Skill Checks

Most of time, your character will be able to do most ordinary things without difficulty: walk, talk, open a can of Protein Food Complex 35 without gagging. But certain things will require that the character make a Skill Check to see if he can actually do what he wanted to.

Ref-Set Difficulties

Each task is rated by Referee from Easy to Nearly Impossible. Each rating has a corresponding numerical value called a Difficulty.

Giving It your Best Shot

When making a Skill Check, first, determine which of your stats is most appropriate to use to perform the action. For example, if you were trying to stand on your head, REF would be best. If you were deciphering a code, INT would be the most appropriate.

Next, if you have any one Skill directly relating to the task at hand, add that skill to the stat. You may apply only one Skill to a task at any time. The subject of Skills (and how you get them) is covered later, but right now, we�re just interfacing you with the concept of tasks.

Finally, roll 1D10 and add the combined total of your die roll, your Stat, and your selected Skill. Compare your total with the Task�s Difficulty (as determined by the Referee). If your total is equal or higher, you have succeeded; on lower roll, you have failed.

Here�s an example; Johnny Silverhand needs to break into a locked room, a task the Referee considers to require some training. As such, it has a Difficulty of 15. Johnny�s most applicable stat if Technical, because this is a Task that requires manipulating a mechanical object. Johnny isn�t much of techie (his Tech stat is only +3, enough to fix guitar strings and plug in his amp). But Johnny also picked up Pick Lock +3 as one of early Pickup skills. This gives him a Base Ability of 6. Johnny will need roll at least a 9 to pick this lock.

Opposed Tasks

If you are making an attempt against another player character, the opposing player will combine his most applicable stat, skill and 1D10 roll. On an equal or higher roll, the defending player wins.

Difficulty Modifiers

Difficulty Modifiers are values witch are added to difficulty of task, reflecting adverse conditions or extra problems. Modifiers work best when you are dealing with very ticklish or picky situations; things where life and death must be performed. At these times, players will want every advantage they can get, and a simple decision like �The task is Very Difficult� will create more friction than its worth. At these times, you will probably want to make the steps of the task clear by creating a Difficulty through stacking modifiers. In addition, modifiers allow you, as Referee, to determine the relative difficulty of doing something and the effect of prevailing conditions.

Automatic Failure, Critical Success

On a natural die roll of 1, you have failed Roll an additional 1D10 and check the result on the Fumble Table to see what (if anything happens).

On a natural roll of 10, you have had a critical success. Roll an additional 1D10 and add it to your origin roll. This is when you get lucky and manage to pull off something you have no chance in Hades of doing normally.

Skills

Skills are used to enhance your ability to perform certain tasks. They represent things you�ve specifically taken the time to learn and possibly master, (as opposed to your stats, which only indicate a basic, natural ability at doing something). For example, if you had very good REF, you would probably pick up driving a car very easily. But you would not know how to drive a car until you had learned the skill of Driving. Each skill is related in some way to one of your basic stats. For, example, the character�s REF stat. Skills are always rated from 0 to 10, with 1 being a novice level of knowledge, and 10 being a master�s level of ability. In addition, players may opt to invent their own Skills.