Checks represent your ability to resist danger, push through hardship, and avoid harmful effects. Roll d20 + check bonus against a target number, usually 16.
If the modified total is exactly 16, the result can have an extra benefit. For example, an effect that would normally deal half damage on a successful check may deal no damage on an exact success.
Some powerful effects require more than one check. In other cases, failing one check may trigger a second check with a new target number based on the first failed result.
Check Types
Steadfast (SDF)
Steadfast covers surefootedness, force of body, holding ground, and feats of heroism.
Common SDF checks include:
- Avoiding a critical miss result
- Resisting force back, disarm, knockdown, or overrun
- Holding a slippery surface while moving at speed
- Gasping for air while swimming, especially in heavy armour
- Kicking in doors or breaking through obstacles
- Avoiding passing out from severe bleed
Agility (AGL)
Agility covers avoiding danger through motion, balance, speed, and precision.
Common AGL checks include:
- Dodging traps, pits, area effects, and spell effects
- Stealth
- Using a reaction when something provokes
- Extinguishing the burning condition on yourself or others
- Avoiding a fall, catching an edge, or recovering while climbing
- Crossing unstable surfaces
- Avoiding stray ranged attacks fired into melee
Constitution (CON)
Constitution covers bodily endurance and resistance to physical harm.
Common CON checks include:
- Resisting fatigue, poison, disease, drowning, starvation, and petrification
- Holding breath
- Resisting or reducing a critical hit
- Recovering fatigue caused by strain in combat
- Resisting transmutation
- Recovering wounds through the recover action
Magic (MAG)
Magic covers magical control, resistance, attunement, and awry effects.
Common MAG checks include:
- Attuning magic items, including gems
- Casting Mage spells or Varlock incantations when required
- Preventing a magical effect from going awry on a critical failure
- Resisting magical effects
- Partially resisting disintegration
- Setting harmonics for counterspells
- Brewing potions
Will (WIL)
Will covers mental endurance, morale, concentration, and resisting compulsion.
Common WIL checks include:
- Breaking charm after taking HP damage
- Resisting domination or compelled actions
- Keeping concentration when injured
- Resisting insanity while terrified
- Avoiding surprise while on watch
- Moving 5 feet with a move action while paralyzed
Life (LIF)
Life covers survival, luck, divine force, death, and effects that act on life itself.
Common LIF checks include:
- Taking damage while on 0HP
- Resisting death from age or supernatural life drain
- Casting Zealot vardaan
- Gasping while choking
- Partially resisting disintegration
- Stopping dry drowning
- Recovering from bleed while tended at full HP
- Avoiding death when mostly dead and healing fails
- Recovering while on 0HP without assistance
Check Progression
Class level improves checks over time.
| Bonus | Levels Gained |
| +1 | 1 |
| +2 | 2 |
| +3 | 4 |
| +4 | 6 |
| +5 | 8 |
| +6 | 10 |
| +7 | 13 |
| +8 | 16 |
| +9 | 19 |
| +10 | 22 |
| +11 | 26 |
| +12 | 30 |
| +13 | 34 |
Magic Resistance (MR)
Characters with Magic Resistance can completely negate magical effects if they roll exactly the target number (or within the MR range above it).