# [[23 Simple Tests|Simple Tests]] Most of the things characters do during a game happen without any rules governing them – they start cars, check out appetizing or dangerous strangers, search via Google, load weapons, cross streets, sniff the air, and do a thousand other things as automatically and easily as anyone in the real world. Even a normal activity, however, might require a dice roll if performed under stress, in a hurry, or against obstacles. And activities that invite stress, haste, and obstacles require dice rolls more often than not. $\quad$To begin, tell the [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storyteller]] what your character wants to do. The Storyteller may just tell you that you succeed automatically: it’s something trivial like parking a car, it shouldn’t challenge a vampire like smelling blood, or the Storyteller may decide the proposed action just suits the ongoing drama. Sometimes skipping a roll just speeds up play, especially for an easy or average feat, or something your character really excels at (see Automatic Wins on [[23 Simple Tests#Difficulties|p. 120]]). $\quad$But let’s say you’re not quite that good, or that you want to do something harder than usual, like scaling a sheer cliff, reading Sumerian, or picking the lock on a door. $\quad$For those other actions, you make a *simple test*. Simple tests go like this: - Describe what your character is trying to achieve and how. - The Storyteller tells you which of your character’s Traits to use to assemble a dice pool. - The Storyteller sets a *Difficulty*. This number may be kept secret, depending on circumstances and playstyle - Unless the test is an automatic win (see p. 120), you roll the dice pool and count your successes. Every die that shows 6 or higher is a success. A 0 on the die means a result of 10: a success. - If the number of successes you get equals or exceeds the Difficulty, you win the test and accomplish that action. > [!recite] Example: > *Juan's character is canvassing the neighborhood for information on movement in the area. The Storyteller decides this is a simple [[32 Core Traits#Resolve|Resolve]] + [[32 Core Traits#Investigation|Investigation]] test with a Difficulty of 2: straightforward. Juan's character has 3 dots in Resolve and 3 dots in Investigation and so he rolls 6 dice, getting three successes – more than enough for a win. The Storyteller gives Juan the info he sought: a clue he might be able to use.* ## Traits *Traits* define characters, from their physical potential; to their learned skills; to their various natural, secret, and supernatural advantages and hindrances. The Storyteller System demarcates Traits in dots, usually ranging from zero to five. For example, a person with one dot in [[32 Core Traits#Strength|Strength]] is feeble or puny; a person with five dots in Strength could potentially win Olympic weightlifting medals. $\quad$We call the Traits that define a character’s innate and potential abilities *Attributes*, while *Skills* define the ways characters most reliably or successfully apply that potential. Both Attributes and Skills fall into *Mental*, *Physical*, and *Social* categories. All of these, including other Traits, such as *[[35 Advantages#Backgrounds|Backgrounds]]*, appear in the Character chapter ([[29 Characters|p. 133-199]]). ## Pools The [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storyteller]] tells you which combination of [[23 Simple Tests#Traits|Traits]] creates your *dice pool*, the number of ten-sided dice you will roll, for any action. $\quad$Although most actions use a *Skill* pool (Attribute + Skill or Attribute + [[52 Disciplines|Discipline]]), a few only use Attributes to build the pool. Often an *Attribute pool* represents a straightforward test of the given Attribute: [[32 Core Traits#Strength|Strength]] + Strength to lift a heavy beam off a coffin lid, for example. Sometimes, two Attributes combine to make a pool, such as [[32 Core Traits#Resolve|Resolve]] + [[32 Core Traits#Composure|Composure]] tests to resist many Disciplines ([[52 Disciplines|p. 243]]). A character who lacks a Skill rolls only the pool’s Attribute, with no additional penalties. > [!recite] Example: > *John’s character wishes to research an occult topic in an arcane library. He has three dots of [[32 Core Traits#Intelligence|Intelligence]] and two dots of [[32 Core Traits#Occult|Occult]], and thus possesses a pool of five dice.