Skills & Skill checks
Broad SKills
Each skill in TSS is assigned under a Broad skill. Each Broad Skill is assigned under one of the 6 Ability Scores Think of a Broad skill as the base knowledge of a character in a field. You are not in any way specialised but you understand the basics and can perform tasks.
A broad skill's Ordinary score equals* the score of the base ability of that broad skill. Each skill check done using a broad skill has a +1 Penalty.
Example
Alex has graduated Nursing schoool, she can help someone in need or be part of the crew of an ambulance but she cannot perform surgery or carry out treatment without the help of a doctor. Alex has the Medicine broad skill but no other skills under it.Skills
A skill is the ultimate specialization to a task. A skill's ordinary score is determined by the Ability score under it plus any Ranks assigned to the skill.
Example
Alex has a Dexterity of 14 and has given XP to raise the rank of a skill to 3. Their ordinary score equals 14 + 3 = 17 giving them a O/G/A or 17/8/4.Skill Checks
When trying to determine if an action was successful or not a player has to roll a skill check. A skill check can be rolled using a Broad skill score or a Skill score if the player has any ranks on that score.
To roll a skill check the player rolls 1d20 (cotrol die) plus a situation die. The situation die can be a is determined based on the difficulty of a task. and it can be anything from a -1d20 bonus ro a +3d20 penalty.
The Modifiers
- Resistance Modifier (Some is shoot at Alex, they are naturally nimble and harder to shoot because of it)
- Perk or Flaw (Having great looks while trying to seduce the waitress or their Temper kicked.)
- Equipment (The weapon is very stable or the target is in the weapons's long range, Having a specialized Medikit)
- Environment (It's dark, it's misty, Heavy Gravit)y
- Situation (Alex is poisoned or Suffering from hypothermia, suffered mortal damage and bleeding out)
- Special (Alex is fueled by religious zeal after being inspired by her Priest Commander)
Example
Alex wants to use First Aid to try to patch up Beverly's gunshot wound.Her First Aid Score is 16/8/4 (Alex has the First aid skill at rank 4 and a base Intelligence score of 12).
Alex is carrying a Combat Medic's First Aid Kit giving her a -2 Bonus when she is using it.
Alex and Beverly are both hunkered down as bullets fly all over the place in the middle of a rainy and muddy battle field in the middle of the night giving Alex a +3 penalty.
The total modifier for this roll is -2+3 = +1. Alex rolls a 5 on the control die and 1 on the +1 (1d4) situation die, a total of 6 which for them it is a GOOD success.
Alex will not only be able to stop the bleeding but also managed to get Beverly consious so they can move her to a safer spot.
Options
Assisting
A hero can choose to assist the efforts of another hero. Heroes can be creative and use any skill they feel it can help each other. For example a Physisist might provide insight into an engineering problem or vice versa. To do so, the person helping has to make a roll with their check with any difficulty penalty applied by the Gamemaster. On a Critical Failure or failure the assistance hinders the effort confering +2/+1 penalty. On a success the assistance confers a -1/-2/-3 bonus to the hero conducting the task.
* Unless modified by a special case
Game Mechanics
The Difficulty Scale
| Die | Modifier | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| -d20 | -5 | No Sweat! |
| -d12 | -4 | Piece'o'Cake |
| -d8 | -3 | Super Easy |
| -d6 | -2 | Very Easy |
| -d4 | -1 | Easy |
| -d0 | 0 | Average |
| +d4 | +1 | Tough |
| +d6 | +2 | Hard |
| +d8 | +3 | Challenging |
| +d12 | +4 | Formidable |
| +d20 | +5 | Grueling |
| +2d20 | +6 | Well shit! |
| +3d20 | +7 | The Tom Cruise |
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