These are the basic abilities investigators use to accomplish things in the game. Every investigator has six sk**s, listed below. Investigators also have a value for each of these sk**s, depending on how they have positioned their sk** sliders (see page 6). A sk** value represents the number of dice the investigator rolls for a check based on that sk**. Fight: Used for physical feats of strength and endurance. Also used in combat. Lore: Used for tests of mystic knowledge and ability. Also used in casting spells. Luck: Used to determine the whims of chance. It is the most common sk** used in encounters. Sneak: Used for feats of stealth and thievery. Also used when evading monsters. Speed: Used for tests of quickness and agility. Also used to determine an investigator's movement. Will: Used to test an investigator's force of personality and willpower. Also used for Horror checks at the start of combat. SKILL CHECKS Investigators are often called upon to perform sk** checks in order to avoid harm or to accomplish something in the game. When the game calls for a sk** check, it is presented in a consistent format that provides the following information: • The sk** you must use to perform the check • The modifier (bonus or penalty) to the check, if any • The difficulty of the check (not listed if the difficulty is 1) Example 1: Make a Sneak (–1) check. In this example, Sneak is the sk** the investigator must use for the check. The modifier is –1, a penalty in this case. Since it is not specifically listed, the difficulty is 1. Example 2: Make a Luck (+2) [2] check. In this example, Luck is the sk** the investigator must use for the check. The modifier is +2, a bonus. The difficulty is 2. When making a sk** check, a player always rolls a number of dice equal to his investigator's value in the appropriate sk**. Modifiers and difficulties are discussed in more detail below. MODIFIERS This number is added to or subtracted from the investigator's sk** value before the player makes the check. The result is the number of dice the player rolls to make the check. Note that modifiers always apply to the number of dice a player rolls for a check, not to the results of the individual dice. Example: Michael McGlen is asked to make the two sk** checks listed in the example above. His current Sneak is 3 and his current Luck is 2. In the first example, he subtracts one from his Sneak of 3 (for the –1 modifier) and therefore rolls two dice. In the second, he adds two to his Luck of 2 (for the +2 modifier) and therefore rolls four dice. Important: If the modifier reduces an investigator to 0 or fewer dice, he automatically fails the check. The player may still spend Clue tokens to make the check (see “Spending Clue Tokens on Sk** Checks,” below). DIFFICULTY This is the number of successes an investigator must roll during a sk** check to pa** the check. Each die result of 5 or 6 counts as one success. Remember that if a sk** check does not list a difficulty, it is a**umed to be 1. Example 1: Michael McGlen rolls two dice for the Sneak check described above. He gets a 2 and a 5. The 5 is a success, giving him a total of one success. Since the Sneak check had no listed difficulty, it is a**umed to be 1. Michael has enough successes to pa** the check. Example 2: Michael next rolls four dice for the Luck check described above. He gets 2, 5, 3, and 6, for a total of 2 successes (the 5 and 6 were both successes). Since the check's difficulty was 2, Michael pa**es the Luck check. There are four types of special sk** checks that players should be aware of: Evade checks, Horror checks, Combat checks, and Spell checks. Each of these special sk** checks are based on one of the six sk**s listed above and are described later in this rulebook. If an investigator receives a bonus to a sk**, any special checks based on that sk** also receive this bonus. However, if an investigator receives a bonus only to a special check, that bonus does not apply to any other checks based on the same sk**. For example, Evade checks are a special type of Sneak check. A Sk** card that gives +1 Sneak is useful both for Sneak and Evade checks. However, an item that gives +2 to Evade checks is only useful when making Evade checks. That bonus cannot be used on a normal Sneak check. SPENDING CLUE TOKENS ON SKILL CHECKS Clue tokens represent information about the mythos threat that an investigator may acquire. A player may spend Clue tokens, one at a time, after any sk** check (failed or not). Each spent Clue token allows the player to roll one additional die; if the result is a success, it is added to the total from the original roll. Example: Joe Diamond fails a Lore (–1) [3] check, but gets two successes. Deciding that he really needs to pa** this check, he discards one Clue token and rolls another die, getting a 3. Still no success, so Joe spends a second Clue token and rolls a second die, this time getting a 6. This extra success increases his total number of successes for the check to 3, enough to pa** the check. Important: Spending a Clue token always gives you the bonus dice that you are entitled to, even if the modifier has dropped the number of dice you can roll below 0.