* Take a number of ten-sided dice (*d10s*) equal to the number of dots in those Traits and roll them. Traits usually have ratings between 0 and 5, so pools generally range from one die (the minimum pool size, if you can roll at all) to ten dice or more. $\quad$Especially when dealing with social actions, such as seduction or diplomacy, don’t force the dice into the path of the roleplaying. If a player has their character say something particularly inspired (or painfully wrong), open with a truly tempting (or utterly insulting) gambit, or offer a cunning (or transparently false) explanation, the Storyteller should feel free to modify the Difficulty or even let the character succeed (or fail) without involving dice and Traits. $\quad$The Storyteller should perhaps warn a character with a high Trait away from a disastrous approach – “as one gifted in [[32 Core Traits#Etiquette|Etiquette]], you know better than to slap the [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Prince|Prince]] on the back.” But even a one-dot Skill can shine if the player applies the right polish. $\quad$[[39 Vampires|Vampires]] always replace normal dice with their current Hunger dice in every pool. See [[41 Hunger|p. 205]] for more details. **Specialties**: Characters may possess greater aptitude or expertise in one particular aspect of a Skill. If a character attempts an action that falls within one or more of their specialties for the skill used, they gain one extra die for their dice pool. $\quad$For more on Specialties, see [[32 Core Traits#Spending Willpower|p. 159]]. **Trackers and Pools**: Three of the Attributes discretely relate to two special pools called *trackers*: - *[[25 Conflicts|Health]]* equals [[32 Core Traits#Stamina|Stamina]] + 3. - *[[32 Core Traits#Willpower|Willpower]]* equals Composure + Resolve. Tracker pools go up and down as characters spend from them or take damage to them. Tracker pools cannot exceed their starting value, noted above. $\quad$If the Storyteller calls for a roll using a tracker, the dice pool equals the current undamaged pool of that Trait, not the tracker’s full rating. No dice pool can fall below 1, so a roll for an empty pool still yields one die. > [!recite] Example: > *Bhavna has a Willpower of 7 but has spent 3 points this session, so she would roll four dice, not seven, for a Willpower roll.* ## Difficulties > [!div|grid-m] > > [!blank|span-10] > > The [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storyteller]] determines the Difficulty of the action you’re attempting, expressed in terms of how many successes you need to win, i.e. to accomplish that action. > > $\quad$Unlike in earlier editions of **Vampire**, note that the Difficulty means the number of successful dice required to accomplish a task, *not* the target number for the individual dice, which is always 6 or higher. > > > > **Equipment**: Some tasks use specialized equipment, such as picking a lock, performing surgery, or engaging in gunplay. If the Storyteller considers equipment a core component of an activity, they may apply a +1 Difficulty modifier for improvised, unreliable, or poor-quality equipment. Without any equipment, the task is impossible. > > > > **Opposition**: Characters sometimes attempt actions that a Storyteller-played character (SPC) opposes, e.g., hacking a bank’s monitored computer system, sneaking past a guard, or seducing a victim. > > $\quad$The Storyteller can choose to define those actions as *contests* ([[24 Contests|p. 123]]), but for speed of play they might prefer to represent the opposition with a static Difficulty number. They can determine that Difficulty several ways, using whichever one is fastest: > > > [!blank|span-9] > > | Difficulty of Action | Difficulty Number | > > | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------- | > > | Routine (striking a stationary target, convincing a loyal friend to help you) | 1 success | > > | Straightforward (seducing someone who's already in the mood, intimidating a weakling) | 2 successes | > > | Moderate (replacing a car's sound system, walking a tighrope) | 3 successes | > > | Challenging (locating the source of a whisper, creating a memorable piece of art) | 4 successes | > > | Hard (convincing a cop that this isn't your cocaine, rebuilding a wrecked engine block) | 5 successes | > > | Very Hard (running across a tightrope while under fire, calming a hostile and violent mob) | 6 successes | > > | Nearly Impossible (finding one specific homeless person in Los Angeles in one night, flawlessly reciting a long text in a language you don't speak) | 7 or more successes | > - Decide on a Difficulty according to the table below. - Divide the SPC’s