Star Wars Saga Edition Wiki
Tags: Visual edit apiedit
Tags: Visual edit apiedit
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== Favorable and Unfavorable Circumstances ==
 
== Favorable and Unfavorable Circumstances ==
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Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill modifier for the skill check, or a change to the skill check's DC. It's one thing for Kelko, a [[Rodian]] [[Scout]], to hunt down enough food to eat while he's camping for the day on the forest moon of [[Endor]], using a [[Survival]] check. Foraging for food while crossing 100 kilometers of [[Tatooine|Tatooine's]] Jundland Wastes is an entirely different matter.
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The GM can alter the odds of success in four ways to take into account exceptional circumstances:
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* Give the skill user a +2 circumstance bonus to represent circumstances that improve performance, such as having the perfect tool for the job, getting help from another (See Combining Skill Attempts below), or possessing unusually accurate information.
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* Give the skill user a -2 circumstance penalty to represent circumstances that hamper performance, such as being forced to use improvised tools or possessing misleading information.
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* Reduce the DC by 2 (Or assign penalties to an opposed check) to represent circumstances that make the task easier, such as having a friendly audience or performing work that doesn't have to be perfect.
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* Increase the DC by 2 (Or add bonuses to an opposed check) to represent circumstances that make the task harder, such as having a hostile audience or performing work that must be flawless.
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Circumstances that affect your ability to perform the skill change your skill modifier. Circumstances that modify how well you have to perform the skill to succeed change the DC. A bonus on your skill modifier and a reduction in the check's DC have the same result- they create a better chance that you will succeed. But they represent different circumstances, and sometimes that difference is important.
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For example, Deel Surool the [[Twi'lek]] [[Scoundrel]] wants to befriend a group of [[Trandoshan]] thugs drinking in a cantina. Before beginning his performance, Deel listens to the [[Trandoshan|Trandoshans]] so that he can judge their mood. Doing so improves his chances of taking the right approach when introducing himself, giving him a +2 bonus to the skill modifier for his [[Persuasion]] check. The [[Trandoshan|Trandoshans]] are in a good mood because they recently received a sizeable payoff, so the GM reduces the bonus they receive for an indifference attitude to +0. (Deel's attempt at diplomacy isn't better just because the [[Trandoshan|Trandoshans]] are in a good mood, so he does not gain a bonus to add to his skill modifier.)
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However, the leader of the gang, a [[Human]] [[Bounty Hunter]], has been unable to locate the [[Wookiee]] he's tracking, and he's suspicious of Deel. (Didn't the datafile suggest the [[Wookiee]] was often seen in the company of a [[Twi'lek]]?) He gains a +2 bonus to his [[Introduction|Will Defense]] to resist being persuaded (In addition to the normal +2 for being indifferent).
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Deel rolls a 6 and adds +8 for he's skill modifier (Including +2 for his impromptu research). His result is 14. The [[Trandoshan|Trandoshans]] have a [[Introduction|Will Defense]] of 13, so Deel's skill check result is high enough to shift their attitudes to friendly, but not their leader ([[Introduction|Will Defense]] 16). The Trandoshans applaud Deel Surool and offer to but him drinks, but their leader eyes him suspiciously.
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== Time and Skill Checks ==
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A skill's description tells you whether using a skill is a [[Combat|Standard Action]], a [[Combat|Move Action]], a [[Combat|Swift Action]], a [[Combat|Full-Round Action]], or a [[Combat|Free Action]]. Some skills can take minutes or hours to use.
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In general, using a skill that requires concentration (And thus distracts you from being fully aware of what's going on around you) provokes an [[Combat|Attack of Opportunity]] from an opponent if you are within that opponent's threatened area when you attempt the skill check.
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== Checks Without Rolls ==

Revision as of 17:53, 17 August 2017

Your character's skills represent a variety of abilities, and you get better at them as you go up in level. A skill check takes into account your training (Trained Skill Bonus), natural talent (Ability Modifier), and luck (The dice roll). It may also take into account your Species' knack for certain skills or the armor you're wearing (Armor Check Penalty), among other things.

