Skills

Roleplaying is a conversation. The Operator describes the scene, you describe how your characters behave, the Operator describes how any NPCs react, you reply, and it goes back and forth.

That is how the story is told and progresses. But sooner or later, a decisive situation will arise, a point of no return, a conflict that conversation alone cannot resolve. Then it's time to break out the dice and use one of your skills.

• Force (STR)
• Melee (STR)
• Stamina (STR)
• Marksmanship (AGI)
• Mobility (AGI)
• Stealth (AGI)
• Crafting (WIT)
• Defiance (WIT)
• Observation (WIT)
• Survival (WIT)
• Medical (EMP)
• Insight (EMP)
• Persuasion (EMP)

There are thirteen skills in total in the game, all described later in this chapter. Skills are connected to an attribute and ranked in skill levels from Unranked (no dots) to Elite (•••••). To roll for a skill, grab a number of dice equal to your skill level plus your current score in the attribute connected to that skill; this is your base dice pool. Then roll all the dice together.

To be successful with a skill, you need only to roll one success (six). If you are able to roll more than one success, you may trigger additional conditions listed under the skill description. If you roll a bane (one), you remove one success from your total. If you have no successes from the roll, your attempt at the action has failed.

If you don't have dots in the skill required for the specific scenario, you can roll anyway — simply roll the dice for the related attribute alone. Useful gear can provide you extra base dice to roll.

Sometimes, external factors help you to succeed. Such modifiers will give you additional base dice to roll. Other times, something hampers your actions; this removes base dice from your pool. You can get modifiers to skill rolls in several different ways: permutations, the difficulty of the action itself, and help from others.

A +1 modifier means roll you roll one extra base die, +2 means you roll two extra base dice, and so on. A -1 modifier means you roll one base dice fewer than normal, -2 means two fewer, and so on. Several modifiers can apply to the same roll, and they are cumulative.

Always apply modifiers to your skills, not from attributes or gear. If you don't have enough dice from skills, remove base dice from gear. If you run out of gear dice as well, remove base dice from attributes. If you end up with no dice at all, you have no chance to succeed — time to rethink your strategy.

Normally, the Operator doesn't assess the difficulty of an action. You only roll dice in challenging situations — period. Sometimes, the Operator might want to underscore that external factors either help or hinder an action. Use the following list for guidance.

• Trivial: +3
• Simple: +2
• Easy: +1
• Average: No modifier
• Demanding: -1
• Hard: -2
• Formidable: -3

SPECIFIC MODIFIERS: There are also cases when modifications are imposed by the rules, like when you aim carefully with a ranged weapon, shoot at long distance, or if you're in a bad negotiation position when you attempt to Persuade someone. Some permutations also give you a positive modifier in certain situations.

If you roll no successes, something goes wrong. For some reason, you have failed to achieve your goal. Feel free to elaborate on why with help from the Operator. They might even let a failed roll have further consequences to move the story forward in a dramatic way.

Failure must not stop the story completely. Even when you fail, there must be a way forward — perhaps at the cost of additional time, risk, or resources, but still a way. The Operator has final say regarding the consequences of failure in a particular situation.

You have one last chance if you really need to succeed — you can push the roll.

Your initial skill roll reflects a safe and controlled action. If you fail your initial roll, or if you want additional successes, you can lean into the action, giving it everything you have, pushing yourself past your limits.

This is called pushing the roll, and lets you re-roll any dice not showing the result of one. A base die showing a 1 is called a bane and can never be re-rolled when pushing. After a push, you cannot change back to the previous result. All dice count after the push, even any dice you didn't re-roll.

Pushing always comes with a risk or cost. When pushing a roll, you immediately suffer a condition of some sort, such as Exhausted, Angry, or Frightened. For each condition you have, you suffer a negative modifier on some or all skill rolls. More information about conditions later.

As a rule, you only have one chance to succeed with any action. Once you have rolled the dice — and pushed the roll — you may not roll again to achieve the same goal. You need to try something different or wait until the circumstances have changed in a substantial way, or let another character try. This rule does not apply to combat, where you can attack the same enemy multiple times.

