The Nerth LAWS of Engagement

Engagement by Design: Skills Reimagined

SKILLS IN PASSAGES

Skills are how Persona progress in the game. By choosing and building skills along the way, the Persona becomes more individualized and able to take on more difficult challenges along the way. The Persona gets a certain number of beginning Skills, and can gain new ones along the way, and even design their own!

At Creation

For each Persona, a player may choose 1 or 2 skills each from their preferred Place list and Estates list. (meaning they could have as many as four, or as few as two skills when they have finished. Then they get to choose a Way and choose from that list up to their Base Core value that many skills. (If they have any skill slots left over, they can choose from any other Way; there are no 'this list ONLY' skills. (Though it is possible, for the sake of play it is not recommended the Player attempt to design a new skill during Origination; experience the game as designed, and then, with the Director's approval, go for it!)

After Creation

Skills Treatises dependent on GM approvals Players may create ORIGINAL skills at the cost of one Skill Progression each. Ramps occur at 10-point increments (10,20,30, etc.) Treatises have a silver-gold cost based on Rarity per the DM Ramps always occur at the end of a Feature Scene or a session, NOT in an active Feature Scene. In no case does a Persona ever 'lose' a Ramp opportunity because of 'missing the timing.' If a player forgets to Ramp, he should do so at the next reasonable opportunity. In any case, Directors and all players should witness the die roll.
Should two or more skills be ramp-worthy, Ramp them, one at a time. (see the RAMP rules, under the BASE in Passages).

Uncontested Action

Checks are made against Skills only when their success/failure affects the Conditions of a scene. A player may 'practice' any skill, but unless that skill is being used in-game and in-story, they will automatically succeed - that is why you practice, so you can succeed when you need to. No die roll is needed in the practice form, but in practical use, follow this outline. Calculate the Double Up (DU) and Double Down (DD) values for the intended skill. Use percentile dice to roll against the Skill. Consult the list below for relative success/failure of the die roll. Successes mean the skill works. Failures mean the skill does not work.
CRITICAL FAIL: A roll of precisely 100% means the Action fails. There are adverse Consequences and Results BLOWN ROLL: A roll higher than the Double Up value. The Action Fails. There are adverse Consequences DOUBLE UP: A roll higher than the Skill BASE and lower than double the Skill BASE results as a Double Up. The Action partially succeeds. There are Consequences, either Beneficial or Adverse SKILLS SUCCESS: A roll equal to or less than Skill BASE and more than 1/2(Skill BASE). The attempt succeeded as intended. The Player reaps the benefit of the Action as desired. If there is a Consequence, it will be beneficial DOUBLE DOWN A roll equal to or less than 1/2 Skills BASE value. The attempt is wildly successful, reaping beneficial Consequences and Results and completing the Action as desired.
EXAMPLE: A player's Persona with a BASE value of 26 has a skill they wish to use. To prepare for the skill, you determine the DU (Double Up) to be 52 and the Double Down (DD) to be 13. Under these conditions, roll; a roll of double-ought(100%) would be a Critical Failure. Any other roll above 52 is a BLOWN ROLL Failure. If the die roll is above 26 and up to 52, it is a Double Up Success. From 26 down to 14, the die roll would be a Skills Success, and 13 or below would result in a Double Down Wild Success.
So, in this case, a roll of 54 would Fail, a roll of 43 would be a DU Success, a roll of 25 would be a Success, and a roll of 13 would be a DD Success.

CONTESTED ACTIONS

CONTESTED ROLLS ARE LIKE SKILLS CHECKS—only more challenging to accomplish. When one undertakes any task while being hindered, it is more challenging. It takes considerable training and skill to do well. Therefore, checks under Contest using the Core value, not the Base Value. Contested actions are fundamentally opposed by Conditions like the environment (Sailing vs. wind storm, for example) or by Opposition (Stealth vs. Surveillance). For this reason, most Contested Actions are usually only undertaken when time is of the essence.
For example, the Persona discovers a treasure chest below decks on a sailing craft in a storm. If the Persona can wait out the storm, the check to unlock the trunk would be standard, but the crashing and diving waves make it difficult if the Player must open the chest during the storm. So, for comparison, let's say the Lock-picking skill was at 32. In a Condition-free situation, the Player unlocks the chest with DU partial success at 64, success roll of 32% (DD Wild success at 16%) Under the Stormy Conditions, The Lock Pick Skill Core would be 6, so opening the chest would need a DU success of 12, a Success of 6, and a DD success would be only 3% under 6% (the Core value of the 32 Skill)
Note that that means even a Mastered Skill still has minimal chances of being done under adverse conditions. A Mastered Skill of 95 renders a Core of 19, a noodge over one in six cases. Unless you built a skill out of "opening a chest under duress," but that is a different conversation.

Type

Natural