Noodling/Skill Checks

This is sort of an GM kata or something - first I'm going to generate a bunch of nano-scenarios requiring a skill check, then I'll figure out what skill gets tested, and then what the effects of a failure, partial, full, and extra success are. In theory there will be some heuristics that emerge for picking these.

Parameters

This is the usual swashbuckling type setting.

Skills we're using: Academics, Athletics, Brawn, Fingersmithery, Reflexes, Resolve, Science, Stealth, Talk Up, Talk Down.

Scenarios

Marco climbs the rigging, grabs a rope, and swings onto the nearby ship

• Skill: Athletics
• Failure: Somebody shoots the rope (or the rope, weakened by earlier stuff, breaks), and Marco falls into the water between the two ships.
• Partial: Marco swings over to the other ship but stumbles on landing and is prone.
• Full: Marco swings over to the other ship and lands on his feet.
• Extra: Marco swings over to the other ship, knocking one of the enemy off the ship in the process. (Arguably this is a "fake" bonus, if there are an infinite number of enemies, but if the plan was always to give him a fight on landing, it could be an easier fight)

Sophia jumps out a window, lands on a horse hanging out there, and rides off

• Skill: Athletics
• Failure: Sophia jumps out the window, lands on the horse, and is promptly grabbed by some guards (needs work)
• Partial: Sophia jumps out the window etc, but her sword snags on the window sill and is left behind
• Full: Sophia jumps out the window, lands on the horse, and rides off, with some guards in hot pursuit
• Extra: As before, but she gets some rollover bonus for the chase

Marco holding a glass of wine is accosted; he throws it at his opponent's face, blinding her

• Skill: Stealth (I think? It seems like this is more about the surprise of producing something essentially hidden than accuracy in aiming)
• Failure: Marco throws the wine, blinds the guard, etc, then turns around to see a second guard (needs work)
• Partial: Marco throws the wine, and the guard is blinded briefly (one round, or one attack or whatever)
• Full: Marco throws the wine, and the guard is blinded for the duration of combat
• Extra: Marco throws the wine, blinds the guard, and then she's distracted and he takes her out without requiring another roll (assuming this is a minor character - if not, maybe he gets a free attack?)

Sophia cuts the rope on a chandelier, sending it crashing down on someone's head

• Skill: Reflexes (I think this is more about precise timing than anything else)
• Failure: The chandelier crashes down, misses the person, and starts a big fire
• Partial: The chandelier crashes down, providing an obstacle but missing the person
• Full: The chandelier crashes down, hitting the person sidewise (but I guess not killing them unless they're minor)
• Extra: The chandelier crashes down, hitting the person and trapping them for a bit

Marco composes a poem on the spot to impress a lady he's just met in the garden to get an invite to her party

• Skill: Talk Up (since this is basically flattery, and this is a "noble" situation)
• Failure: Another lady emerges from the bushes, thinking he was talking to her, and swoons all over him.
• Partial: The poem doesn't woo her, but she thinks Marco will be a perfect date for her cousin - he'll be expected to stay by her side all party, of course
• Full: She digs the poem and invites him to come
• Extra: She really digs the poem and offers him some useful tips about the party

Sophia intercepts a love letter containing a secret message and decodes it to identify the spy at court

• Skill: Academics
• Failure: She makes a bad deduction from her partial decode and tips off the spy (needs work)
• Partial: By the time she has it decoded, the spy will have realized it got intercepted; she does identify him though
• Full: She decodes the message in time to send it on again, so the spy shouldn't know who she is
• Extra: She decodes the message in time to modify it and send it on again, so she can change stuff a bit

Marco rallies a group of villagers to get them to storm the church where the bad guy is holed up

• Skill: Talk Down, since it's about leadership (needs work)
• Failure: The villagers get freaked out Marco is going to make things worse and lock him in the basement.
• Partial: The villagers go along with Marco, but insist he go at the front, and if he stumbles, they'll leave.
• Full: The villagers grab torches and go for the church.
• Extra: One of the villagers is inspired to pull out some crazy homemade siege weapon they made last year for the village games and bring that along.

