[File FUDGE3, #3 of 10.]

       FUDGE: Freeform, Universal, Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine
                   A Free Role-playing Game (RPG).
              Copyright 1992, 1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan
                         Version: June, 1995

====================
3  Action Resolution
====================

3  Action Resolution
   3.1  Action Resolution Terms
   3.2  Rolling the Dice
      3.21  Reading the Dice
      3.22  Other Dice Techniques
      3.23  Success Rates
   3.3  Action Modifiers
   3.4  Unopposed Actions
   3.5  Opposed Actions
   3.6  Critical Results
   3.7  NPC Reactions

This chapter covers how to determine whether or not a character
succeeds at an attempted action.  In the previous chapters, traits
were defined in terms of levels: Superb, Great, Good, etc.  This
chapter explains how those levels affect a character's chances of
success at an action, whether fighting a giant or tracking down a
clue.  Sometimes a Fair result is sufficient to complete a task, and
sometimes a Good or better result is needed.  The better your skill,
the better your chances of getting these higher results.

----------------------------
3.1  Action Resolution Terms
----------------------------

Dice: Various options for dice are given: players may use either three
   or four six-sided dice (3d6 or 4d6), or two ten-sided dice as
   percentile dice (d%), or four FUDGE dice (4dF), described in the
   text.  It is also possible to play FUDGE diceless.

Unopposed Action: some actions are *Unopposed*, as when a character is
   trying to perform an action which isn't influenced by anyone else.
   Examples include jumping a wide chasm, climbing a cliff, performing
   a chemistry experiment, etc.  The player simply rolls the dice and
   reads the result.

Rolled Degree: this refers to how well a character does at a
   particular task.  If someone is Good at Climbing in general, but
   the die-roll shows a Great result on a particular attempt, then the
   rolled degree is Great.

Difficulty Level: the GM will set a Difficulty Level when a character
   tries an Unopposed Action.  Usually it will be Fair, but some tasks
   are easier or harder.  Example: climbing an average vertical cliff
   face, even one with lots of handholds, is a fairly difficult
   obstacle (Fair Difficulty Level).  For a very hard cliff, the GM
   may set the Difficulty Level at Great: the player must make a
   rolled degree of Great or higher to climb the cliff successfully.

Opposed Action: actions are *Opposed* when other people (or animals,
   etc.) may have an effect on the outcome of the action.  In this
   case, each contestant rolls a set of dice, and the results are
   compared to determine the outcome.  Examples include combat,
   seduction attempts, haggling, tug-of-war, etc.

Relative Degree: this refers to how well a character did compared to
   another participant in an Opposed Action.  Unlike a rolled degree,
   relative degree is expressed as a number of levels.  For example,
   if a PC gets a rolled degree result of Good in a fight, and his NPC
   foe gets a rolled degree result of Mediocre, he beat her by two
   levels - the relative degree is +2 from his perspective, -2 from
   hers.

Situational Roll: the GM may occasionally want a die roll that is not
   based on a character's trait, but on the overall situation or
   outside circumstances.  This Situational roll is simply a normal
   FUDGE die roll, but not based on any trait.  That is, a result of 0
   is a Fair result, +1 a Good result, -1 a Mediocre result, and so
   on.  This is most commonly used with Reaction and damage rolls, but
   can be used elsewhere as needed.  For example, the players ask the
   GM if there are any passersby on the street at the moment - they're
   worried about witnesses.  The GM decides there are none if a
   Situational roll gives a Good or better result, and rolls the dice.
   (A close approximation to 50% is an even/odd result: an even result
   on 4dF occurs 50.6% of the time.  Of course, 1d6 or a coin returns
   an exact 50% probability.)

Beyond Superb: it is possible to achieve a level of rolled degree that
   is beyond Superb.  Rolled degrees from Superb +1 to Superb +4 are
   possible.  These levels are only reachable on rare occasions by
   human beings.  No trait may be taken at (or raised to) a level
   beyond Superb (unless the GM is allowing a PC to be at Legendary,
   which is the same as Superb +1 - see Section 5.2, Objective
   Character Development).  For example, the American baseball player
   Willie Mays was a Superb outfielder.  His most famous catch, often
   shown on television, is a Superb +4 rolled degree.  It isn't
   possible for a human to have that level of excellence as a routine
   skill level, however: even Willie was "just" a Superb outfielder,
   who could sometimes do even better.  A GM may set a Difficulty
   Level beyond Superb for nearly impossible actions.