Using Skills

To make a skill check, roll:

1d20 + One-Half Your Character Level + Key Ability Modifier + Miscellaneous Modifiers

If you are trained in the skill, add +5 to the skill check result.

A skill check is made just like an attack roll or a saving throw. The higher the roll, the better. You're either trying to get a result that equals or exceeds a certain Difficulty Class (DC), or you're trying to beat another character's check result. For instance, to sneak quietly past a guard, Deel needs to beat the guard's Perception check with a Stealth check.

When adding "One-Half Your Character's Level," always round down (A 1st-level character adds +0).

The "Key Ability Modifier" is the character's bonus or penalty for the skill's associated ability (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma). The key ability of a skill is noted in it's description and on the Skills Table below.

"Miscellaneous Modifiers" includes Armor Check Penalties and bonuses provided by Talents, Feats, or Equipment.

Some skills can't be used untrained. These skills are noted in the Skills Table below. If your character is not trained in these particular skills, you are not able to make any kind of check with them.

How do Skills Work?

A character begins play with a number of trained skills based on his or her starting Heroic Class (Jedi, Noble, Scoundrel, Scout, Soldier, Technician, or Force Prodigy) and Intelligence modifier. A character must choose his or her trained skills form a larger list of class skills, as shown in the table below.

For example, Rorworr (A 1st-level Wookiee Scout) gets 5 trained skills for being a Scout. Sense his Intelligence score is 12, he gets 1 additional trained skill, for a total of 6 trained skills. These skills must be selected from the Scout's list of class skills. Rorworr selects Climb, Initiative, Mechanics, Perception, Pilot, and Stealth as his trained skills.

TRAINED SKILLS BY CLASS
CLASS NUMBER OF TRAINED SKILLS CLASS SKILLS
Jedi 2 + Intelligence Modifier Acrobatics, Endurance, Initiative, Knowledge (All skill, taken individually), Perception, Pilot, Use the Force
Noble 6 + Intelligence Modifier Deception, Gather Information, Initiative, Knowledge (All skill, taken individually), Perception, Persuasion, Pilot, Ride, Treat Injury, Use Computer
Scoundrel 4 + Intelligence Modifier Acrobatics, Deception, Gather Information, Initiative, Knowledge (All skill, taken individually), Mechanics, Perception, Persuasion, Pilot, Stealth, Use Computer
Scout 5 + Intelligence Modifier Climb, Endurance, Initiative, Jump, Knowledge (All skill, taken individually), Mechanics, Perception, Pilot, Ride, Stealth, Survival, Swim
Soldier 3 + Intelligence Modifier Climb, Endurance, Initiative, Jump, Knowledge (Tactics), Mechanics, Perception, Pilot, Swim, Treat Injury, Use Computer
Technician* 7 + Intelligence Modifier Gather Information, Initiative, Knowledge (All skill, taken individually), Mechanics, Perception, Pilot, Treat Injury, Use Computer
Force Prodigy* 4 + Intelligence Modifier Climb, Endurance, Jump, Knowledge (All skill, taken individually), Perception, Persuasion, Ride, Stealth, Survival, Swim, Use the Force

*Additional classes that were cut from the final version of the Saga edition rules.

Making Skill Checks

When your character makes a skill check, roll 1d20 and add on-half your character level + your key Ability modifier + any miscellaneous modifiers + 5 (If the character is trained in the skill). Success depends on the difficulty of the task at hand.

For example, Rorworr, a 1st-level Wookiee Scout with an Intelligence score of 12, tries to open the lock on an Imperial Detention cell to free an imprisoned Rebel Operative. First he attempted a Mechanics check. Rorworr is trained in the skill, so he can attempt the check (Mechanics checks cannot be made untrained). He rolls 1d20 and adds one-half his level (+0), his Intelligence modifier (+1), and his trained skill bonus (+5). He gets a 13. Unfortunately, the GM knows that the lock on the cell door has a DC of 15. Having failed his check and pressed on time, Rorworr shoots the lock with his blaster.

