Page 65 - World of Darkness

Roll Results marching long distances and leaping between rooftops.
Dramatic Failure: Your character fails to remember In combat, the Skill is combined with Dexterity to deter-
crucial facts, incorrectly informing his actions with po- mine the accuracy of thrown weapons.
tentially explosive results. He mixes an acid into a base Possessed by: Professional athletes, police officers,
instead of a base into an acid, or otherwise causes his ef- soldiers, survivalists, physical trainers
forts to fail spectacularly. Specialties: Acrobatics, Climbing, Kayaking, Long-
Failure: Your character is unable to summon the nec- Distance Running, Sprinting, Swimming, Throwing
essary information from memory. It’s on the tip of his
tongue, but the formula, chemical or equation eludes him. Roll Results
Success: Your character is able to summon the nec- Dramatic Failure: The effort not only fails, but your
essary knowledge to serve his needs. character injures himself. It might be a sprained muscle
Exceptional Success: Your character recalls especially or ligament, which inflicts a single point of bashing dam-
obscure or detailed facts that give him additional options age. Risky efforts such as climbing up the side of a build-
or capabilities with the resources at hand. ing or swimming a long distance can have severe reper-
cussions. See the rules on falling (p. 179) and holding
Physical Skills one’s breath (p. 49).
Failure: Your character fails to accomplish the at-
tempted action. His throw misses the mark. He doesn’t
Physical Skills are applications of a character’s might, make it to the far rooftop. In the case of an extended physi-
endurance and coordination, such as climbing a moun- cal action such as climbing or long-distance running, he
tain, driving a car or shooting a gun. They are most often doesn’t lose ground but does not make any headway, ei-
paired with a character’s Physical Attributes in various ther.
combinations, but can also be paired with Mental At- Success: Your character accomplishes the action as
tributes when the character tries to draw on his Skill to planned. His throw hits the mark. He gains on the flee-
identify an object or answer a question. Intelligence + ing, shadowy figure. He catches the falling baby.
Firearms is required to identify a particular rifle, for ex- Exceptional Success: Your character completes the
ample, or Intelligence + Survival to read a map. Physical attempted action with greater efficiency or power than
Skill scores represent a combination of personal experi- anticipated. A masterful feat of balance and agility makes
ence and/or formal training rather than extensive school- a rock-climbing attempt much swifter and smoother than
ing. You can’t earn a degree in fist-fighting, but you can expected. He catches the falling baby and her loose paci-
graduate at the top of your class in the school of hard fier.
knocks.
Untrained Skill Use: If your character doesn’t have Climbing
the necessary Physical Skill required for a roll, he can still
attempt the action. Roll his Attribute alone with a -1 pen- Dice Pool: Strength + Athletics + equipment
alty. Action: Instant or extended (one success is required
per 10 feet of height; in an extended task each roll repre-
Athletics sents one minute of climbing)
Climbing an object requires a number of successes in
John made it onto the balcony just as the hotel room an instant or extended action. Your character can climb
door opened. There wasn’t time to close the elegant French 10 feet with each success rolled. Objects that are 10 feet
doors to the patio, and the breeze already ruffled the drapes. or less in height can be climbed as an instant action. Rolls
It wouldn’t be long before Logan — or worse, one of his may be modified based on the availability of hand- and
pale-faced bodyguards — noticed and checked outside. footholds, sheerness or slipperiness of the slope, and wind
conditions, all at the Storyteller’s discretion. By the same
There was nowhere to hide. John looked about franti- token, if the character chooses to take his time and pick
cally and saw that the balconies to either side were at least his way carefully up the incline, each minute added to the
12 feet away — too far to risk a jump at 20 stories up. roll provides a +1 modifier, to a maximum of +3. Thus, if
John stared down at the balcony below and tried not to a character takes his time and each roll represents three
think about how small the cars looked. He swung his legs minutes of effort instead of one, a +2 modifier is added to
over the railing, taking all his weight on his arms, and hoped each roll.
that all the rock climbing he’d done last summer would pay Example: Miles attempts to climb a tree to get his
off. bearings while lost in a forest. He finds a suitable tree with
Athletics encompasses a broad category of physical lots of accessible branches and starts to climb. The Story-
training, from rock climbing to kayaking to professional teller determines that the tree is 60 feet tall, and that it has
sports such as football or hockey. The Athletics Skill can been raining so the branches are slick. Miles’ Strength is 3
be applied to any action that requires prolonged physical and his Athletics is 2. He has no tools other than his hands
exertion or that demands considerable agility or hand- and feet, so he takes his time; three minutes pass on each roll
eye coordination. Examples include climbing a high wall, for a +2 bonus. The Storyteller imposes a -1 modifier due to

64
Chapter 3- SKILLS