L o c a l   R u l e s


The following clarifies the interpretation of some rules, and summaraizes the house rules we use.

Degrees of Success and Failure

When rolling on a skill, the following are the degrees of success, shown from most successful to least successful:
Critical equal to skill Overwhelming success, to the extent possible for the skill; higher skill represents more impressive results, when comparing two criticals; Gain 1 point in skill immediately (above and beyond the daily limits).
Notable match below skill Excellent success. Higher matches represent more impressive results (eg. while notable, a roll of 11 isn't as potent as a 44).
Ordinary below skill Standard success. Higher rolls represent greater degrees of success (eg. faster or qualitatively better); So, 01 is a minimal success, exhibiting poor skill.
Setback above skill,
below or equal to stat		 A failure of skill or knowledge, not ability. Commonly this means the skill can be tried again, after some time. In gereral, the larger the roll, the more the user blew the attempt.
Failure above skill and stat Out of the grasp of the character for whatever reason, In general it is not possible to try again until the situation is significantly changed. The larger the roll, the more beyond the character the task was (eg. rolling just over your skill and stat indicates that the task was just beyond you, but rolling 98 indicates it was way too difficult, for whatever reason).
Mistake match above skill In the course of not succeeding, the character made things worse. In general, the higher the roll, the more serious the mistake. In keeping with Setbacks (above), if the match is below the stat, it may be possible to try again (at the GM's discretion). Note that 00 is the most serious mistake, and it is often not possible for anyone in the party to try again after such a failure. Gain 1 point in skill immediately (to a max of 1 per day, including experience used).
In less stressful situations, the character ignores the Setback category, and Mistakes below the stat become Ordinary successes, as a result of having more time to think about what is being done. This means the chance to succeed is up, but not the chance to make a Notable or Critical success. In such cases, commonly the successes above the skill represent reasonable successes, at the expense of time. In this way the best successes are still to be found right around the skill, not the stat. This level of detail, however, is not often required. Note: the skill gains for Mistakes and Criticals are ignored in these situations.

When time and pressure are not factors, skills rolls can be made entirely as though the skill is equal to the relevant stat. In such situations it is assumed that any Setbacks are identified and overcome along the way. Note that this increases the chance of success, as well as the chance to achieve a Notable success. Commonly the GM allows both the skill and the stat to be used for Critical successes, although this is at his or her discretion. Note: as above, the skill gains for Mistakes and Criticals are ignored in these situations.

Skill Mastery (Optional)

As skill increases, the reliablity of the quality of success also increases. To represent this, some additional numbers need to be calculated. Many may not feel the additional effort is worth the (fairly minimal) payoff. Use at your discretion.

The Threshold for a skill is equal to: Skill - (Stat - Skill)
This is an amount below the Skill equal to the distance the Skill is from the Stat. So, as the Skill gets larger, the Threshold will increase. The Threshold has no effect until it is greater than zero, which will only happen when the Skill is more than half of the character's Stat.

When a skill roll is less than the Threshold, the character may revise the roll to any value up to and including the Threshold itself. This is done after determining the category of success, but before determining the relative level (if relevant) or using the value elsewhere (eg. for damage done); this means that revised values which are matches have no special effects.

The idea is that characters who are mastering a skill (relative to their potential in the skill) are able to control their ability to reduce the incidence of ineffective successes, thus resulting in a more reliable result.


Experience

Experience Points are awarded at the end of each session. In general, 3 points are given for each full session. An additional point or two may be given to characters who have navigated their way through significant turning points. Additional points are also awarded for players who make available notes on the events of the previous session (note: in general this assumes the notes are available in an electronic form to all the players and GM, and everyone is made aware of their existence).

Experience Points may be used to raise skills (and start new skills), as described below. They may be used at any time, subject to GM approval.

You may only raise a skill by a single point at a time, and in general you may only make one raise during a given game day, and only then when the character has been using or studying that skill (GM approval is required). It is worth noting on the character sheet when a skill is raised, and only removing such marks when the next game day or session (whichever happens last) starts.

The cost to Raise a skill is equal to the units of the new value (with 0 read as 10 for this purpose). So, raising a skill from 23 to 24 costs 4 points, and from 37 to 38 costs 8 points.

Starting a new skill takes some effort, and should only be allowed when concerted effort has been made, often with the help of a teacher. The cost to start a skill is 10 experience points, and the skill starts with a value of 15%.

Optional Character Development

Fewer points per session. Not related to character training or experience, rather, meta-level adjustments by player. Additional points in training situations. Experience = points from criticals and mistakes.