SKILLS

Notice

(Wis)

You use this skill to notice and perceive things.

Check: Make a skill check to notice something. Notice checks generally suffer a penalty of -1 per 10 feet between you and the thing you're trying to notice. If you're distracted, you take a -5 penalty on Notice checks. Making out details — such as clearly hearing a conversation or reading text — requires you to beat the Difficulty of the Notice check by 10.

The Narrator might make Notice checks secretly so you don't know whether there was something to notice. The most common sorts of Notice checks are as follows:

Listening: Make a check against a Difficulty based on how loud the noise is or against an opposed Stealth check.

DifficultySound
-10A battle
0People talking
10A person walking at a slow pace, trying not to make any noise
30A bird flying through the air
+5Through a door
+10Listener asleep
+15Through a solid wall

Spotting: Make a check against a Difficulty based on how visible the object is. Spot is often used to notice a person or creature hiding from view. In such cases, your Notice check is opposed by the Stealth check of the character trying not to be seen. Spot is also used to detect someone in disguise (see the Disguise skill) or to notice a concealed weapon on another person.

Other Senses: You can make Notice checks involving smell, taste, and touch, as appropriate. Use the same guidelines as listen and spot checks above. Noticing something obvious is Difficulty 0. Subtle things are around Difficulty 10, hidden things Difficulty 20 or more. Noticing subtle supernatural phenomena requires special powers.

Challenges: You can take the following challenges with Notice:

Locate Noise: For a -5 penalty on a Notice (listen) check, you can attempt to pinpoint the source of a sound. A successful check tells you the exact location. The source still gets the benefits of total concealment, but you can attack it even if you can't see it. Among other things, this allows you to attack while blinded or fighting an invisible foe. If your check fails, you become confused as to the location of the source of the sound.

Try Again: You can make a Notice check every time you have the opportunity to notice something new. As a move action, you can attempt to notice something you failed (or believe you failed) to notice previously.

Action: A Notice check is either a reaction (if called for by the Narrator) or a move action (if you actively take the time to try to notice something).

Special: When several characters are trying to notice the same thing, the Narrator can make a single d20 roll and use it for all the characters' skill checks.

You can take 10 or take 20 when making a Notice check. Taking 20 means you spend 1 minute attempting to notice something that may or may not be there.