Nov 20, 2016 12:24 pm
The Basics
Whenever you make a skill check of any kind, you take into account the associated characteristic and skill involved (e.g., Intellect for the Mechanics skill, Agility for the Stealth skill, etc.). The higher of the two forms your base ability pool (green dice) while the lower of the two converts that number of green dice in the pool into yellow dice.
So, let’s imagine you have a character with an Intellect of 4 and a Mechanics skill of 2. When making a Mechanics check, you’d use Intellect (4) for the characteristic and Mechanics skill (2 ranks) for determining the dice pool via the above method. Your Intellect is the higher of the two at 4, so this forms your base pool of four green ability dice. You have two ranks in the Mechanics skill, so this upgrades two of those four green dice into yellows. The net result is you would roll 2 yellow and 2 green.
Other quick examples (as they are great learning tools):
Computers (Intellect 4, Skill Ranks 1): Your Intellect would give you 4 green dice as a base pool; 1 rank in Computer skill would convert one of those green dice to a yellow. Altogether, you would roll 3 green and one yellow.
Perception (Cunning 2, Skill Ranks 0): Your Cunning would give 2 green dice as a base pool; 0 ranks in Perception would mean no conversion of dice. Altogether, you would roll 2 green dice.
Lastly, using the same method, consider an example where your character had an Agility of 2 and 4 ranks in Stealth. The higher number between the characteristic (Agility) and Skill Ranks (Stealth) here would be the skill ranks. In this case, because the Skill Ranks (Stealth) is the higher of the two numbers, it would form the base pool of 4 green dice. Then, the Agility would convert two of those green dice into yellows. Altogether, you would roll 2 green dice and 2 yellow dice.
The higher number between the Characteristics and the Skill Ranks always forms the base pool of green dice while the lower number converts green to yellow.
The great thing about the system is that you can learn anything and aren't completely limited by characteristics. The only way characteristics do act as a limiter of sorts is by ultimately limiting your potential to truly excel at any given task.
Consider two characters who both are mechanics. One of them is Gifted (Intellect 4). The other one is Average (Intellect 2). Both of them having 5 skill ranks (the same amount of training/experience), the Average mechanic will have a pool of (2 yellow and 3 green) whereas the Gifted mechanic will have a pool of (4 yellow and 1 green).
Skilled Assistance
Sometimes characters can work together, bringing the best aspects of their skills together. Imagine two hunters, Gifted hunter and Veteran hunter, tracking their prey through the jungle (the Survival skill is used for this). Gifted hunter has a 4 Cunning, and only 1 Skill Rank in Survival; working alone his dice pool is 1 yellow, 3 green. Veteran hunter has a 2 Cunning and 5 Skill Ranks in Survival; working alone, he has 2 yellow 3 green, and is a little bit better of a tracker than his student, Gifted hunter. Together, however, they can combine their characteristics and Skill Ranks to get the best of both. In this case, Gifted’s Cunning of 4 is paired with Veteran’s 5 Skill Ranks. We take the higher of the two, which is Veteran’s 5 Skill Ranks (creating a starting pool of 5 green dice), and use Gifted’s 4 Cunning to convert four of those green to yellow. Working together, they’re much more effective at tracking, their total pool equaling 4 yellow and 1 green.
Unskilled Assistance
A player who can come up with a reasonable and plausible way to help another character with any task may allow the character making the primary skill check to add a single boost dice to their roll.
For example, if you wanted to help someone plot an Astrogation course. As a special note, if you want to help someone in a social interaction, you need to add some sensible fluff to the conversation. "I help Palpatine lie to the Jedi" isn't good enough.
Ultimately, once you become familiar with it, it is a great system with a lot of flexibility that just makes sense.
Whenever you make a skill check of any kind, you take into account the associated characteristic and skill involved (e.g., Intellect for the Mechanics skill, Agility for the Stealth skill, etc.). The higher of the two forms your base ability pool (green dice) while the lower of the two converts that number of green dice in the pool into yellow dice.
So, let’s imagine you have a character with an Intellect of 4 and a Mechanics skill of 2. When making a Mechanics check, you’d use Intellect (4) for the characteristic and Mechanics skill (2 ranks) for determining the dice pool via the above method. Your Intellect is the higher of the two at 4, so this forms your base pool of four green ability dice. You have two ranks in the Mechanics skill, so this upgrades two of those four green dice into yellows. The net result is you would roll 2 yellow and 2 green.
Other quick examples (as they are great learning tools):
Computers (Intellect 4, Skill Ranks 1): Your Intellect would give you 4 green dice as a base pool; 1 rank in Computer skill would convert one of those green dice to a yellow. Altogether, you would roll 3 green and one yellow.
Perception (Cunning 2, Skill Ranks 0): Your Cunning would give 2 green dice as a base pool; 0 ranks in Perception would mean no conversion of dice. Altogether, you would roll 2 green dice.
Lastly, using the same method, consider an example where your character had an Agility of 2 and 4 ranks in Stealth. The higher number between the characteristic (Agility) and Skill Ranks (Stealth) here would be the skill ranks. In this case, because the Skill Ranks (Stealth) is the higher of the two numbers, it would form the base pool of 4 green dice. Then, the Agility would convert two of those green dice into yellows. Altogether, you would roll 2 green dice and 2 yellow dice.
The higher number between the Characteristics and the Skill Ranks always forms the base pool of green dice while the lower number converts green to yellow.
The great thing about the system is that you can learn anything and aren't completely limited by characteristics. The only way characteristics do act as a limiter of sorts is by ultimately limiting your potential to truly excel at any given task.
Consider two characters who both are mechanics. One of them is Gifted (Intellect 4). The other one is Average (Intellect 2). Both of them having 5 skill ranks (the same amount of training/experience), the Average mechanic will have a pool of (2 yellow and 3 green) whereas the Gifted mechanic will have a pool of (4 yellow and 1 green).
Skilled Assistance
Sometimes characters can work together, bringing the best aspects of their skills together. Imagine two hunters, Gifted hunter and Veteran hunter, tracking their prey through the jungle (the Survival skill is used for this). Gifted hunter has a 4 Cunning, and only 1 Skill Rank in Survival; working alone his dice pool is 1 yellow, 3 green. Veteran hunter has a 2 Cunning and 5 Skill Ranks in Survival; working alone, he has 2 yellow 3 green, and is a little bit better of a tracker than his student, Gifted hunter. Together, however, they can combine their characteristics and Skill Ranks to get the best of both. In this case, Gifted’s Cunning of 4 is paired with Veteran’s 5 Skill Ranks. We take the higher of the two, which is Veteran’s 5 Skill Ranks (creating a starting pool of 5 green dice), and use Gifted’s 4 Cunning to convert four of those green to yellow. Working together, they’re much more effective at tracking, their total pool equaling 4 yellow and 1 green.
Unskilled Assistance
A player who can come up with a reasonable and plausible way to help another character with any task may allow the character making the primary skill check to add a single boost dice to their roll.
For example, if you wanted to help someone plot an Astrogation course. As a special note, if you want to help someone in a social interaction, you need to add some sensible fluff to the conversation. "I help Palpatine lie to the Jedi" isn't good enough.
Ultimately, once you become familiar with it, it is a great system with a lot of flexibility that just makes sense.