Advancing Skills

Since a character's skill modifiers are based on character level, they automatically increase as the character gains levels. When a character reaches 2nd-level, all of their skill modifiers- in both trained and untrained- increase by 1. A character's skill modifiers can also be increased by other means.

Trained Skills vs. Untrained Skills

When you make a character, you are allowed to select a number of skills based on his or her character Class and Intelligence modifier (Minimum of 1 Trained Skill). Trained Skills are selected from the character's list of class skills at 1st level, and a character may acquire new Trained Skills by taking the Skill Training feat. The major difference between a Trained Skill and an Untrained Skill is that you gain a +5 bonus on skill checks if you're trained in the skill. However, some skills (Such as Use the Force) can't be used untrained.

Types of Skill Checks

When you use a skill, you make a skill check to see how well you do. The higher the result on your skill check, the better you do. Based on the circumstances, your result must equal or exceed a particular number (A DC or the result of an opposed skill check) for you to use the skill successfully. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll.

Circumstances can affect your check. If you're free to work without distractions, you can make a careful attempt and avoid simple mistakes. If you have lots of time, you can try over and over again, assuring that you eventually succeed. If others help you, you may succeed where otherwise you would fail.

Opposed Check

Some skill checks are opposed checks. They are made against a randomized number, usually another character's skill check result. For example, to sneak up on a guard, you need to beat the guard's Perception check result with your Stealth check result. You make a Stealth check, and the GM makes a Perception check for the guard. Whoever scores the highest result wins the check.

For ties on opposed checks, the character with the higher skill modifier wins. For instance, if a Stealth check opposed by a Perception check result in a tie, the sneaker's Stealth check modifier would be compared to the noticer's Perception check modifier. If those scores are the same, roll again.

Check Against a Difficult Class (DC)

Some checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is a number set by the GM (Using the Skill Rules as a guideline) that you must score as a result on your skill check to succeed. For example, climbing the outer wall of a ruined warehouse may have a DC of 15. To climb the wall, you must get a result of 15 or better on a Climb check.

Untrained Checks

Some skills can be used only if you are trained in the skill. If you don't have Use the Force, for example, regardless of your Class, Ability Scores, and experience level, you just don't know enough about using The Force to attempt to manipulate it consciously. Skills that can't be used untrained are marked with a "No" in the "Untrained" column in the Skills Table below.

Trying Again

In general, you can try a skill check again if you fail, and you can keep trying indefinitely. Many skills, however, have natural consequences for failing that must be accounted for. Some skills can't be tried again once a check has failed for a particular task. For most skills, when a character has succeeded at a given task, additional successes are meaningless.

For example, if Deel Surool misses a Mechanics check to open a mechanical lock, he can try again and keep trying. If, however, an alarm sounds when the Mechanics check is missed by 5 or more, then failing has it's own penalty.

Similarly, if Rorworr misses a Climb check, he can keep trying, but if he misses by 5 or more, he falls (After witch he can get up and try again if the fall wasn't too far or too painful).

If a skill carries no penalty for failure, you can Take 20 and assume that you keep trying until you eventually succeed.

Rerolling

Some Species traits, Talents, and other special abilities allow you to reroll a skill check. You must declare that you are using this option immediately after making the check but before any effects are resolved. Furthermore, you must accept the result of the reroll, even if it is worse. For all purposes, the result of the reroll is treated as the real result of your skill check.

Keeping the Better Result: Some Species traits, Talents, and other special abilities are more flexible, allowing you to reroll but keep the better of the two results. In most cases, this is more restricted and only available a limited number of times per day (Such as the Knack talent) or requires you to spend a Force Point (Such as the Force Power Adept talent). As always, you must declare that you are using this option immediately after making the skill check but before any effects are resolved.