corresponding [[23 Simple Tests#Pools|dice pool]] in half, rounding down (see Taking Half, [[24 Contests|p. 123]]). - Decide the target SPC’s Skill and use that as the opposing Difficulty. Even if the foe’s nominal Skill is zero, the Difficulty is 1. Skill (and Attribute) ratings of 2 or 3 are the most common; most mortals pose little challenge to [[39 Vampires|vampires]], or even to very capable fellow mortals **Modifiers**: The Storyteller might decide to add or subtract a *modifier* to any dice pool. Vampire has two basic types of modifiers: - Change the size of the dice pool. This modifier reflects a change or circumstance for the character: they are drugged, they use a specialty, they appear terrifying, etc. - Alter the Difficulty. This modifier reflects a change or circumstance for the *action*: rainy weather, badly maintained equipment, performed under gunfire, on unfriendly turf, etc. In general, shifting the dice pool up or down by two dice has the same statistical effect as decreasing or increasing the Difficulty by 1. $\quad$Storytellers should use common sense when stacking modifiers. At some point, no amount of gilding the lily helps accomplish a task; likewise, characters’ basic gifts can carry them through seemingly dire circumstances. Consider capping modifiers at plus or minus 2 to the Difficulty, or at three dice added or removed from the character’s pool. This guideline applies to ad hoc Storyteller modifiers, not to modifiers from specialties or other specific rules. $\quad$Penalties can never cause a pool to drop below one die. **Automatic Wins**: If a character’s dice pool is twice the task’s Difficulty, the Storyteller may opt to rule that the character wins automatically without a dice roll. Automatic wins streamline play and reduce distracting rules interludes. Apply them vigorously, especially outside of combat or for tests where character failure is boring: information-gathering tests, conversation-openers, or gambits that open up the scene or let it move forward dramatically. $\quad$Automatic wins seldom apply in combat or other stressful situations. A Storyteller willing to speed up opening rounds or to blow through a location they didn’t intend to be challenging, might allow automatic wins against mooks and nameless obstacle humans: rent-a-cops in the office lobby, not real cops in the streets. ## Dice Pool Results When you roll a [[23 Simple Tests#Pools|dice pool]], every individual die result of 6 or higher is a *success*, including a result of 10 (represented as 0 on most d10s). If you roll a number of successes equal to or exceeding the Difficulty number, the rules call that a *win*. **Criticals**: A result of 10 on two regular dice (00) is a *critical success*. A critical success counts as two additional successes above the two 10s (four total successes), as you perform your task much faster, more stylishly, or more thoroughly than normal. A winning roll containing at least one critical success is called a *critical win*, or sometimes just a critical. $\quad$Each pair of 10s count as their own critical success, so three 10s (000) would add up to five successes, whereas four 10s (0000) would count as eight. $\quad$In some tests, a critical win yields additional effects apart from the one stated above, and the Storyteller can even award complete wins regardless of Difficulty when a situation merits it. [[39 Vampires|Vampires]] can also achieve *messy criticals* (see [[42 Hunger Dice#Messy Critical|p. 207]]). **Margin**: The number of successes exceeding the Difficulty of the roll is called the *margin*. If the Difficulty was 4 and you rolled seven successes, your margin is three. Damage, many power effects, and some other rules use margin to calculate the degree of effect. $\quad$Even outside those circumstances, the [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storyteller]] can narrate a degree of success depending on the size of the margin rolled: the larger the margin, the greater the success. $\quad$In an *Automatic Win*, the margin is always zero. **Win at a Cost**: If your roll includes any successes, but fails, the Storyteller may offer you to *win at a cost*. You achieve your goal, but something happens to make things worse for you anyway: you take damage, attract unfriendly (and powerful) notice, lose something you value, etc. Any player (including you) or the Storyteller can suggest the cost; generally it should scale with the number of missing successes. If it’s too high, you can always opt to fail instead. > [!recite] Criticals in Play > The Storyteller