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.

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

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:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

Sophia judges a duel where she thinks one of the people is going to try to cheat

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

Marco duels a pirate on a gargoyle-studded rooftop

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

Marco incites two duelists to fight over him

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

Sophia tries to drink somebody else under the table to get her out of the way for the evening

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

Sophia and her companion hold up a merchant in an alley

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra:

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

• Skill:
• Failure:
• Partial:
• Full:
• Extra: