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HARP: High Adventure Role Playing Part 1 Part 2 Part 6: Basic Task Resolution “Any time a PC takes an action that involves a risk, requires concentration, or grace under pressure, it is considered a maneuver and thus requires a Maneuver Roll” A Maneuver Roll is this game’s term for a skill check/ability check, or any other basic building block for performing a task. There’s the standard note that dice rolls should only be called for if the task being attempted is dramatic and/or has something valuable at stake. There are two kinds of Maneuver Rolls: All-or-nothing or percentage rolls. All-or-nothing is just that - the player rolls 1d100, adds their skill bonus, adds their stat bonus, and wants to get a 101 or better to succeed. A percentage roll is when the margin of the success or failure can be variable: if the player gets a result of 101-110 when haggling with a merchant, the Maneuver Table describes a +5 bonus, so the GM might say that the player gets a 5% discount. If they get a result of 151-170, the bonus is +30. Similarly, anything below 101 starts imposing a penalty, such as a result of 51-60 resulting in a -25 penalty. This also applies to rolls where one player might be trying to help another. If Bob wants to, say, use their Trickery skill to try and distract a merchant while Jess uses their Pick Pockets skill to filch the merchant’s coinpurse, the GM might call for Bob to make a percentage roll of their Trickery. Bob gets a 171, which corresponds to a bonus of +40, so when Jess makes their Pick Pockets roll, they can use that +40. In that example I just made up, Trickery is actually classified as an All-or-nothing skill, but depending on the context, it can also be made to apply as a percentage. Percentages is also where the “open-ended” feature of their die rolling mechanic comes in: if the die roll is a natural 96 to 100, then the player adds that to a running total and rolls again, and keeps on rolling and racking up the running total as long as they keep rolling 96 to 100s. The Maneuver Table describes roll results of up to 301+ for this. As I mentioned before, the GM can also apply circumstantial modifiers: +60 for a “routine” task, +40, +20, then a -20 penalty for a “hard” task, -40, -60, -80 for “sheer folly” and -100 for “absurd” The game also supports using skills “untrained”, which simply imposes a -25 penalty if you attempt a skill that you have 0 ranks in. Tasks that are unsupported by any skills/raw ability checks can be rolled for by using twice the stat bonus of the stat being tested. So if our example character, Athan, with his 79(+6) Strength, wanted to push a boulder out of the way, the roll would be 1d100+12. It seems like this would be quite difficult though without circumstantial bonuses as a large proportion of the climb to 100 is done via the skill bonuses. There are also a couple of “GM’s Option” sidebars here: * Round off any numbers to the nearest 5 to make the math easier * If a roll just misses succeeding by 10 or less, like a 98, the GM can allow a second roll with a +20 bonus with a small expenditure of additional time/round * If the roll is a natural 66, the result should be special/exceptional/unusual Opposed rolls and basic spellcasting The classic opposed roll is the someone sneaking and someone trying to detect them. In this game, it’s a 2-step look-up on the Maneuver Table: 1. The sneaker makes a Stalking & Hiding roll, and it produces a corresponding Resistance Roll to beat. A result of 31-40 will give an RR of 75, a result of 81-90 will give an RR of 100, and a result of 151-170 will give an RR of 160. 2. The victim could then make a Perception roll, and they need to beat the RR number to detect the sneaker. Spellcasting works the same way: the caster makes a roll using the corresponding skill of their spell, that produces an RR number that the target must beat with a roll from their Resistance skill. As an example, Arcane Bolt is a spell that deals 1d10 damage to a target if they fail their Magic Resistance roll. If Athan had 4 ranks in that and tried to cast it, he’d roll a 1d100+20 (Athan’s Self Discipline and Reasoning have a +0 bonus, so it’s just +20 from 4 ranks). He gets a 26, which on the Maneuver Table corresponds to an RR of 70. His target then makes a 1d100 + Magic Resistance skill roll and needs to get a 70 or better. If they don’t, they get hit for 1d10 damage. This is why the skill section recommends at least 1 rank in all the Resistance skills, because otherwise you get hit with a -25 penalty in trying to resist anything. It’s a bit more complicated than the basic resolution, but if I’m not mistaken Chaosium uses a similar kind of “Resistance Table” for comparing the relative skill numbers of any two opposing characters to give you a single target number to roll under, so it’s not unprecedented. The game does tell you to take photocopies of the Maneuver Table’s page so that everyone can do look-ups. With regards to “utility” spells, or what we might call buffs, you need a minimum spellcasting roll of 71 or better for it to be cast correctly/effectively. However, if you get 151 or better, then you get a “Double” result and you can double either the range, duration or number of affected targets for free. 201 or better and you can double two of these properties. 261 or better than one of these properties can be tripled. So if you were to cast Minor Healing and you got a 265, it would heal 75% of your target’s damage instead of just 25%. Failure and Fumbles 1. If you’re making an all-or-nothing Maneuver roll and you get a modified result 100 or less, you fail. 2. If you’re making a percentage Maneuver roll and you get a modified result of 10 or less, you fail and impose/receive a hefty penalty 3. If you’re casting a Utility spell and you get a modified result of 70 or less, you fail. The Power Points are expended, but the spell fizzles and nothing happens. 4. If you’re casting any other kind of spell (such as an attack spell) and you get a modified result of 10 or less, you fail. Even an 11 would go off, even though the Resistance Roll would be just a 65. Now, if you get a natural 0 to 10, then it is a Fumble. There is a Fumble table where you roll a 1d100 and cross-reference it with the kind of activity/skill category you were attempting. Some examples: Influence skill fumble - you accidentally make a high pitched noise as you try to begin Combat skill fumble - you give yourself a minor wound. Take 1d10 hits. Remember, the pointy end faces the enemy! Mental skill fumble - In the words of a great philosopher, “Doh!” Not only do you not remember anything pertinent, but you actually spout off incorrect information without realizing it! Spellcasting fumble - Wow! You just invented the x-ray! Unfortunately, you also knock yourself out and take a 1d100 on the Electricity Critical Table from the magical energy feedback. And this is where the RoleMaster influence really starts to shine - there’s a footnote at the bottom of the Fumble table: quote:Note: It is important to tailor the fumble to the event. While a fumble is unfortunate, it is not necessarily certain death. And while I don’t know (yet) if such a similar caution exists in actual RoleMaster, at least they’re cognizant of the whole “an improbable series of die rolls leads to a character dying of a head wound all because they wanted to ride a horse” that the system is infamous for. Other Adventuring Rules The section then covers rules on * Breaking objects * Throwing grenade-like substances/objects * Light and vision * Movement rates across various kinds of terrain * Blind-fighting and fighting invisible targets (the play example demonstrates the player throwing a bag of flour to partially discern an invisible assassin, the GM awarding a bonus to the player’s Perception roll because of it, then a percentage Perception roll determining the bonus or penalty to the player’s attack) * Fighting in darkness, fog, rain and other limited-visibility situations - what amounts to a penalty on all attacks and Maneuver rolls: -20 for starlight, -5 for light rain, etc * Falling damage * Traps * Swimming and drowning * Quicksand * Starvation and thirst - take an RR 100 Stamina Resistance roll if you’re starving or dehydrated, or take two if both. A failure imposes a cumulative -10 penalty on everything, and you’re dead by -100 * Extreme heat and cold - you start taking damage past 54 degrees Celsius, or below -18 degrees. There’s also a section on Death and Dying, but I’ll tackle that when we get to the Combat section, which is up next! Next: Combat rules!
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