Advanced Tests Advanced Tests

Task Difficulty Success threshold

Advanced tests are used for tasks that take time and/or
planning, when the amount of time required matters, or to Easy 5
compare who performs a task first. Navigating the wilderness Average 10
to get to safety before a storm hits, or hacking a computer
Challenging 15
network to wipe data before an enemy hacker gets there are
suitable occasions. If marking time or who succeeds first don’t Hard 20
matter, use basic or opposed tests as usual. Formidable 25
Advanced tests require multiple rolls, each representing a
time increment of effort, until the character succeeds or runs Example
out of time. To design an advanced test, do the following:
Stuck in a deserted village, Sean must warn an ally in a
1. Set Difficulty distant country estate that in an hour, the assassins the
friend is hiding from are going to strike. Sean can’t get
Figure out the target number or opposed roll (including modi-
a cell phone signal, and the only conveyance around is
fiers) the character tests against, just as for basic or opposed tests.
a rusty bicycle. Sean gets pedaling, and the GM decides
this is an advanced TN 11 Constitution (Propelling) test
2. Set a Success Threshold
per roll, and success threshold of 6. Sean has an hour to
An advanced test has a success threshold. This is the total get there, and if the Stunt Die scores 2 SP per roll, it
number of Stunt Die points required to complete the task. would be accomplished in three rolls. Dividing it by the
Each success on a test adds its Stunt Die total to the success 1-hour deadline, that sets each roll interval at 20 minutes.
threshold until the character succeeds or runs out of time. Sean has a Constitution of 0, but enjoys cycling, and has
the Propelling focus. Sean’s player, Howard, rolls the
3. Set an Increment Time dice. Howard’s first roll (including his +2 total modifier)
is a 6—after making a bit of headway, Sean gets forced
Each test requires an increment of time. Set it based on the
off the road by a truck going in the opposite direction.
type of activity the test represents. One way to do this is to
Fortunately, Howard subsequently rolls a 12 (2 SP on
figure out the typical amount of time the task should take and
the Stunt Die) and 14 (6 SP on the Stunt Die). The 2
figure out the number of rolls required if each roll succeeded
and 6 SP on his Stunt Dice make 8 SP, surpassing the
and generated 2 SP. Divide the typical total time by the
success threshold of 6. Sean dusts himself off, ignores the
number of rolls and round it off for simplicity, and you’ll get
screaming pain in his legs, and coasts up to the country
a reasonable increment length.
house with minutes to spare. Planning their escape, Sean
sees that the house has no cars, but two mountain bikes
Example lie on the front lawn. Sean groans.
Let’s say you think the task should take about an hour
and have a success threshold of 10. At 2 SP per roll, that Cooperation in Advanced Tests
would take five rolls. Five rolls over an hour would take 12
minutes per roll, and for ease of play, you can round it off When it comes to cooperating on advanced tests, make the
to 10 minutes. Thus, each increment is 10 minutes long. same determinations as you would for basic and opposed
tests. However, force multiplier and fine-tuning options work
differently:
Making Progress
• Force Multiplier: If cooperation is a force multiplier,
To play out an advanced test, the player rolls against the TN or roll separate tests for up to the maximum number of
opposed roll for each increment of time in the test. On a failure, participants for the same time increment, and each
the character doesn’t make any headway, and the time passes. successful participant adds their Stunt Die result to
On a success, note the number generated by the Stunt Die. This the success threshold. That way, three people may
represents progress during that increment. Add the Stunt Die potentially complete a task three times as fast as one
result from each successful roll together. When the total meets or person.
exceeds the success threshold, the character completes the task.
• Fine Tuning: If cooperation is a fine-tuning influence,
Some advanced tests can be put “on hold,” keeping accumu- roll separate tests for up to the maximum number of
lated Stunt Points while the character does something else, participants for the same time increment, but only
but others cannot, or may gradually lose SP if the break takes add the single highest Stunt Die result among all
too long. Decide if this happens based on what would be participants who succeeded at the test to the success
believable for the task at hand. threshold.
The Advanced Tests table provides some basic benchmarks In addition, in some advanced tests characters can trade off
for success thresholds, though there is no theoretical limit on effort. For example, if two mechanics must pull an all-nighter
how high they can get. Practically speaking, however, you to rebuild an engine, one mechanic can contribute to the
don’t want players rolling dice forever, so consider carefully success threshold by day, while their counterpart in the night
before setting thresholds above 25. shift takes over after dark.

Chapter 8: Mastering the Rules 121