B345 – Task Difficulty

  

  

Guidelines for task modifiers:

+10 – Automatic

Tasks so trivial that the GM should waive the need for a success roll, except under extraordinary circumstances. 

Example: A Driving roll to start a car.

  

+8 or +9 – Trivial

Situations where failure is extremely unlikely, and would require incredibly bad luck.

Example: A Driving roll to drive around an empty parking lot.

  

+6 or +7 – Very Easy

Tasks where failure is possible, but would require bad luck. 

Example: A Driving roll to drive down an empty suburban street.

  

+4 or +5 – Easy

Most mundane tasks, including rolls made by ordinary people at day-to-day jobs. 

Example:  A Driving roll to commute to work in a small town.

  

+2 or +3 – Very Favorable

Mildly risky tasks that most people would undertake without hesitation.

Example: A Driving roll to commute to work in a teeming metropolis.

  

+1 – Favorable

Tasks that most people would hesitate at, due to the risk, but that a career adventurer would regard as easy. 

Example: A Driving roll to compete in a road rally.

  

0 – Average

Most adventuring tasks, and the majority of skill use under stress. 

Example: A Driving roll in a car chase.

  

-1 – Unfavorable

Stressful tasks that would challenge a novice adventurer, but not an old hand. 

Example: A Driving roll in a high-speed car chase.

  

2 or -3 – Very Unfavorable

Stressful tasks that would challenge a professional. Skilled adventurers still routinely accept such risks!

Example: A Driving roll in a high speed car chase on a busy freeway.

  

-4 or -5 – Hard

Tasks so challenging that even an expert will look for alternatives. A true “master” is still unlikely to feel challenged.

Example: A Driving roll to keep the car on the road while shooting a gun out the window during a high speed chase.

  

-6 or -7 – Very Hard

Situations that even the masters might have second thoughts about. 

Example: A Driving roll in a high-speed chase during a blizzard.

  

-8 or -9 – Dangerous

Tasks at which even the greatest masters expect to fail. 

Example: A Driving roll while shooting a gun in a high-speed chase during a blizzard.

  

-10 – Impossible

No sane person would attempt such a task. The GM may wish to forbid such attempts altogether. 

Example: A Driving roll to steer a car with the knees while firing a bazooka two-handed during a chase through a blizzard.

  

2 Responses

  1. Oliver Starr says:

    That last anecdote happened in a movie, didn’t it?

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