Below Terrible: likewise, there are rolled degrees from Terrible -1
   down to Terrible -4.  No Difficulty Level should be set this low,
   however: anything requiring a Terrible Difficulty Level or worse
   should be automatic for most characters - no roll needed.

---------------------
3.2  Rolling the Dice
---------------------

There is no need to roll the dice when a character performs an action
that is so easy as to be automatic.  Likewise, an action so difficult
that it has no chance to succeed requires no roll, either - it simply
can't be done.  Dice are used solely in the middle ground, where the
outcome of an action is uncertain.

The GM is encouraged to keep die-rolling to a minimum.  Do not make
the players roll the dice when their characters do mundane things.
There is no need to make a roll to see if someone can cook lunch
properly, or pick an item from a shelf, or climb a ladder, etc.  Don't
even make them roll to climb a cliff unless it's a difficult cliff or
the situation is stressful, such as a chase.  (And possibly a Superb
climber wouldn't need a roll for a difficult cliff.  He should get up
it automatically unless it's a *very* difficult cliff.)

For any action the player character wishes to perform, the Game Master
must determine which trait is tested.  (This will usually be a skill
or an attribute.)  If the action is Unopposed, the GM also determines
the Difficulty Level - usually Fair.  (See also Section 3.5, Opposed
Actions.)

For running FUDGE Diceless, see the Addenda, Section 7.42.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
3.21  Reading the Dice
- - - - - - - - - - - -

Of the four dice techniques presented in FUDGE, this one is
recommended.  It gives results from -4 to +4 quickly and easily,
without intruding into role-playing or requiring complex math or a
table.

FUDGE dice are six-sided dice with two sides marked +1, two sides
marked -1, and two sides marked 0.  They are commercially available
from Grey Ghost Games - see the Legal Notice for their address.

You can make your own FUDGE easily enough.  Simply get four normal
white d6s.  Using a permanent marker, color two sides of each die
green, two sides red, and leave the other two sides white.  When the
ink has dried, spray the dice lightly with clear matte finish to
prevent the ink from staining your hands.  You now have 4dF: the green
sides = +1, the red sides = -1, and the white sides = 0.

(While you can try to play with normal d6s, reading:

[TABLE]
   1,2 = -1
   3,4 =  0
   5,6 = +1,
[END TABLE]

this is not recommended.  It takes too much effort, and intrudes into
role-playing.  4dF is functionally equivalent to 4d3-8, but this is
also not recommended for the same reason, even if you have d6s
labelled 1-3 twice.)

To use FUDGE dice, simply roll four of them, and total the amount.
Since a +1 and a -1 cancel each other, remove a +1 and -1 from the
table, and the remaining two dice are easy to read no matter what they
are.  (Example: if you roll +1, +1, 0, -1, remove the -1 and one of
the +1s, as together they equal 0.  The remaining two dice, +1 and 0,
are easily added to +1.)  If there is no opposing pair of +1 and -1
dice, remove any 0s and the remaining dice are again easy to read.

The result of a die roll is a number between -4 and +4.  At the top of
the character sheet, there should be a simple chart of the attribute
levels, such as:
   
   Superb
   Great
   Good
   Fair
   Mediocre
   Poor
   Terrible

To determine the result of an action, simply put your finger on your
trait level, then move it up (for plus results) or down (for minus
results).
   
   Example:  Nathaniel, who has a Good Bow Skill, is shooting in an
   archery contest.  The player rolls 4dF, using the procedure
   described above.  If he rolls a 0, he gets a result equal to
   Nathaniel's skill: Good, in this case.  If he rolls a +1, however,
   he gets a Great result, since Great is one level higher than his
   Good Archery skill.  If he rolls a -3, unlucky Nathaniel has just
   made a Poor shot.

It is not always necessary to figure the exact rolled degree.  If you
only need to know whether or not a character succeeded at something,
it is usually sufficient for the player simply to announce the
appropriate trait level and the die roll result.  The game goes much
faster this way.
   
