The most important question in a roleplaying game is: “Do I succeed, or do I fail?” The next most important is: “How well do I succeed or fail?” Basic Roleplaying provides an easy-to-understand system to measure these chances, using dice rolls to these questions. Some skills (especially combat skills) are inherently dramatic and/or dangerous. These are always rolled for. Players and the gamemaster use percentage dice (D100) most of the time to determine success or failure.
Most of the time, when it’s necessary to determine an attempted action’s success or failure, the players and the gamemaster need to make a percentage dice roll as described in 1.2 Dice and Reading Dice Results. Characteristic rolls are described in 2.4 Characteristic Rolls and use the same system as skill and combat rules (described below).
Success or Failure Result
| Ability | Special | Success | Fail | Fumble |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01–05 | 1 | 01–05 | 06–00 | 96–00 |
| 06–07 | 1 | Per ability | Per ability | 96–00 |
| 08–10 | 01–02 | Per ability | Per ability | 96–00 |
| 11–12 | 01–02 | Per ability | Per ability | 97–00 |
| 13–17 | 01–03 | Per ability | Per ability | 97–00 |
| 18–22 | 01–04 | Per ability | Per ability | 97–00 |
| 23–27 | 01–05 | Per ability | Per ability | 97–00 |
| 28–29 | 01–06 | Per ability | Per ability | 97–00 |
| 30 | 01–06 | Per ability | Per ability | 97–00 |
| 31–32 | 01–06 | Per ability | Per ability | 98–00 |
| 33–37 | 01–07 | Per ability | Per ability | 98–00 |
| 38–42 | 01–08 | Per ability | Per ability | 98–00 |
| 43–47 | 01–09 | Per ability | Per ability | 98–00 |
| 48–49 | 01–10 | Per ability | Per ability | 98–00 |
| 50 | 01–10 | Per ability | Per ability | 98–00 |
| 51–52 | 01–10 | Per ability | Per ability | 99–00 |
| 53–57 | 01–11 | Per ability | Per ability | 99–00 |
| 58–62 | 01–12 | Per ability | Per ability | 99–00 |
| 63–67 | 01–13 | Per ability | Per ability | 99–00 |
| 68–69 | 01–14 | Per ability | Per ability | 99–00 |
| 70 | 01–14 | Per ability | Per ability | 99–00 |
| 71–72 | 01–14 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 73–77 | 01–15 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 78–82 | 01–16 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 83–87 | 01–17 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 88–89 | 01–18 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 90–92 | 01–18 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 93–95 | 01–19 | Per ability | Per ability | 00 |
| 96–97 | 01–19 | 01–95 | 96–00 | 00 |
| 98–100 | 01–20 | 01–95 | 96–00 | 00 |
| (higher) | 20% ability | 01–95 | 96–00 | 00 |