Contests! (or Skill Checks!)

There are just some times when the only way to solve a problem is with a good die roll and the only die you’ll need is a D6. Yup, the plain ones. The only abilities that need dice rolls are the ones listed under General. The Keeper will tell the player that he needs to roll a skill check, and he then needs to roll higher or equal to the Difficulty Number, which the Keeper may or may not tell you.

Difficulty Numbers (DN) range from 2 to 8. Whoa, whoa, WHOA. Hold on now. How do you get an 8 on a six-sided die? By Point Spends. For every point you spend, that’s +1 to your die roll. The players just need to remember that they have to declare how many points they’re spending BEFORE they roll the die.

Example

Keeper: As Detective Almonds drives up the narrow mountain road, the skies darken and unleash torrents of rain down up him. The road becomes slick with mud and visibility is reduced to almost nil. I’d like a skill check for Driving and let’s say the DN is 4.

Stingray: Let’s see…Almonds has a Driving rating of 6, so I have 6 points to spend. I’m going to spend 2 points for this roll. I rolled a 3, so my total is 5. I passed!

Keeper: Despite the treacherous weather, you’re able to keep your car on the road and drive safely to the top of the mountain.

It’s a very easy system. The only hard part is having players remember that they have to declare the point spend BEFORE THEY ROLL.