Simple Actions

  Simple Actions
Simple actions  are rolled against a difficulty set by the GM and are used to see if your character can do something and, possibly, how well he can do it. The GM describes the situation. You choose a skill to apply to it and roll against a difficulty determined by the GM. Some simple actions include: 

·           Climbing a wall into a cultist compound

·           Looking up an obscure fact about Chicago history

·           Searching a crime scene for fingerprints

·           <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Shooting a target—provided it isn’t a character, creature, or anything that can move intelligently

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:24px;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">  <span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;">Matching the difficulty on a simple action is sufficient to succeed; beating the difficulty and getting shifts allows you to affect the outcome of the action in different ways. Basic uses for a shift include:

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-indent:-0.25in;line-height:normal;margin-left:72px;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol">·           <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Reducing the time required, either on a relative scale or according to the time increments chart

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-indent:-0.25in;line-height:normal;margin-left:72px;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol">·           <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Increasing the subtlety of the outcome, making it harder to detect

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-indent:-0.25in;line-height:normal;margin-left:72px;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol">·           <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Increasing the quality of the action’s outcome

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:24px;"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;">Usually, the quality of a simple action matters when the results of that action are going to be referenced later—if you roll Great (+4) so that your character can hide something, the person who comes looking for it will have to roll Great (+4) or better to find it.

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<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:24px;">A Measure of Difficulty

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;margin-left:96px;"><span style="font-family: "AJensonPro-Regular","serif";mso-bidi-font-family:AJensonPro-Regular">Average difficulty represents an action that someone with only basic training or talents would find difficult. Fair and Good actions are typically the province of professionals, journeymen, and the very talented. Great and Superb actions are typically the province of veterans, masters, and those who combine natural talent with training. Beyond Superb, only those who surpass human capability succeed on a regular basis. Use this as a guideline for setting difficulties and judging the relative meaning of skill levels. For tons more information, see Difficulty. <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">