Rules

World of Imarel Channel Rules - by T.A. Saunders © Revised 5.6.15

Sometimes a character will need to check to see if they can do something, guess something or do something out of the ordinary. Because a semi-free form role-playing system does not have hard ability scores to check against, we utilize a percentage to see if something is successful or not. The GM at the time must assign a percentage to whatever feat is being attempted. There are modifiers that can be assigned by the GM as well as modifiers for class/race. Because we allow ‘outland' characters into our game, it should be noted that a GM can assign modifiers for them as well, but will not benefit from canon race/class bonuses. The exception to this rule is an outland character that takes on a canon class.

The dice for perception and ability checks is always a straight percentage with a roll of 1% being the best and 100% being the worst. A roll of 100% (without modifiers) signifies a critical failure of some kind, ex. Sam the Swordsman is attempting to climb a chain faster than a trapped room is filling up with water. On a roll of a 100%, the chain would break and Sam would fall into the water. On a 1%, Sam would climb the chain with ease and stay ahead of the water.

Some people might be confused by this, but it helps to think of the roll as a percent rather than a simple pass/fail roll. A percent chance for something to happen or work correctly makes more sense, because there are degrees to which a character can succeed at something. Sometimes they might have amazing success, other times they might have just barely made the check and struggle to accomplish what it was they were trying to do. It's important for players to not know what that percentage is, because it allows a GM leeway in how they might rule what effect the percentile roll had.

Canon characters have skills that have a set percentage to function. These work in every way like perception/ability checks but the player does know his/her percent chance at success. This sort of information is generally harmless for a player to know and is made available for their benefit.

Skill checks generally do not have modifiers but can in special instances or if the standing GM feels one is warranted. For example, if a thief tries to hide in shadows at high noon, in an area that has sparse cover, there could be a penalty to the check. In all cases, the GM has the final say in how a skill check is handled.