Task difficulties
From MegaTravellerWiki
This document lists expanded difficulties for MegaTraveller, derived from The Universal Game Mechanic by Kenneth Bearden.
In all cases, the rolls list the raw, unmodified targets for someone with skill-0 and no attribute DMs. In practice, most characters attempting tasks will have a +2 or +3 DM due to skill and attributes, and further DMs due to situational modifiers.
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Simple
See Player's Manual, p.9 for UTP system, bearing in mind that a natural 2 is always a failure. Assuming no other modifiers, throw 2+ on 2d6 to succeed when using the UGM system, again bearing in mind that a natural 2 is a failure.
Add DMs to the number rolled if not a natural 2 to determine the actual result rolled. Generally, unless something increases difficulty by one level (to Routine) or half a level (to Easy), a Simple task will always either succeed or result in a fumble. For this reason, if the task is Simple and someone isn't pressured in any way, simply assume automatic success even if they don't attempt a cautious task roll (p.9, Player's Manual).
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Routine. It is not possible to decrease difficulty of a Simple task, and any action which would decrease the difficulty cannot be done (for instance, a Cautious attempt at a Simple task cannot be done: the task remains Simple).
Easy
Assuming no other modifiers, throw 5+ on 2d6 to succeed when using the UTP system, or throw 4+ on 2d6 to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Normal. A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Simple (the minimum possible).
Routine
See Player's Manual, p.9 for UTP system. Assuming no other modifiers, throw 6+ on 2d6 to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Difficult. A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Simple.
Normal
This difficulty level is called Standard in the UGM system. It was renamed to Normal to ensure that all difficulty levels had unique first letters and were thus more easily recognisable by casual observation.
Throw 9+ to succeed when using the UTP system, or throw 8+ to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Challenging. A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Easy.
Difficult
See Player's Manual, p.9 for UTP system. Throw 10+ to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Formidable. A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Routine.
Challenging
Throw 13+ to succeed when using the UTP system (possible only with bonus DMs). Throw 12+ to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Unfeasible. A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Normal.
Formidable
See Player's Manual, p.9 for UTP system. Throw 14+ to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Impossible. A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Difficult.
Unfeasible
This difficulty level is called Insane in the UGM system; however, this makes assumptions about the mental character of the user—it might be very sane to attempt a so-called Insane task if inaction would result in death!
Throw 17+ to succeed when using the UTP system, or throw 16+ to succeed when using the UGM system.
An increase of difficulty by 1 level increases difficulty to Impossible (the maximum difficulty possible). A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Challenging.
Impossible
See Referee's Manual, p.12 for UTP system. Throw 18+ to succeed when using the UGM system.
The task cannot increase in difficulty—anything which would increase difficulty cannot be done at all (e.g., a Hasty attempt at an Impossible task cannot be attempted). A decrease in difficulty of one level reduces difficulty to Formidable.
