Skill Checks

In narrative play and mech combat, Skill Checks are used to determine the outcome of complicated situations and actions. They are only required when making a roll will move the story forward. Your pilot will generally always succeed in mundane tasks, especially if it relates to their background. You don’t need to make a Skill Check to open a door, cook a meal, or talk to a superior officer – unless there’s something complicating your attempt, the outcome might further a situation or relationship in an interesting way, or it might answer a question.

A barroom brawl, a tense escape, decoding an encrypted message, hacking a computer, talking down a pirate, picking someone’s pocket, distracting a guard, hunting alien wildlife, and flattering the planetary governor are all examples of situations that have some degree of tension and consequence, and might require a Skill Check.

Skill Checks can cover activities as broad or specific as the narrative requires. For example, a Skill Check might cover an entire day’s worth of infiltration into a covert facility, or you might instead roll for individual moments of action – sneaking into vents, hacking doors, disabling guards, and so on.

Let’s break down the process of making a skill check:

  1. Name your goal.
  2. The GM decides the consequences of failure (e.g., losing time, alerting the guards, getting shot, etc). If there are no consequences, then you automatically succeed.
  3. Determine which Triggers or Mech Skills are relevant, if any, and whether you or the GM are invoking your pilot’s background (+1 Accuracy or +1 Difficulty).
  4. Roll 1d20 and add any relevant modifiers from Triggers, Accuracy, Difficulty, or Mech Skills. On a 9 or less, you fail to accomplish your goal and suffer the established consequences. On a 10+, you accomplish your goal.
  5. Only roll once to achieve your goal, and stick with the result

Examples of Skill Checks: