Ogre:CharacterCodex:Introduction

Introduction

The Core Mechanic

Whenever you attempt an action that has some chance of failure, you roll a twenty-sided die (d20). Every action that you do is represent by a skill that represent how good you are at doing a particular thing. Checking the result of an action is called a skill check.

To determine if your character succeeds at a task you do this:

• Roll a d20.
• Add any relevant modifiers from the appropriate skill.
• Compare the result to a target number called a Difficulty Class (DC).

If the result equals or exceeds the DC, your character succeeds. If the result is lower than the DC, you fail.

Difficulty Class (DC) are generally set by the Gamemaster based on the complexity of the task to be done. DC should follow the following guidelines:

Complexity	DC
Very easy	0
Easy	5
Average	10
Tough	15
Challenging	20
Formidable	25
Heroic	30
Nearly impossible	40

1s and 20s dice roll

On a skill check, rolling a 1 or a 20 on the dice, without any modifier. Is an open-ended rolls. If you roll 20, you have particularly well done your job and have more chance of success. You can roll another d20 and add the result to the first d20 to calculate your check result. If you roll another 20, you can add a third dice to your roll. There is no limit to the number of dice you can add this way. If you roll 1, you have not done a very good job and have more chance of failure. You can roll another d20 and subtract the result to the first d20 to calculate your check result. If you roll a 20 on your second dice, you throw a third dice and subtract it from your check. There is no limit to the number of dice you can subtract this way.

Automatic Success

If your skill modifier is equal or higher than the DC to beat, you can choose to use an automatic success instead of rolling dice for the check.

Automatic Failure

If by rolling a 20 would result in a failure, the GM may decide that the action is impossible to do and that you automatically fail your skill check.

Total Success

If you beat the DC for an action twice, this is a total success. This mean that you have done your action extraordinarily well and some positive events may happen. When fighting an opponent, you may hurt him more than expected. The result of a total success is describe for most skills. Your rank of total success is the number of time you beat the DC for a task.

Total Failure

If your skill check, after all modifier applied, is below 0, you have failed miserably your action and something wrong happen. You may have broken your tools to open a lock or open your defense in a combat. The result of a total failure is describe for most skills. Your rank of total failure is the negative result of your skill check.

Checks without Rolls

A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually while under some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favorable conditions and eliminate the luck factor.

Taking 10 : When your character is not being threatened or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure you know (or expect) that an average roll will succeed but fear that a poor roll might fail, so you elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll wouldnt help.

Taking 10+ : With some feats or by spending CP (See Controlling your fate), you can take a 10+. You roll a 1d20 for the skill check as usual, but consider any roll under 10 as a 10. This assure you to always have a minimum of 10 on your dice roll for a skill check.

Taking 20 : When you have plenty of time (generally 2 minutes for a skill that can normally be checked in one standard action), you are faced with no threats or distractions, and the skill being attempted carries no penalties for failure, you can take 20. In other words, eventually you will get a 20 on 1d20 if you roll enough times. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, just calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20. Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right, and it assumes that you fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes twenty times as long as making a single check would take. Since taking 20 assumes that the character will fail many times before succeeding, if you did attempt to take 20 on a skill that carries penalties for failure, your character would automatically incur those penalties before he or she could complete the task. Common take 20 skills include Escape Artist, Open Lock, and Search

Dice

Dice rolls are described with expressions such as “3d4+3,” which means “roll three four-sided dice and add 3” (resulting in a number between 6 and 15). The first number tells you how many dice to roll (adding the results together). The number immediately after the “d” tells you the type of die to use. Any number after that indicates a quantity that is added or subtracted from the result. d%: Percentile dice work a little differently. You generate a number between 1 and 100 by rolling two different ten-sided dice. One (designated before you roll) is the tens digit. The other is the ones digit. Two 0s represent 100.

Rounding Fractions

In general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger. Exception: Certain rolls, such as damage, have a minimum of 1.

Multiplying

Sometimes a rule makes you multiply a number or a die roll. As long as you’re applying a single multiplier, multiply the number normally. When two or more multipliers apply to any abstract value (such as a modifier or a die roll), however, combine them into a single multiple, with each extra multiple adding 1 less than its value to the first multiple. Thus, a double (×2) and a double (×2) applied to the same number results in a triple (×3, because 2 + 1 = 3). When applying multipliers to real-world values (such as weight or distance), normal rules of math apply instead. A creature whose size doubles (thus multiplying its weight by 8) and then is turned to stone (which would multiply its weight by a factor of roughly 3) now weighs about 24 times normal, not 10 times normal. Similarly, a blinded creature attempting to negotiate difficult terrain would count each square as 4 squares (doubling the cost twice, for a total multiplier of ×4), rather than as 3 squares (adding 100% twice).