
• The crypt was built by master masons, so the Guide sets the hidden mechanism at DR 4.
• Comparison: Torren's Readiness Score does not exceed the DR.

Guide Chooses to Drop a Cue: Because Torren is close enough to sense something unusual, the Guide gives a subtle opening:

"As you cross the threshold, your footstep echoes strangely—just for a moment, like something shifted in the stone beneath you."

Player Response: The player picks up on the cue:

"That's weird. I pause and focus—trying to figure out what that was."

Guide: Make an Observation Skill Check.

Outcome: The player chooses to escalate, spending Action Dice to make an active Skill Check. Success could reveal the hidden mechanism or threat. Failure might trigger it instead. The tension is now in their hands.

Tier-Based Random DRs (Optional)

Instead of setting a fixed Difficulty Rating (DR), the Guide may roll a random DR behind the screen. This adds uncertainty to the challenge and can reflect changing, unstable, or unknowable conditions.

To use this method, roll 3 dice behind the screen, count the dots (⚫⚫ = 2, ⚫ = 1, ⚪ = 0), and add the result to the tier's Base DR. The total becomes the Difficulty Rating for that moment.

Random DRs are best used for uncertain environmental conditions, unstable hazards, or hidden difficulty. They should not replace a creature's Readiness Score unless the Guide deliberately wants that opposition to be unstable or unpredictable.

Example: Basic Check (No Modifiers, No Edge)

In this example, a character tries a straightforward task without Advantage or Disadvantage.

1. Declare Intent: Javi attempts to climb a cliff face under calm weather. This action has inherent risk, so a Skill Check is required.
2. Guide Confirms Skill Check: The Guide calls for an Athletics Skill Check. Conditions are fair, so the target is Routine DR 2.
3. Commit Action Dice: Javi commits 1 AD.
4. Decide to Boost or Not: Javi's Athletics Skill Level is 1, so he could Boost with up to 1 extra AD. He chooses not to Boost.
5. Roll All Dice: Javi rolls 1 AD: Miss = 0 dots.
6. Edge Phase: No Advantage or Disadvantage applies.
7. Compare to Difficulty: Javi's total is below DR 2. The check fails.
8. Class Power Phase: No Class Power triggers.

Outcome: Javi fails narrowly. Meeting the target number is not enough; he must beat it.

Example: Modified Check (Higher Difficulty)

Rika leaps across a collapsing bridge during a violent storm.

1. Declare Intent: Rika attempts the leap.
2. Guide Confirms & Modifies DR: The Guide calls for an Athletics Skill Check. The storm and collapsing bridge raise the difficulty from DR 2 to DR 5.
3. Commit Action Dice: Rika spends 1 AD.
4. Decide on Boost: Rika's Athletics Skill Level is 2, so she can Boost with up to 2 extra AD. She adds 1 extra AD, for 2 AD total.
5. Roll All Dice: Rika rolls Hit | Miss = 1 dot.
6. Edge Phase: No Advantage or Disadvantage applies.
7. Compare to Difficulty: Rika's total is 1, which does not exceed DR 5. The check fails.
8. Class Power Phase: No Class Power triggers.

Outcome: Rika fails the leap due to harsh conditions. The +3 DR modifier made a dramatic difference.

Example: Opposed Skill Check With Advantage

Kai attempts to sneak past a sentry. Kai has the cover of darkness and the sentry is distracted, so the Guide grants Advantage.

The sentry has Cognition 2 and Observation SL 2.

• Linked Vital + Skill Level = 4.
• Observation Readiness Score = 3.

Kai must exceed DR 3.

1. Declare Intent: Kai declares a Stealth Skill Check.
2. Guide Confirms Check: The Guide confirms Kai is rolling Stealth against the sentry's Observation Readiness Score.
3. Commit Action Dice: Kai commits 1 AD.
4. Boost: Kai's Stealth Skill Level is 2, so he may Boost with up to 2 extra AD. He spends 2 extra AD, for 3 AD total.
5. Roll All Dice: Kai rolls Miss | Hit | Miss = 1 dot.
6. Edge Phase: Because Kai has Advantage, he rerolls both Misses: Hit and Miss. His adjusted pool is Hit | Hit | Miss = 2 dots.
7. Compare to Target: Kai's 2 does not exceed the sentry's Readiness Score of 3.
8. Class Power Phase: No Class Power triggers unless Kai has one that applies.

Outcome: Even with committed effort and Advantage, Kai fails to slip past unnoticed. His Skill let him Boost, but the roll still mattered.

Summary

• You attempt a Skill Check when an action is risky, dramatic, contested, or could meaningfully shift the fiction.
• A Skill Check uses Action Dice committed by the player.
• Most Skill Checks made as actions require at least 1 AD.
• During your activation, proactive uses of a Skill are limited to SL + 1, minimum 1.
• Skill Level determines how many extra AD may be committed when Boosting the check.
• Reactions cannot normally be Boosted unless a rule specifically allows it. Melee Exchange responses are the default combat response that can be Boosted.
• The total number of dots must exceed the target number to succeed.
• Difficulty Ratings range from Routine DR 2 to Mythic DR 14, with Trivial actions requiring no roll.
• A Readiness Score is used when a creature's natural capacity and training matter without requiring that creature to roll.
• Readiness Score = 1 + half the total of Linked Vital and Skill Level, rounded down; minimum 2.
• Active opposition may use response rolls, Readiness Scores, or another named response score, as defined by the relevant rule.
• Advantage and Disadvantage are resolved during the Edge Phase immediately after the roll.
• Skill Level does not grant default rerolls.
• Class Powers may trigger if their conditions are met during the check; one Power per Event.
• The Outcome Tier is based on margin versus the target number (the Success Margin), from Legendary Triumph to Catastrophic Failure.
• In combat attacks, this same comparison may be called Hit Margin. Hit Margin is not the same as Damage Score.
• The Guide may use Behind-the-Screen Checks to compare Readiness Scores to DR or other fixed targets without alerting players.