Multiple Rerolls: Sometimes you have more than one Species trait, Talent, or other special ability that allows you to reroll the same skill check. In this case, you may choose to take each reroll one at a time in whatever order you wish, resolving each one before deciding whether to use another.

For example, a Cerean Scoundrel makes an Initiative check. Dissatisfied with the result, he decides to use the Cerean Species trait that allows him to reroll his Initiative check, keeping the new result. Unfortunately, the second roll is even worse, so he decides to use the Knack talent to reroll one more time, this time keeping the better of the second and third rolls. Alternatively, he could have opted to use Knack first, keeping the better of the first and second rolls, and then (If necessary) use his Cerean Species trait to roll a third time, keeping the third result instead of the better of the first two.

Favorable and Unfavorable Circumstances

Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill modifier for the skill check, or a change to the skill check's DC. It's one thing for Kelko, a Rodian Scout, to hunt down enough food to eat while he's camping for the day on the forest moon of Endor, using a Survival check. Foraging for food while crossing 100 kilometers of Tatooine's Jundland Wastes is an entirely different matter.

The GM can alter the odds of success in four ways to take into account exceptional circumstances:

  • Give the skill user a +2 circumstance bonus to represent circumstances that improve performance, such as having the perfect tool for the job, getting help from another (See Combining Skill Attempts below), or possessing unusually accurate information.
  • Give the skill user a -2 circumstance penalty to represent circumstances that hamper performance, such as being forced to use improvised tools or possessing misleading information.
  • Reduce the DC by 2 (Or assign penalties to an opposed check) to represent circumstances that make the task easier, such as having a friendly audience or performing work that doesn't have to be perfect.
  • Increase the DC by 2 (Or add bonuses to an opposed check) to represent circumstances that make the task harder, such as having a hostile audience or performing work that must be flawless.

Circumstances that affect your ability to perform the skill change your skill modifier. Circumstances that modify how well you have to perform the skill to succeed change the DC. A bonus on your skill modifier and a reduction in the check's DC have the same result- they create a better chance that you will succeed. But they represent different circumstances, and sometimes that difference is important.

For example, Deel Surool the Twi'lek Scoundrel wants to befriend a group of Trandoshan thugs drinking in a cantina. Before beginning his performance, Deel listens to the Trandoshans so that he can judge their mood. Doing so improves his chances of taking the right approach when introducing himself, giving him a +2 bonus to the skill modifier for his Persuasion check. The Trandoshans are in a good mood because they recently received a sizeable payoff, so the GM reduces the bonus they receive for an indifference attitude to +0. (Deel's attempt at diplomacy isn't better just because the Trandoshans are in a good mood, so he does not gain a bonus to add to his skill modifier.)

However, the leader of the gang, a Human Bounty Hunter, has been unable to locate the Wookiee he's tracking, and he's suspicious of Deel. (Didn't the datafile suggest the Wookiee was often seen in the company of a Twi'lek?) He gains a +2 bonus to his Will Defense to resist being persuaded (In addition to the normal +2 for being indifferent).

Deel rolls a 6 and adds +8 for he's skill modifier (Including +2 for his impromptu research). His result is 14. The Trandoshans have a Will Defense of 13, so Deel's skill check result is high enough to shift their attitudes to friendly, but not their leader (Will Defense 16). The Trandoshans applaud Deel Surool and offer to but him drinks, but their leader eyes him suspiciously.

Time and Skill Checks

A skill's description tells you whether using a skill is a Standard Action, a Move Action, a Swift Action, a Full-Round Action, or a Free Action. Some skills can take minutes or hours to use.

In general, using a skill that requires concentration (And thus distracts you from being fully aware of what's going on around you) provokes an Attack of Opportunity from an opponent if you are within that opponent's threatened area when you attempt the skill check.

Checks Without Rolls