should get used to critical successes showing up in play. With larger dice pools, they become more and more common: a ten-dice pool has a slightly higher than 25% chance of rolling a critical success. Of course, a ten-dice pool represents someone at the absolute pitch of human perfection – or someone who has worked the odds carefully enough, or drawn on enough dark power, to resemble perfection. > $\quad$Be aware of this when adding extra dice to players’ pools – if a critical seems like it might break suspense or harm the narrative, just lower the Difficulty instead. Mathematically, lowering the Difficulty by 1 equals adding two dice to a character’s pool. > $\quad$But that said, our advice is to embrace criticals. They allow players to show off their characters, and even when the opposition gets them, they produce rapid, dramatic effects – kind of ideal, we think, for stories of tempestuous predators in conflict. > [!recite] Example: > *In the beginning of a [[79 Chronicles|chronicle]], the coterie tests to escape a burning building. Since failing the roll would mean character death, which would derail the story before it begins, the Storyteller instead has the player characters receive damage as a cost for each missing success on their tests.* **Try, Try Again**: If a character fails an action, they can sometimes try again. After all, failing to pick a lock does not mean the character can never insert a lockpick into that door again. To justify such an attempt, circumstances need to merit it – the character obtains a better set of lockpicks, for example, or their skill has improved since last time. $\quad$Characters can repeat most actions in combat, chases, or other [[25 Conflicts|conflicts]]. Conflict is inherently stressful, and failure often carries its own cost in such circumstances. **Total Failure**: If your roll includes no successes at all, your character has totally failed. *Total failure* sometimes means only that your character didn’t achieve the desired result; sometimes it means dire consequences occur. The Storyteller defines what total failure means according to each situation and circumstances, and decides whether you can try again after a total failure. > [!recite] Example: > *Sam rolls no successes when attempting a dangerous jump between two rooftops. Her character promptly falls to a meeting with the only thing that is always there for you when you fall – the cold, hard ground.* **Teamwork**: If two or more characters can effectively work together on a task, such as investigating a crime scene or tag-teaming a mark in a confidence game, roll the largest pool among the participants, adding one additional die for each character assisting that has at least one dot in the Skill involved. If no Skill is involved, anyone can assist. > [!div|grid-m] > > [!blank|span-4] > > **Willpower**: Characters may spend 1 point of [[32 Core Traits#Willpower|Willpower]] to re-roll up to three regular dice on any one Skill or Attribute roll, including a roll involving vampiric [[52 Disciplines|Disciplines]]. Characters may not spend Willpower to re-roll [[42 Hunger Dice|Hunger dice]] or a tracker roll, such as Willpower or [[49 Humanity|Humanity]]. A spent point of Willpower counts as having sustained a level of Superficial damage to Willpower (see p. 126) and is marked as such. > > $\quad$For more on Willpower, see [[32 Core Traits#Willpower|p. 157-158]]. > > > > **Checks**: Unlike rolls, checks normally use a single die. The player makes a check by rolling one die, attempting to achieve a target number of 6 or higher. > > $\quad$Vampire primarily uses checks to determine Hunger gain (see Hunger, feeding, and Rouse Checks, [[44 Rousing the Blood|p. 211]]). > > $\quad$Characters may not use Willpower to re-roll checks. Automatic wins and taking half never apply to checks. > > > [!recite|span-3] Describing the Test > > After a test is resolved, describe what happens in vivid detail, according to the circumstances. This is now the reality of what has happened, for better or worse. Let your words be guided by the result of the dice, the mood you’re going for, the personality of the character acting, and the specific circumstances of the situation. The player and the Storyteller are encouraged to help each other out in descriptions, but ultimately the Storyteller is the final arbiter of what the result of any given test is. > ^e65f87 [[22 Time|⬅️ Previous Section]] | [[Vampire - The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Book#Structure|Table of Contents]] | [[24 Contests|Next Section ➡️]]