User Manual

Speed: Used for tests of quickness and agility. Also used
to determine an investigator’s movement.
Will: Used to test an investigator’s force of personality
and willpower. Also used for Horror checks at the start
of combat.
S
KILL CHECKS
Investigators are often called upon to perform skill
checks in order to avoid harm or to accomplish some-
thing in the game. When the game calls for a skill check,
it is presented in a consistent format that provides the
following information:
• The skill you must use to perform the check
• The modifier (bonus or penalty) to the check, if any
• The difficulty of the check (not listed if the
difficulty is 1)
Example 1: Make a Sneak (–1) check. In this example,
Sneak is the skill the investigator must use for the check.
The modifier is –1, a penalty in this case. Since it is not
specifically listed, the difficulty is 1.
Example 2: Make a Luck (+2) [2] check. In this exam-
ple, Luck is the skill the investigator must use for the
check. The modifier is +2, a bonus. The difficulty is 2.
When making a skill check, a player always rolls a num-
ber of dice equal to his investigator’s value in the appro-
priate skill.
Modifiers and difficulties are discussed in more detail
below.
MODIFIERS
This number is added to or subtracted from the investigator’s
skill value before the player makes the check. The result is
the number of dice the player rolls to make the check. Note
that modifiers always apply to the number of dice a player
rolls for a check, not to the results of the individual dice.
Example: Michael McGlen is asked to make the two
skill checks listed in the example above. His current
Sneak is 3 and his current Luck is 2. In the first exam-
ple, he subtracts one from his Sneak of 3 (for the –1
modifier) and therefore rolls two dice. In the second, he
adds two to his Luck of 2 (for the +2 modifier) and
therefore rolls four dice.
Important: If the modifier reduces an investigator to 0
or fewer dice, he automatically fails the check. The
player may still spend Clue tokens to make the check
(see “Spending Clue Tokens on Skill Checks,” below).
D
IFFICULTY
This is the number of successes an investigator must roll
during a skill check to pass the check. Each die result of
5 or 6 counts as one success. Remember that if a skill
check does not list a difficulty, it is assumed to be 1.
Example 1: Michael McGlen rolls two dice for the Sneak
check described above. He gets a 2 and a 5. The 5 is a suc-
cess, giving him a total of one success. Since the Sneak
check had no listed difficulty, it is assumed to be 1. Michael
has enough successes to pass the check.
Example 2: Michael next rolls four dice for the Luck check
described above. He gets 2, 5, 3, and 6, for a total of 2 suc-
cesses (the 5 and 6 were both successes). Since the check’s
difficulty was 2, Michael passes the Luck check.
There are four types of special skill checks that players
should be aware of: Evade checks, Horror checks,
Combat checks, and Spell checks. Each of these spe-
cial skill checks are based on one of the six skills listed
above and are described later in this rulebook. If an
investigator receives a bonus to a skill, any special
checks based on that skill also receive this bonus.
However, if an investigator receives a bonus only to a
special check, that bonus does not apply to any other
checks based on the same skill.
For example, Evade checks are a special type of Sneak
check. A Skill card that gives +1 Sneak is useful both
for Sneak and Evade checks. However, an item that
gives +2 to Evade checks is only useful when making
Evade checks. That bonus cannot be used on a normal
Sneak check.
SPENDING CLUE TOKENS ON
SKILL CHECKS
Clue tokens represent information about the mythos
threat that an investigator may acquire. A player may
spend Clue tokens, one at a time, after any skill check
(failed or not). Each spent Clue token allows the player
to roll one additional die; if the result is a success, it is
added to the total from the original roll.
Example: Joe Diamond fails a Lore (–1) [3] check, but
gets two successes. Deciding that he really needs to pass
this check, he discards one Clue token and rolls another
die, getting a 3. Still no success, so Joe spends a second
Clue token and rolls a second die, this time getting a 6.
This extra success increases his total number of success-
es for the check to 3, enough to pass the check.
Important: Spending a Clue token always gives you the
bonus dice that you are entitled to, even if the modifier
has dropped the number of dice you can roll below 0.