Types of Checks

Simple Checks

The standard check: a character attempts a task against a fixed difficulty set by the GM. Roll the assembled pool and read the result. Additional Successes beyond the first increase the effectiveness of the action. As a general guideline:

  • 1 Success — The task succeeds as intended
  • 2–3 Successes — Improved outcome (faster, stronger, more precise, or more efficient)
  • 4+ Successes — Exceptional outcome (significant advantage, amplified impact, or superior positioning)

The exact effect depends on the situation and Universe, but additional Successes should always matter.

Opposed Checks

When two characters directly contest each other, both build their dice pools normally, including any Boon or Bane Dice from conditions, environment, or assistance, but neither character adds Trial or Crisis Dice for the other's opposition. Results are compared directly: the character with more net Successes wins. On a tie, the initiating character loses, the defender holds their position by default.

Remaining Boons and Banes are still read for secondary effects after the winner is determined. Ties intentionally favor the defender, reflecting the advantage of holding position. Defense ratings and other passive modifiers still apply to opposed checks unless a specific rule states otherwise.

Assisted Checks

Use an Assisted Check when one character is the primary actor and up to two characters help. The assistants must describe a concrete contribution and be in a position to help. The primary character builds and rolls the check; the assistants do not roll unless the GM calls for a separate setup check.

A meaningful assist adds 1 Boon Die to the primary character's pool. If an assisting character has more ranks in the relevant skill than the primary character, the assist adds 1 Ability Die instead of the Boon Die.

No check can gain more than two assisting dice total, and no more than one of those dice may be an Ability Die. The usual results are +1 Boon Die, +2 Boon Dice, or +1 Boon Die and +1 Ability Die. Extra helpers may justify the assist, reduce time, carry tools, watch for danger, or change the fictional position, but they do not add more dice unless a specific rule says otherwise.

Assisting carries risk. If the primary check generates Banes, a Calamity, or a serious consequence, the GM may assign part of that consequence to the assistant when the fiction supports it.

Group Checks

Use a Group Check when the characters share one outcome and the group succeeds or fails together, such as lifting a piano, forcing a heavy door, carrying a wounded ally, holding a barricade, or rowing through rough water. If every character's individual performance matters, each character rolls separately instead; moving silently, crossing a narrow ledge, resisting poison, or searching separate rooms are usually individual checks.

For a Group Check, choose the best-positioned character as the performer, usually the character with the strongest relevant pool. Compare that character's relevant skill rank to the lowest relevant skill rank among the necessary participants. Add Bane Dice equal to the difference. If the task is mostly raw physical effort rather than trained technique, the GM may use the relevant characteristic instead of skill rank.

Characters who are not necessary to the effort do not increase the Bane Dice. A character who must be carried, protected, or managed may count as rank 0 or may create a separate complication, depending on the scene. The normal dice pool limits still apply.

Extended Checks

Some tasks are too complex to resolve in a single roll. The GM sets:

  • A difficulty (as normal)
  • A success threshold — the total number of net Successes required
  • A time unit — each roll represents a span of time (minutes, hours, scenes, etc.)
  • An optional attempt limit — the maximum number of rolls before the task fails or the situation changes

Each roll, net Successes accumulate. When the threshold is met, the task is complete. Boons, Banes, Breakthroughs, and Calamities apply as normal on each roll and can alter the situation even before completion. Failure in an extended check should meaningfully change the situation, time is lost, resources are consumed, danger escalates, or the opportunity is no longer available.

If the attempt limit is reached without meeting the threshold, the task fails, the Universe or GM defines the consequence.

Extended Checks are also the default structure for chases, long cons, debates, investigations, and other contests that need more than one roll. For a chase, each roll usually represents one exchange of pursuit, escape, or positioning. For an extended social conflict, the threshold represents trust, doubt, leverage, public support, or another social position that changes over time.