A Target Number (TN) shows how hard an uncertain action is.
When a Check is needed, roll:
Rank Die + Ability Die
If the result equals or exceeds the TN, the Check succeeds.
If the result is lower than the TN, the Check fails, succeeds at a cost, or creates a consequence, as the Referee decides.
The TN reflects the situation, not the character.
A locked iron door is hard to force whether the character is strong or weak.
A narrow ledge is dangerous whether the character is cautious or reckless.
The character’s Ability modifier, tools, Background, training, position, time, and approach affect whether a Check is possible, whether it has a Boon or Bane, or whether a Check is needed at all.
The TN describes the task, danger, or opposition.
When a Check is needed, start at TN 10.
Then ask:
Question | Ruling |
|---|---|
Is there no real risk? | No Check. |
Is the action impossible? | No Check until the fiction changes. |
Is it simple but still risky? | TN 6. |
Is it ordinary uncertainty? | TN 10. |
Is it genuinely difficult? | TN 14. |
Is it desperate or nearly impossible? | TN 16. |
Is there separate help or hindrance? | Use Boon or Bane. |
Choose the TN.
Move on.
Start at TN 10.
Use TN 6 when the task is easy but risk remains.
Use TN 14 when the task is genuinely difficult.
Use TN 16 when the attempt is desperate or nearly impossible.
Do not set a TN when there is no risk.
Do not use a high TN to block the impossible.
Say what must change in the fiction first.
Set the difficulty.
Move on.
Difficulty | TN | Use When |
|---|---|---|
Easy | 6 | The task is simple, favorable, or low-pressure, but failure still matters. |
Standard | 10 | The action is uncertain under normal conditions. |
Hard | 14 | The task is difficult, dangerous, rushed, precise, or opposed. |
Dire | 16 | The attempt is desperate, extreme, or nearly impossible. |
Most uncertain actions use TN 10.
Use TN 6 when the task is simple but failure still matters.
Use TN 14 when the task would test a capable or trained character.
Use TN when success requires mastery, luck, magic, help, or a strong fictional edge.
TN 20 is the edge of ordinary mortal effort.
If something seems harder than TN 20, do not keep raising the number.
Something in the fiction must change first.
Do not create extra TN bands.
If something feels harder than TN 14, decide whether it is:
TN 14 with a Bane, because the task is hard and a separate circumstance hinders it
TN 20, because the task itself is dire
No Check, because the action is impossible unless the fiction changes
Do not set a TN when the answer is already clear.
If there is no real risk, do not roll.
If the action is simple, safe, obvious, or already solved by the fiction, it succeeds.
If the action is impossible by ordinary means, it fails unless something changes.
A character may need better tools, more time, help, leverage, magic, training, or a different approach before a Check is possible.
Do not use a high TN to block something impossible.
Say what must change in the fiction first.
Let the fiction guide the TN.
Consider:
Factor | Examples |
|---|---|
Preparation | planning, scouting, research, prior knowledge |
Tools | proper gear, kits, maps, rope, leverage |
Background | noble customs, sailor’s work, soldiering, old trade knowledge |
Training | craft, lore, practice, discipline, technique |
Position | cover, height, footing, concealment, access |
Time | haste, patience, interruption, darkness, weather |
Risk | noise, injury, exposure, pursuit, cost |
Approach | clever plans, brute force, caution, deception, sacrifice |
These factors may change the ruling in several ways:
Factor Effect | Result |
Removes the risk | No Check is needed. |
Makes the attempt possible | A Check may now be allowed. |
Strongly helps | Apply a Boon. |
Strongly hinders | Apply a Bane. |
Changes the task itself | Set a different TN. |
Background and training are not automatic bonuses.
They matter because they change what is possible, what is risky, and what the character can reasonably know or do.
The TN measures the task.
A Boon or Bane measures a strong separate circumstance around the task.
Situation | Better Ruling |
|---|---|
The lock is complex. | Use a higher TN. |
The character has poor tools. | Apply a Bane. |
The ledge is narrow and broken. | Use a higher TN. |
Rain makes the stones slick. | Apply a Bane. |
The lore is ancient and obscure. | Use a higher TN. |
The character has access to a good archive. | Apply a Boon, lower the TN, or remove the need for a Check. |
The task is simple but guards are coming. | TN 6 or TN 10, depending on pressure. |
The task is hard and the character is rushed. | TN 14 with Bane, if haste is a separate problem. |
Do not raise the TN and impose a Bane for the same problem unless two different problems are truly present.
The same is true for help.
Do not lower the TN and grant a Boon for the same help unless two different helpful factors are truly present.
A normal Boon adds 1d6 to a d20 Check.
A normal Bane subtracts 1d6 from a d20 Check.
Boons and Banes cancel before rolling.
Boons and Banes do not stack.
At Rank 3, a Veteran character’s Boon die becomes d8.
Bane remains d6.
For full guidance, see Boon and Bane.
Situation | Ruling |
|---|---|
Open an unlocked door with no pressure | No Check |
Climb a low wall while guards approach | TN 6 |
Force a stuck wooden door | TN 10 |
Force a swollen door before enemies arrive | TN 10 or TN 14 |
Pick a simple lock with tools and time | No Check |
Pick a complex lock under pressure | TN 14 |
Pick a complex lock with poor tools | TN 14 with Bane |
Cross a narrow ledge | TN 10 or TN 14 |
Cross a broken ledge in heavy rain | TN 14 with Bane |
Recall common local history | No Check or TN 6 |
Recall ancient hidden lore | TN 14 or TN 16 |
Leap an impossible gap | No Check until the fiction changes |
Sometimes a character prepares an obstacle, deception, trap, or defense that another creature must overcome later.
Examples include:
hiding an object
covering tracks
setting a snare
preparing an ambush
forging papers
building a barricade
disguising a person
laying a ward
The player describes what the character does and how they do it.
The Referee chooses the most relevant Ability and sets the challenge’s TN.
A prepared challenge’s TN equals:
Ability Die maximum + half the character’s Rank, rounded up
Character Rank | TN Bonus |
|---|---|
1–2 | +1 |
3–4 | +2 |
5–6 | +3 |
When another character later tries to notice, avoid, expose, resist, bypass, or overcome the challenge, they make the appropriate Check against that TN.
A Rank 2 character with STR d10 jams a door shut.
TN 10 + 1 = 11
A Rank 4 Ranger with AGI d12 sets a trap.
TN 12 + 2 = 14
A Rank 5 character with PRE d10 hides in an alley and waits in ambush.
TN 10 + 3 = 13
A Rank 6 Mage with LOR d12 lays a glyph to protect a door.
TN 12 + 3 = 15
Players create the fiction.
The Referee chooses the relevant Ability and sets the TN.Use the characters ability die to set the TN + half their Rank (round up).