Editing Skill Descriptions (section)

==CLIMB== 
STR
You’re skilled in scaling angled and uneven surfaces.
Check: With each successful Climb check, you can move up, down, or
across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (even a ceiling with handholds).
A slope is any incline of less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline of 60
degrees or steeper.
A failed Climb check indicates you make no progress, and failure by 5
or more means you fall from whatever height you already attained (unless
you are secured with some kind of harness or other equipment). Make a
Climb check to catch yourself (DC equal to wall’s DC + 20). A slope is
easier to catch on (DC equal to slope’s DC + 10). It’s somewhat easier to
catch someone else who falls, assuming they are within arm’s reach. Make
a Climb check (DC equal to wall’s DC +10) to do so. A slope is easier (DC
equal to the slope’s DC +5). If you fail the check, you do not catch the
other person. If you fail by 5 or more, you fall as well.
The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. If the
climb is less than 10 feet, reduce the DC by 5.
DC EXAMPLE WALL OR SURFACE OR TASK
0 A slope too steep to walk up. A ladder.
5 A knotted rope with a wall to brace against.
10 A rope with a wall to brace against. A knotted rope. A surface with
sizable ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a rugged cliff-face.
15 Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds (natural or artificial),
such as a rough natural rock surface, a tree, or a chain-link fence. An
unknotted rope. Pulling yourself up when dangling by your hands.
20 An uneven surface with just a few narrow handholds and footholds,
such as a coarse masonry wall or a sheer cliff face with a few crevices
and small toeholds.
25 A rough surface with no real handholds or footholds, such as a brick wall.
25 Overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds.
— A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface can’t be climbed without the
Wall-Crawling effect (see page 102).
–10 Climbing inside an air duct, chimney, or other location where you can
brace against two opposite walls (reduces normal DC by 10).
–5 Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls
(reduces normal DC by 5).
+5 Surface is slippery (increases normal DC by 5).
CHAPTER THREE: SKILLS MUTANTS & MASTERMINDSTM ROLEPLAYING GAME
SKILLS 43
• Fighting While Climbing: Since you can’t easily move to avoid an
attack, you lose your dodge bonus while climbing.
Any time you take damage while climbing, make an immediate
Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you
fall and sustain the appropriate falling damage.
• Accelerated Movement: You can try to climb faster than normal. You
can move your full speed, but take a –5 penalty on your Climb check.
Moving twice your speed requires two checks at –5, one for each
move action.
Action: Climbing one-half your speed is a full-round action. Moving half
that fast (one-fourth your speed) is a move action. Accelerated climbing,
allowing you to climb at full speed, is a full-round action. You can move
half that far (one-half your speed) as a move action.
Special: At the GM’s discretion, certain kinds of climbing attempts might
require tools like ropes, pitons, harness, and so forth. Attempting such a
climb without tools incurs a –4 penalty.
==COMPUTERS== INT, MANIPULATION, TRAINED ONLY
You’re trained in the operation of computers and modifying or creating
software.
Check: Most normal computer operations—using software, getting your
e-mail—don’t require a Computers check and can be done untrained.
However, searching an unfamiliar network for a particular file, writing
programs, altering existing programs to perform differently, and breaking
computer security all require skill checks (and training).
• Find File: The DC and the time required to locate a particular file on
an unfamiliar computer system are determined by the size of the site.
Finding public information on the Internet does not fall under this
category; this only pertains to finding files on unfamiliar computer
systems.
SIZE OF SITE DC TIME
Personal computer 10 1 round
Small office network 15 2 rounds
Large office network 20 1 minute
Massive network 25 10 minutes
• Defeat Computer Security: The DC is determined by the quality of
the security installed to defend the system. If the check fails by 5 or
more, the system immediately alerts its administrator there has been
an unauthorized entry. An alerted administrator may attempt to identify
you or cut off access to the system.
Sometimes, you have to defeat security at more than one stage
of the operation. If you beat the DC by 10 or more when attempting
to defeat computer security, you automatically succeed at all subsequent
security checks at that site until the end of your session.
LEVEL OF SECURITY DC
Minimum 20
Average 25
Exceptional 35
Maximum 40
BB
No alarm raised, no
guard alerted…
...and no secret safe
from the talons of
the Magpie!
44 SKILLS
MUTANTS & MASTERMINDSTM ROLEPLAYING GAME CHAPTER THREE: SKILLS
• Defend Security: If you are the system administrator for a site (which
may be as simple as being the owner of a personal computer), you
can defend it against intruders. If the site alerts you to an intruder,
you can attempt to cut off the intruder’s access or even to identify
the intruder.
To cut off access, make an opposed Computers check against the
intruder. If the check succeeds, the intruder’s session is ended. The
intruder might be able to defeat your security and access your site
again, but has to start over again. Attempting to cut off access takes
a full round.
One surefire way to prevent further access is to simply shut the
site down. With a single computer, that’s no big deal, but on a large
site with many computers (or computers controlling functions that
can’t be interrupted) it may be time-consuming or even impossible to
do so.
To identify the intruder, make an opposed Computers check. If the
check succeeds, you learn the site from which the intruder is operating
(if it’s a single computer, you learn the name of the computer’s
owner). Identifying the intruder requires 1 minute and is a separate
check from cutting off access. This check can only be made if the
intruder is accessing your site for the entire length of the check—if
the intruder’s session ends before you make the Computers check,
your attempt fails.
• Degrade Programming: You can destroy or alter programs on a computer
to make it harder or impossible to use. Crashing a computer
simply shuts it down. Its user can restart it without a skill check (however,
restarting takes at least 1 minute). Destroying programming
makes the computer unusable until the programming is repaired.
Damaging programming imposes a –4 penalty on all checks made
with the computer (sometimes this is preferable to destroying the programming,
since the user might not know anything is wrong, and
won’t simply decide to use a different computer).
You can damage the programming of multiple computers at a
single site; doing so adds +2 to the DC for each additional computer.
SCOPE OF ALTERATION DC TIME
Crash computer 10 1 minute
Destroy programming 15 10 minutes
Damage programming 20 10 minutes
Fixing damaged programming requires an hour and a Computers
check against a DC equal to the DC for damaging it + 5. Destroyed
programming must be re-installed.
• Write Program: You can create a program to help with a specific task.
Doing so grants a +2 bonus to the task. A specific task, in this case,
is one type of operation with one target. The DC to write a program is
20; the time required is one hour.
• Operate Remote Device: Many devices are computer-operated. If you
have access to the computer controlling them, you can shut them off
or change their operating parameters. The DC depends on the nature
of the operation. If you fail the check by 5 or more, the system alerts
its administrator there has been an unauthorized use of the equipment.
An alerted administrator may attempt to identify you or cut off
your access to the system.
TYPE OF OPERATION DC TIME
Shut down passive remote
(including cameras and door locks)
20 1 round per remote
Shut down active remote
(including motion detectors and alarms)
25 1 round per remote
Reset parameters 30 1 minute per remote
Change passcodes 25 1 minute
Hide evidence of alteration +10 1 minute
Minimum security –5 —
Exceptional security +10 —
Maximum security +15 —
Action: Computers requires at least a full-round action. The GM may
determine some tasks require several rounds, a few minutes, or longer, as
described above.
Special: You can take 10 when using the Computers skill. You can take
20 in some cases, but not those involving a penalty for failure. (You cannot
take 20 to defeat computer security or defend security, for example.)