Difficulties & Skill Levels
Understanding the Scale, Probability of Success, How to Balance, etc.
Average: 8 - 13;
- People making a living with the relevant skills 12-13
Expert: 14+
Master: 20 - 25 - it is frequently counter productive to go for a skill this high. Time (and points) is better spent in “subsidiary” skills, related Advantages, or Techniques.
Base Skill Levels
| Skill Level | Comprehension of Skill |
|---|---|
| 7 or less | Unskilled (default) |
| 8-9 | Feeble (beginners) |
| 10-11 | Average (non-job skills for ordinary folk) |
| 12-13 | Competent (job skills for ordinary folk) |
| 14-16 | Exceptional (most seasoned of ordinary) |
| 17-19 | Heroic (Extraordinary world-class experts) |
| 20-21 | Larger-than Life (top experts from history) |
| 22-23 | Legendary ("typical" mythic figures) |
| 24-26 | Superhuman (outstanding mythic figures) |
| 27+ | Godlike (greatest mythic figures, gods) |
Task Difficulty
| Modifier | Difficulty Description |
|---|---|
| +10 | Automatic |
| +8-9 | Trivial |
| +6-7 | Very Easy |
| +4-5 | Easy |
| +2-3 | Very Favorable |
| +1 | Favorable |
| 0 | Average |
| -1 | Unfavorable |
| -2-3 | Very Unfavorable |
| -4-5 | Hard |
| -6-7 | Very Hard |
| -8-9 | Dangerous |
| -10 | Impossible (if allowed to try) |
Probability Likelihood
| Skill Level | Probability of Success |
|---|---|
| 3 | 0.5% |
| 4 | 1.9% |
| 5 | 4.6% |
| 6 | 9.3% |
| 7 | 16.2% |
| 8 | 25.9% |
| 9 | 37.5% |
| 10 | 50.0% |
| 11 | 62.5% |
| 12 | 74.1% |
| 13 | 83.8% |
| 14 | 90.7% |
| 15 | 95.4% |
| 16+ | 98.1% |
Low Pressure Situations
In non-adventuring situations when you have lots of time to prepare and face minimal risk, the GM may give you +4 or more to skill. (The GM might even declare such actions successful instead of wasting time on a skill roll; see When to Roll, p. 343). Ordinary people almost always receive this bonus at mundane tasks, even if they are working from default skill!
Example: An airline pilot has Piloting-12 – normally a 74% chance of success. For day to-day flying, however, he rolls at +4. This makes his effective skill 16, for a 98% chance of success.
On the other hand, especially tough adventuring situations can result in penalties. See Culture (p. 23), Language (p. 23), Tech-Level Modifiers (p. 168), Familiarity (p. 169), Equipment Modifiers (p. 345), and Task Difficulty (p. 345) for some common modifiers. Be sure to take these factors into account when buying your skills.