APPLYING SKILLS &
CHARACTERISTICS
The active character's skill training and the skill's as-
sociated characteristic are equally important when
building a dice pool. When performing a task, the GM
and player determine which skill is most appropriate.
This also determines which characteristic is used. For
example, if the character is attempting to bypass a
security terminal by slicing its alarm system, the skill
check would use the Computers skill which is linked
to the Intellect characteristic. The ratings for these
two attributes determine the number of Ability and/
or Proficiency dice that are added to the dice pool.
Once the characteristic and skill are determined,
the player can start building his dice pool. The player
compares his ranks of skill training and the linked
characteristic's rating.
The higher value between the two determines how
many Ability dice are added to the skill check's dice
pool. Then the player upgrades a number of those
Ability dice into Proficiency dice based on the lower of
the two values. If a character is unskilled (possesses no
ranks) in the necessary skill, that is automatically the
lower value—zero—and the character will rely solely on
the appropriate characteristic. (This would also apply
if the character had no ranks in the characteristic in
question; however, in practice, it is almost impossible
for a character to have no ranks in a characteristic.
EXAMPLE 1: 41 -VEX41-VEX is attempting to slice his way past a
locked down security terminal. This uses 41 -VEX's
Computers skill and Intellect rating. 41-
VEX has Computers 2 and Intellect 3. His
Intellect is higher, so the player begins by
adding three Ability dice [4} 4} •) to his
pool. His Computers skill is lower, so he
upgrades that many dice (two) into Pro-
ficiency dice (O O). To attempt this ac-
tion, 41 -VEX starts out with three dice in
his pool: ^OO (one Ability die and two
Proficiency dice).EXAMPLE 2: OS KARALater, Oskara the gear-head Twi'lek bounty
hunter must attempt to slice past the same
security terminal. Oskara is more experi-
enced with slicing and has the skill Comput-
ers 3. However, her Intellect is only 2. Her
Computers skill is higher, so the player be-
gins by adding three Ability dice (^^O)
to her pool. Her Intellect rating is lower,
so she upgrades that many dice (two) into
Proficiency dice (O O). To attempt this
action, Oskara starts out with three dice
in her pool: ^OO (one Ability die and
two Proficiency dice).EXAMPLE 3: LOWHHRICK
Finally, Lowhhrick the surly Wookiee hired gun
tries to get past the same security terminal. The
Wookiee has Intellect 2 but no ranks of train-
ing in Computers. His Intellect is higher, so the
player begins by adding two Ability dice (4) ^)
to his pool. Since he has no ranks in Computers,
that value is considered zero and no Ability dice
are upgraded to Proficiency dice. To attempt
this action, Lowhhrick starts out with only two
dice in his dice pool: 4fi (two Ability dice).
Note that both 41-VEX and Oskara begin with
the same size and type of dice pool, despite the
fact their ranks in the Computers skill and Intel-
lect ratings are different. The system allows a
character to compensate for a lack of innate abil-
ity by improving his trained skills, and vice versa.PLAYING THE GAME
'EDGE OF THE EMPIRE