   For example, a player wants his character, Captain Wallop of the
   Space Patrol, to fly between two asteroids that are fairly close
   together.  The GM says this requires a Great Difficulty Level
   Piloting roll and asks the player to roll the dice.  The player
   looks up Captain Wallop's Piloting skill, which is Great, and rolls
   a +2 result.  He simply announces "Great +2" as the result.  This
   answer is sufficient - the GM knows that Captain Wallop not only
   succeeded at the task, but didn't even come close to damaging his
   craft.

Of course, there are many times when you want to know exactly how well
the character did, even if it's not a matter of being close.  If the
character is composing a poem, for example, and his Poetry skill is
Fair, you will want to figure out what "Fair+2" means: he just wrote a
Great poem!  There are many other instances where degrees of success
is more important than merely knowing success/failure.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3.22  Other Dice Techniques
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For those who don't want to make or buy FUDGE dice, three different
options are available:

4d6: this method requires 2d6 of one color (or size) and 2d6 of
   another color or size.  First declare which two dice are the
   positive dice, and which two the negative, then roll all four dice.
   Do not add the dice in this system.  Instead, remove from the table
   all but the lowest die (or dice, if more than one has the same
   lowest number showing).  If the only dice left on the table are the
   same color, that is the result: a positive die with a "1" showing
   is a +1, for example.  If there are still dice of both colors
   showing, the result is "0".
   
   Examples (p = positive die, n = negative die): you roll p4, p3, n3,
   n3.  The lowest number is a 3, so the p4 is removed, leaving p3, n3
   and n3.  Since there are both positive and negative dice remaining,
   the result is 0.  On another roll, you get p1, p1, n2, n4.  Remove
   the highest numbers, n2 and n4.  This leaves only positive dice, so
   the result is +1, since a "1" is showing on a positive die, and
   there are no negative dice on the table.

3d6: Roll 3 six-sided dice.  Add the numbers and look up the results
   on the table below.  This table is small enough to fit easily on a
   character sheet.  Example: a roll of 3, 3, 6 is a sum of 12.
   Looking up 12 on the table yields a result of +1.

[TABLE]
Rolled: | 3-4 |  5 | 6-7 | 8-9 | 10-11 | 12-13 | 14-15 | 16 | 17-18
--------|-----|----|-----|-----|-------|-------|-------|----|------
Result: | -4  | -3 | -2  | -1  |  +0   |  +1   |  +2   | +3 |  +4
[END TABLE]

d%: roll two ten-sided dice, having first declared which will be the
   "tens" digit.  Read the tens die and the ones die as a number from
   1 to 100 (01 = 1, but 00 = 100), and consult the table below, which
   should be printed on the character sheet:

[TABLE]
Rolled: |  1 | 2-6 | 7-18 | 19-38 | 39-62 | 63-82 | 83-94 | 95-99 | 00
--------|----|-----|------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|---
Result: | -4 |  -3 |  -2  |   -1  |  +0   |  +1   |  +2   |   +3  | +4
[END TABLE]

Of course, the GM may customize this table as she wishes.  These
numbers were chosen to match 4dF, which the author feels is an ideal
spread for FUDGE.

- - - - - - - - - -
3.23  Success Rates
- - - - - - - - - -

The following table is provided so that players can better evaluate
their chances of success.

[TABLE]
                         4dF
Chance of achieving:     or d%         3d6        4d6
-------------------      -----         ---        ---
   +5 or better:           -            -          0.2%
   +4 or better:           1%           2%         2%
   +3 or better:           6%           5%         7%
   +2 or better:          18%          16%        18%
   +1 or better:          38%          38%        39%
    0 or better:          62%          62%        61%
   -1 or better:          82%          84%        82%
   -2 or better:          94%          95%        93%
   -3 or better:          99%          98%        98%
   -4 or better:         100%         100%        99.8%
   -5 or better:           -            -        100%
[END TABLE]

Thus, if your trait is Fair, and the GM says you need a Good result or
better to succeed, you need to roll +1 or better.  You'll do this
about two times out of five, on the average.