Sophia judges a duel where she thinks one of the people might cheat, and wants to ensure the duel is fair

• Skill: Reflexes (if noticing the tiny movement is the most important thing), Resolve (if staying alert through the whole duel is the most important thing), Fingersmithery (if figuring out the tiny movement is the most important thing), Stealth (if detecting a hidden thing is the most important thing) (needs work)
• Failure: She calls a foul on something that, on inspection, is fine (thinks the blade is poisoned when it isn't or something); her reputation takes a hit and the duel dissolves into a feud (needs work)
• Partial: Somebody wins the duel and then commits a violation after it's won; she has to decide whether to call it (needs work)
• Full: She calls out a cheat, the duel proceeds fairly
• Extra: She catches someone's eye and dissuades them from cheating in a way that doesn't hurt their rep, which pleases their patron

Marco gets involved in a high-stakes card game to win back a family heirloom his nephew lost

• Skill: Academics if he's playing fair, Fingersmithery if he's cheating
• Failure: He doesn't win the heirloom back, and has to give someone an IOU besides
• Partial: He loses his horse but does win the heirloom
• Full: He wins the heirloom back as planned
• Extra: He wins the heirloom back, and an IOU from somebody besides

Sophia is looking to find a smuggler who may have been involved in some art heist

• Skill: Talk Down, I guess, since it involves talking to criminals
• Failure: The smuggler is tipped off and gets the jump on her
• Partial: She finds the smuggler, but he's gone to ground somewhere dangerous
• Full: She finds the smuggler at home
• Extra: She finds the smuggler, and it turns out he owes her a favor

Marco duels a pirate on a gargoyle-studded rooftop

• Skill: Reflexes (the main thing is not falling off)
• Failure: Marco takes a tumble and is dangling from a gargoyle
• Partial: Marco and the pirate both end up on the gargoyle
• Full: If the pirate is minor, she falls with a scream; if she's major, she ends up on the gargoyle
• Extra: If the pirate is minor, she falls silently; if she's major, she falls (but is maybe not dead)

Sophia tries to start a rumor about another courtier that can't be traced back to her

• Skill: Talk Up (gossip is a high-class thing) (needs work)
• Failure: Sophia ends up the butt of a rumor instead
• Partial: The rumor starts, but the rival is able to trace it back
• Full: The rumor starts, and it can't be traced back
• Extra: The rumor starts, and then it snowballs

Marco shoots somebody across the deck of a pirate ship while the ship is on fire

• Skill: Resolve (it seems like this is mostly about sort of staying doggedly on target)
• Failure: Marco misses as the deck collapses under him
• Partial: Marco hits, but then notices his cloak's on fire
• Full: Marco shoots the guy
• Extra: Marco shoots the guy more

Sophia, in the crow's nest at night, keeps an eye out for enemy ships

• Skill: Resolve (the ships aren't hiding as such, you just need to stay focused)
• Failure: Sophia doesn't notice the ship until it's firing at them
• Partial: Sophia sees the ship, but not until it's in a bad position relative to her
• Full: Sophia sees the ship in time to react
• Extra: Sophia sees the ship early, and a small island that could be used for maneuvering or hiding or whatever

Marco incites two duelists to fight over him to discredit them in front of the king

• Skill: Talk Down (this is inciting) or Talk Up (flirting) (needs work)
• Failure: He says the wrong thing and ends up getting called out himself by one of the duelists
• Partial: They do start the duel, but the king doesn't see it and only hears a rumor
• Full: They start the fight in front of the king and get a reprimand
• Extra: They start the fight and one is badly hurt; the other gets a serious reprimand

Sophia tries to help out the badly-wounded survivor of a duel

• Skill: Academics, or maybe Science since it's "applied"
• Failure: She can't stop the bleeding, he dies (or is unconscious or whatever)
• Partial: She stops the bleeding, but it uses up her last thing of herbs or whatever and can't help anyone else until she gets more
• Full: She patches him up
• Extra: She patches him up, enough for him to get up and act a bit if needed

Marco drives a wagon down a street and through a (closed) city gate

• Skill: Brawn (arguably, but it seems like you're sort of fighting for control of the wagon as it goes)
• Failure: Big smash-up at the gate, and Marco is trapped in the wreckage
• Partial: Marco is thrown free at the last minute; the wagon smashes the gate but now the area's swarming with guards
• Full: Marco smashes through the gate, huzzah
• Extra: Marco smashes through the gate, and the wagon is still patched together enough to be used to flee in

