Some situations the players encounter requires a check. These checks have certain rules and are based on the players attributes and skills.
A check can be demanded by the DM or requested by a player that tries to do something specific depending on the current situation
The player has to announce how he/she intends to act or react (will be explained later)
The DM specifies a TN (= "Target Number") (see 6.)
The player rolls his/her available dice depending on the selected attribute and/or skill
Dice that hit their max. number (6 for a d6 and 0 for a d10) "explode" and are rolled again. Their new number is added to the max (see example below). Dice can explode multiple times.
If the highest rolled number exceeds the TN from step 3, the roll was successful. (If the highest rolled number is 1, the roll is automatically considered a failure, even if the TN was also 1)
Example: The DM specifies that the check shall have a TN of 8. The player has 2d6 and 1d10 available for the check. He rolls the dice which reveal the following results:
d6#1: 4
d6#2: 6 → "explode" / roll again: 3 (→ 6+3 = 9)
d10: 2
None of the dice hit 8 but because one of the d6 exploded, the TN was reached. This means the check was successful.
[d6] Agility
[d10] Dodge
[d10] Balance
[d10] Run
[d10] Catch
[d6] Combat
[d10] Cut Weapons
[d10] Knock Weapons
[d10] Pierce Weapons
[d10] Ranged
[d10] Unarmed
[d6] Education
[d10] Cooking
[d10] Horse Riding
[d10] Alchemy
[d10] Medicine
[d10] Geography: {Region}
[d10] {Vocation}
[d6] MagicXP (see Magic)
[d10] Alchemy Spells
[d10] Antimagic Spells
[d10] Focus Spells
[d10] Geo Spells
[d10] Heat Spells
[d10] Ice Spells
[d10] Life Spells
[d10] Lightning Spells
[d10] Water Spells
[d6] Social
[d10] Empathy & Manipulation
[d10] Negotiate
[d10] Manners: {Society}
[d6] Strength
[d10] Endurance (→ HP)
[d10] Block
[d10] Climb
[d10] Jump
[d10] Swim
[d6] Survival
[d10] Animals
[d10] Plants
[d10] Orientation
[d10] Traps
[d6] Trick
[d10] Stealth
[d10] Quick Hands
[d10] Ambush
A character has a fixed set of generic attributes that define the abstract ability to do certain actions or reactions (e.g. "Strength"). Because of their abstract nature, attributes can be used for a multitude of checks. They are rolled with d6.
Skills, like attributes, represent the ability of the character to do certain actions or reactions in a more specialized way (e.g. "Swim"). A skill is not as generic as an attribute and is only usable for very specific checks. They are rolled with d10. So the applicabiliy is lower but the roll is potentially higher compared to attributes.
Skills are always connected to an attribute, as they are specializations of an abstract capability. If a skill can be used in a check, the player can always roll it together with the attached attribute.
Example: The player's way is blocked by a fallen tree. He has several options to overcome this obstacle. He has [Attribute:Strength] of 3 but his [Skill:Climb] is 0. This means he could still try and roll 3d6 for strength. However, the character has 2 points in [Skill:Jump] so instead he tries to just jump over it which has a higher chance to succeed because he can now roll 3d6 and 2d10.
If there is no suitable skill available for a check, the player can always only roll the fitting attribute.
A situation does rarely require a certain attribute or skill for checking. The player can decide how he/she wants to solve the situation. Like in the fallen tree example above, the player could also decide to chop it down with his axe or burn it with magic.
The player can invent more skills if necessary if they are greenlit by the DM.
Example: "My character has extreme hair growth because of a rare sickness. So he spent a lot of time cutting hair in the past. I would like to have that reflected by a skill 'Cutting with Scissors'. The skill could be attached to the attribute 'Education'."
The player has the option to "shift" dice when rolling for a check to gain bonus effects. This means he/she holds back an announced number of dice from the pool of available dice. The shifted dice are put to the side and are not rolled in the coming check.
Before rolling, the player needs to announce how many dice he/she wants to shift and what the desired bonus effect should manifest. If the DM agrees, the player puts the shifted dice to the side and rolls the remaining ones. If the check is successful, the bonus effect is applied. If the check fails, the bonus effect is discarded.
Example: The player decided to jump over the tree blocking his way. He has a pool of 3d6 and 2d10 available for the check. The TN for the check is 7 because the tree is quite big. The player decides to shift 2d6 because he wants to make a flip in the air to impress two children standing next to the road, cheering for him. He rolls the remaining 1d6 and 2d10 - and fails... He exchanged safety for passing the check for a bonus effect. (Would've been really cool otherwise, what a shame...)
Progressing attributes and skills requires sparetime. It is granted initially based on the history of the character and every game session by the DM.
The DM can also give players the opportunity to distribute a certain amount of sparetime for a session to other players. These points have to be put into the attributes and/or skills the distributing player announced. All otherwise gained sparetime can be freely used to progress attributes and skills.