You'll notice that using 3d6 or 4d6 the results, while slightly
different, are close enough for a game called FUDGE.  The 4d6 results
do allow +/-5, however, but this shouldn't be a problem since they
occur so rarely.  In fact, you could use 5dF to allow +/-5 if you
wanted . . .

---------------------
3.3  Action Modifiers
---------------------

There may be modifiers for any given action, which can affect the odds
referred to in the preceding section.  Modifiers temporarily improve
or reduce a character's traits.
   
   Examples: Joe, Good with a sword, is Hurt (-1 to all actions).  He
   is thus only Fair with his sword until he's healed.  Jill has
   Mediocre Lockpicking skills, but an exceptionally fine set of lock
   picks gives her a Fair Lockpicking skill while she's using them.

If a character has a secondary trait that could contribute
significantly to a task, the GM may allow a +1 bonus if the trait is
Good or better.
   
   Example: Verne is at the library, researching an obscure South
   American Indian ritual.  He uses his Research skill of Good, but he
   also has a Good Anthropology skill.  The GM decides this is
   significant enough to give Verne a Great Research skill for this
   occasion.  If his Anthropology skill were Superb, the GM could
   simply let Verne use that instead of Research: you don't get to be
   Superb in Anthropology without having done a lot of research.

Other conditions may grant a +/-1 to any trait.  In FUDGE, +/-2 is a
large modifier - +/-3 is the maximum that should ever be granted
except under *extreme* conditions.

----------------------
3.4  Unopposed Actions
----------------------

For each Unopposed action, the GM sets a Difficulty Level (Fair is the
most common) and announces which trait should be rolled against.  If
no Skill seems relevant, choose the most appropriate Attribute.  If
there is a relevant Skill, but the character is untrained in it (it's
not listed on his character sheet), then use the default: usually
Poor.  If a high attribute could logically help an *untrained* skill,
set the default at Mediocre.
   
   For example, a character wishes to palm some coins without being
   observed.  The GM says to use Sleight of Hand skill, but the
   character is untrained in Sleight of Hand.  The player points out
   that the character's Dexterity attribute is Superb, so the GM
   allows a default of Mediocre Sleight of Hand for this attempt.

The player then rolls against the character's trait level, and tries
to match or surpass the Difficulty Level set by the GM.  In cases
where there are degrees of success, the better the roll, the better
the character did; the worse the roll, the worse the character did.

In setting the Difficulty Level of a task, the GM should remember that
Poor is the default for most skills.  The average *trained* climber
can climb a Fair cliff most of the time, but the average *untrained*
climber will usually get a Poor result.  In the example in Section 3.2
(Nathaniel shooting at an archery target), if the target is large and
close, even a Mediocre archer could be expected to hit it: Mediocre
Difficulty Level.  If it were *much* smaller and farther away, perhaps
only a Great archer could expect to hit it regularly: Great Difficulty
Level.  And so on.
   
   Example of setting Difficulty Level: Two PCs (Mickey and Arnold)
   and an NPC guide (Parri) come to a cliff the guide tells them they
   have to climb.  The GM announces this is a difficult, but not
   impossible, cliff: a Good Difficulty Level roll is required to
   scale it with no delays or complications.  Checking the character
   sheets, they find that Parri's Climbing skill is Great and Mickey's
   is Good.  Arnold's character sheet doesn't list Climbing, so his
   skill level is at default: Poor.  Parri and Mickey decide to climb
   it, then lower a rope for Arnold.
   
   Parri rolls a +1 result: a rolled degree of Superb.  She gets up
   the cliff without difficulty, and much more quickly than expected.
   Mickey rolls a -1, however, for a rolled degree of Fair.  Since
   this is one level lower than the Difficulty Level, he's having
   problems.  Had Mickey done Poorly or even Mediocre, he would
   perhaps have fallen - or not even been able to start.  Since his
   rolled degree is only slightly below the Difficulty Level, though,
   the GM simply rules he is stuck half way up, and can't figure out
   how to go on.  Parri ties a rope to a tree at the top of the cliff,
   and lowers it for Mickey.  The GM says it is now Difficulty Level:
   Poor to climb the cliff with the rope in place, and Mickey makes
   this easily on another roll.
   