Other PCs or NPCs can help you succeed at a skill roll. This must be declared before you roll your dice. It must also make sense in the story — the individuals helping you must be physically present and have the capacity to support your action. The Operator has final say.

For each person helping you, you get a +1 modifier. No more than three people can help you with a single roll, meaning your maximum modifier from getting help is +3. In combat, helping counts as the same type of action as the one you're supporting, either fast or slow.

Sometimes, rolling a success isn't enough to succeed with your skill roll. In some cases, you must beat an opponent in an opposed roll. To win an opposed roll, you must roll more successes than your opponent. Each success rolled by your opponent eliminates one of your successes. Only you, the active party, can push your roll — and you can decide to do so even after your opponent rolls.

Sometimes you and your opponent roll for different skills, sometimes the same. Opposed can be used when you roll Persuasion versus Insight to influence someone who is actively trying to resist you, or Stealth versus Observation to move undetected past a vigilant guard. The Operator can also use opposed rolls in any case when they deem it appropriate.

If you and your opponent roll the same number of successes, the result is a tie. Typically, your action will fail if you roll a tie as the active party in an opposed roll, but in some cases, ties have specific effects. If a tie needs to be broken, re-roll the opposed roll to determine the outcome.

When something heavy or solid blocks your way and you need to lift, push, or break it, roll for Force. Use this skill for any feat of strength.

Sometimes, you need to fight for your life, hand-to-hand with your opponent. Roll for this skill when you attack someone, or defend yourself, using only your body or a melee weapon.

When your physical endurance or vigor is tested, roll for Stamina. For example, this skill is used to survive under water or to resist a deadly poison. You also roll Stamina to stay alive when you have suffered a lethal critical injury.

Use this skill to fire all types of ranged weapons.

Roll for Mobility when you want to perform any action that requires speed or motor control — be it a risky climb, a dangerous jump, or a foot chase after a fleeing enemy.

Roll for stealth when trying to sneak past someone, staying undetected, or picking someone's pocket. If your opponent is actively looking for you, it's an opposed roll against their Observation. If not, it's just a straight skill roll. Each of the following external factors gives you a +1 modifier to the roll:

• You blend into your surroundings.
• The area is dark or dimly lit.
• The area is crowded or noisy.
• Your opponent is distracted by something.

Each of the following external factors give you a -1 modifier to the roll:

• You stand out against the surroundings.
• There is nothing to hide behind.

This skill is primarily used for repairing broken gear or building new items, but can be used to understand or operate mechanical constructions. Repairing a broken item typically takes a shift of work.

This skill is used for breaking into the codebase of a virtual environment, namely the Matrix. It also defines your ability to enter and sustain Bullet Time (explained later).

This skill can be used to examine an area to find useful information or to spot something or someone from a distance. When the Operator calls for it, you can make a passive roll for this skill to detect an approaching threat in time. When examining an area, the Operator can give you a positive modifier if your description of where you are searching is very precise, or even let you succeed without a roll.

Not all corners of the Matrix are meant to be explored or endured. Some Constructs and Modals are made to create survival scenarios. In the case where you are in one of these environments and need to determine a way to stay alive.

Use this skill when you need to get a broken character back on their feet, or even save their life if they've suffered a critical injury.

This skill represents the ability to read other people and see through deceptions. Roll for Insight to assess an NPC's mood. If you succeed, the Operator must reveal the NPC's current, most powerful emotion – hate, fear, contempt, love, etc. If you roll several successes, you can also determine if the subject is lying — but not exactly what they're lying about or what is the truth. This skill is also used in opposed rolls to resist Persuasion.

Sometimes, you can make things go your way without resorting to violence. Instead, you trick or convince your opponents without drawing your weapon. For this, you use this skill. If your opponent is actively trying to resist you, it's an opposed roll against their Insight; otherwise, it's a straight roll.

Before you roll, you must state the stakes of the roll — what you want to achieve. What you ask of your opponent must be within reason. No NPC will agree to do anything you want or act directly against their own programming, no matter how good your roll. Conversely, you don't need to roll for simple requests that your opponent has no reason to resist. The Operator has the final say on when Persuasion rolls can or need to be used.