BW PDF - Midnight Campaign

Skills & Skill ChecksSkill checks are the central mechanic of the Mayhem game. They determine the effectiveness of most efforts,and need to be rolled high enough to beat a set difficulty for the appropriate task, or against the opposing skillof their opponent. A character’s purchased abilities will increase the number of things that a character can do,as well as providing some bonuses for how well they do it, given the specific situation.Attribute ChecksSome checks function directly off of an attribute insteadof a specific skill. Tasks that require the raw attribute,such as Strength or Intuition, roll a skill die and add theattribute itself.Skill ChecksTo roll a skill check, roll the die associated with that skilland add the skill level, as well as any other applicablebonuses and penalties. The total value is the effectivenessof that check. For skills which aren’t assigned to a specificattribute, roll a d8 as the skill die.Skill Check Bonuses: What stacks?There are a lot of different ways to add bonuses toa skill or attribute roll, but only some of them willbe able to stack together for a higher sum bonus.They are:1. Skill Level2. Equipment Bonus3. Technique Bonus4. Circumstance BonusIf a player is able to stack up more than one bonus whichbelong to the same category, the highest value applies andthe other is ignored.If a climber had good climbing tools, (a +2 equipment bonus,)had the Leeven’s athletic bonus, (+4 to technique bonus) and hadan athletics skill of 10, the total score would be +16. If theyrolled a 7, their total skill result would be 23.Equipment BonusesThese apply to skills that use specific tools to accomplisha task. This includes the weapon’s offensive or defensiveskill bonuses, as well as bonuses from tools and kits,like a shovel or a set of lock-picksTechnique BonusesThese includes bonuses gained from races, talents,abilities, spells, or any other similar effect.Circumstance BonusesThese include anything that comes from the environmentor timing of a skill check, such as: whelm bonuses,used when players attack simultaneously, as well asSurprise Attack/Intuitive Defense bonuses, whichapply when someone is caught off guard. Any otherspecial bonuses applied for the specific situation can bedesignated by the storyteller and applied here.PenaltiesPenalties work in the same categories as bonuses.Combine the sum penalties and bonuses to get thefinal adjustment.Skill & Attribute Checks Against a Set DifficultyEvery task has a difficulty assigned to it, usuallyleveled between 1 and 40. The harder the task,the higher the difficulty assigned to that task.When a player’s character wants to perform adifficult task, the storyteller assigns a difficultylevel to that task, and the player attempts a Skillor Attribute check. If the player’s roll exceeds thedifficulty of the task, they succeed. If not, they fail.If the climber in the previous example were climbing a rock facewith a difficulty of 18, they would have succeeded. If they wereclimbing a wall with a difficulty of 28, they would have failedto climb the wall, and likely have fallen.17