   Arnold would also need a Poor rolled degree to climb the cliff with
   the rope, but since his skill is Poor, they decide not to risk it.
   Mickey and Parri have Arnold loop the rope under his arms, and pull
   him up as he grabs handholds along the way in case they slip.  No
   roll is needed in this case, unless they are suddenly attacked when
   Arnold is only half way up the cliff . . .
   
   (The whole situation was merely described as an example of setting
   Difficulty levels.  In actual game play, the GM should describe the
   cliff, and ask the players how the characters intend to get up it.
   If they came up with the idea of Parri climbing the cliff and
   lowering a rope, no rolls would be needed at all - unless,
   possibly, time was a critical factor, or there were hidden
   difficulties the GM chose not to reveal because they couldn't have
   been perceived from the bottom of the cliff.)

Occasionally, the GM will roll in secret for the PC.  There are times
when even a failed roll would give the player knowledge he wouldn't
otherwise have.  These are usually information rolls.  For example, if
the GM asks the player to make a roll against Perception attribute (or
Find Hidden Things skill), and the player fails, the character doesn't
notice anything out of the ordinary.  But the player now knows that
there *is* something out of the ordinary that his character didn't
notice . . .  Far better for the GM to make the roll in secret, and
only mention it on a successful result.

--------------------
3.5  Opposed Actions
--------------------

To resolve an Opposed action between two characters, each side rolls
two dice against the appropriate trait and announces the result.  The
traits rolled against are not necessarily the same.
   
   For example, a seduction attempt would be rolled against a
   Seduction skill for the active participant (or possibly Appearance
   attribute) and against Will for the resisting participant.  There
   may be modifiers: someone with a vow of chastity might get a bonus
   of +2 to his Will, while someone with a Lecherous fault would have
   a penalty - or not even try to resist.

The Game Master compares the rolled degrees to determine a relative
degree.
   
   For example, Lisa is trying to flimflam Joe into thinking she's
   from the FBI and rolls a Great result.  This is not automatic
   success, however.  If Joe also rolls a Great result on his trait to
   avoid being flimflammed (Knowledge of Police Procedure, Learning,
   Intelligence, etc. - whatever the GM decides is appropriate), then
   the relative degree is 0: the status quo is maintained.  In this
   case, Joe remains unconvinced that Lisa is legitimate.  If Joe
   rolled a Superb result, Lisa's Great result would have actually
   earned her a relative degree of -1: Joe is not going to be fooled
   this encounter, and will probably even have a bad reaction to Lisa.

The Opposed action mechanism can be used to resolve almost any
conflict between two characters.  Are two people both grabbing the
same item at the same time?  This is an Opposed action based on a
Dexterity attribute - the winner gets the item.  Is one character
trying to shove another one down?  Roll Strength vs. Strength (or
Wrestling skill) to see who goes down.  Someone trying to hide from a
search party?  Perception attribute (or Find Hidden skill) vs. Hide
skill (or Camouflage, Stealth, etc.).  Trying to out-drink a rival?
Constitution vs. Constitution (or Drinking skill, Carousing, etc.).
And so on.

Some Opposed actions have a minimum level needed for success.  For
example, an attempt to control a person's mind with a Telepathy skill
might require at least a Fair result.  If the telepath only gets a
Mediocre result, it doesn't matter if the intended victim rolls a Poor
resistance: the attempt fails.  Most combat falls into this category -
see Chapter 4.

For an example of Opposed actions involving more than two characters,
see Section 4.34, Multiple Combatants in Melee.

An Opposed action can also be handled as an Unopposed action.  When a
PC is opposing an NPC, have only the player roll, and simply let the
NPC's trait level be the Difficulty Level.  This method assumes the
NPC will always roll a 0.  This emphasizes the PCs' performance, and
reduces the possibility of an NPC's lucky roll deciding the game.

As a slight variation on the above, the GM rolls 1dF or 2dF when
rolling for an NPC in an opposed action.  This allows some variation
in the NPC's ability, but still puts the emphasis on the PCs' actions.