Sophia tries to out-drink a sailor to get him out of the way

• Skill: Brawn (could be Resolve, but this seems mostly about physical capacity than willpower)
• Failure: Sophia's out herself
• Partial: Sophia gets the sailor drunk finally, but she is also pretty drunk herself
• Full: Sophia gets the sailor drunk and she shrugs off most of the liquor
• Extra: Sophia gets the sailor drunk, and in the process he lets something important slip

Marco and his companion set off a blade trap; Marco tries to push his companion out of the way

• Skill: Reflexes (or I suppose Brawn if the most important thing is the speed of pushing)
• Failure: Both Marco and companion get hit normally
• Partial: Marco and companion each take half
• Full: Marco takes the damage, companion takes none
• Extra: Marco takes reduced damage, companion takes none

Sophia and her companion hold up a merchant in an alley

• Skill: Talk Down (this is basically intimidate)
• Failure: The merchant's shouting attracts a guard
• Partial: The merchant hands over the stuff, and then the guard arrives
• Full: The merchant forks over the stuff
• Extra: The merchant faints, Sophia can rifle his pockets freely

Marco, in disguise as a guard, tries to bluff his way past some other guards

• Skill: Talk Down (if he's intimidating them) or Talk Up (flattering) (needs work)
• Failure: Marco says the wrong thing and blows his disguise
• Partial: Marco talks his way past, but another guard is coming with him as an escort
• Full: Marco talks his way past, but they'll file a report on it
• Extra: Marco talks his way past, and convinces them not to let anyone else know

Sophia pushes a big boulder down at a rider in the valley below

• Skill: Brawn
• Failure: The boulder starts a landslide that degrades the dirt under Sophia's feet, and she tumbles down the slope herself
• Partial: The boulder falls down, blocking the path forward for the rider but he can still change course and does, turning back
• Full: The boulder falls down, spraying the rider with debris and slowing his course
• Extra: The boulder falls down, unseating the rider (and the horse runs off)

Marco tries to lift a key from the pocket of a nearby noble

• Skill: Fingersmithery
• Failure: Somebody else sees Marco lift the key, and says "I'll take that."
• Partial: Marco pulls the key out, but then notices that part of his costume has become hopelessly entangled with the noble's
• Full: Marco pulls the key out silently
• Extra: Marco pulls the key out, and there's a letter in there as well

Analysis

Use Frequency

• Academics: ***
• Athletics: **
• Brawn: ***
• Fingersmithery: ***
• Reflexes: ****
• Resolve: ***
• Science: *
• Stealth: **
• Talk Up: ***
• Talk Down: *****

Science is behind the others, and should perhaps be dropped. Athletics is low but it may be lower here than it would be practice - it seems like there are a lot of situations that use it. Talk Up/Down are fairly comparable, so in that sense the breakdown is good, but it seems confusing to decide what falls under what.

Skill Coverage

General area of ownership for each skill, and iconic character who is good at that skill and bad at most others:

• Academics: Examples here cover cryptography, statistics, medicine - in general any formally-studied subject, especially more theoretical than practical. Iconic character: absent-minded professor.
• Athletics: Climbing, swinging, jumping, and riding. Full-body physical action that requires both dexterity and strength. Iconic character: acrobat.
• Brawn: Moving, pushing, resisting alcohol. Stuff involving raw physical strength. Iconic character: burly strongman.
• Fingersmithery: Picking pockets, cheating at cards, small-device manipulation. Manual dexterity and general hand-cleverness (picking locks, juggling, knot-tying, etc). Iconic character: wheelchair-bound cutpurse.
• Reflexes: Getting the timing right, reacting fast, keeping your balance. Iconic character: gunslinger (maybe?)
• Resolve: Staying focused, staying with a thing until the right time. Also covers general willpower. Iconic character: dogged hunter.
• Stealth: Hiding things, finding hidden things. Fooling people (if the fooling is done by keeping things hidden). Iconic character: ninja.
• Talk Up: Flattery, rumor-mongering, flirting. Interacting with people in a friendly way. Iconic character: smooth-talker socialite.
• Talk Down:

Communication Skills Redux

hmm