For those without FUDGE dice, the GM can simply roll 1d6 for an NPC.
On a result of 2-5, the NPC gets the listed trait level as a result.
On a result of 1, the NPC did worse than her trait level; on a result
of 6 the NPC did better than her trait level.  Those who want to know
precisely how much better or worse should roll a second d6:

[TABLE]
1,2,3 = +/-1 (as appropriate)
 4,5  = +/-2
  6   = +/-3
[END TABLE]

---------------------
3.6  Critical Results
---------------------

Critical results are an optional FUDGE rule for GMs who like the idea.
A natural rolled result of +4 can be considered a critical success -
the character has done exceptionally well, and the GM may grant some
special bonus to the action.  Likewise, a natural result of -4 is a
critical failure, and the character has done as poorly as he possibly
can in the given situation.

Note that achieving +/-4 with die modifiers does not count as a
critical result, though the character *has* done exceptionally well or
poorly.  When a natural critical result is rolled, the GM may ignore
what the rolled degree would be, and treat it as an automatic beyond
Superb or below Terrible result.

Optionally, if a character gets a rolled degree four or more levels
better than the Difficulty Level, he has gotten a critical success.
Likewise, four levels below a Difficulty Level is a critical failure.

A critical result in combat can mean many things: one fighter falls
down, or drops his weapon, or is hurt extra badly, or is stunned for a
round and can't even defend himself, or is temporarily blinded, or
knocked out, etc.  The GM should be creative, but not kill a character
outright.

The GM may even wish to make a table, such as these sample melee
critical results:

[TABLE]
Roll 2d6:
 2   Blinded for the next combat round - no defense or offense!
 3   Fall down: skill at -2 for one round.
 4   Armor badly damaged - no armor value rest of fight!
 5   Weapon finds chink in armor - do not subtract for armor.
 6   Off balance - skill at -1 next turn.
 7   Drop Weapon.
 8   Weapon breaks, but still useful: -1 to damage.
 9   . . .
[END TABLE]

And so on - finish and customize to your tastes.

This is an easy way to achieve a lot of detail without complicating
FUDGE.  Those with Internet access are invited to add any interesting
critical results tables they create to the FUDGE sites.

------------------
3.7  NPC Reactions
------------------

Sometimes a non-player character has a set reaction to the PCs.
Perhaps she's automatically their enemy, or perhaps the party has
rescued her, and earned her gratitude.  But there will be many NPCs
that don't have a set reaction.  When the PCs request information or
aid, it might go smoothly or it might not go well at all.  Negotiation
with a stranger is always an unknown quantity to the players - it may
be so for the GM, too.

When in doubt, the GM should secretly make a Situational roll.  If the
PC in question has a trait that can affect a stranger's reaction, this
should grant a +/-1 (or more) to the result.  Examples include
Appearance (which could be an attribute, gift or fault), Charisma,
Reputation, Status, and such habits as nose-picking or vulgar
language.  The Reaction roll can also be modified up or down by
circumstances: bribes, suspicious or friendly nature of the NPC,
proximity of the NPC's boss, observed PC behavior, etc.

The higher the Reaction roll result, the better the reaction.  On a
Fair result, for example, the NPC will be mildly helpful, but only if
it's not too much effort.  She won't be helpful at all on Mediocre or
worse results, but will react well on a Good result or better.
   
   Example: Nathaniel needs some information about the local duke, who
   he suspects is corrupt.  He has observed that folks are reticent to
   talk about the duke to strangers.  Nathaniel decides to approach a
   talkative vegetable seller at the open market.  Nathaniel has an
   average appearance (no modifier), but is charismatic: +1 to any
   Reaction roll.  He makes small talk for a while, then slowly brings
   the duke into the conversation.  The GM decides this was done
   skillfully enough to warrant another +1 on the reaction roll.
   However, the situation is prickly: -2 in general to elicit *any*
   information about the sinister local ruler.  This cancels
   Nathaniel's bonuses.  The GM rolls in secret, and gets a Fair
   result.  The old lady slips out a bit of useful information before
   realizing what she's just said.  At that point she clams up, but
   Nathaniel casually changes the subject to the weather, dispelling
   her suspicions.  He wanders off to try his luck elsewhere.

[End of Chapter 3.  FUDGE continues in file FUDGE4a.]

