Concealment

Concealment is all about physically hiding things from the view of others. This has many uses, from hiding caches of food to constructing secret doors to industrial-strength camouflage of military installations.

The use of Concealment is very similar to the Disguise skill.

The GM will assign a difficulty to the Concealment attempt, based on how large and awkward the object to be concealed is, and how carefully it must be hidden.

Sample difficulties:

Hiding a cache of food10
Constructing a secret door in a new stone wall20
Adding a secret door to an existing stone wall60
Camouflaging a jet airplane from overhead surveillance30
Character hiding themself10

Modifiers may be added based on such factors as what materials are available, and how much time and care may be spent.

Sample modifiers to Concealment check:

Access to proper materials and tools+20
No materials available-40
Limited time-20

The amount of time required to do a proper job of concealing the object will vary depending on the object. It would only take a few minutes to cache some food, but it might take days to construct and install the mechanisms required for a secret door. (Thus, what would be considered "limited time" will also vary. The -20 modifier might be applied if the character has to rush through in 80% of the normally required time. More severe modifiers would apply if even less time was available.)

Since characters know what they are hiding, and where and how they have hidden it, it is hard for them to fool themselves. Therefore, the GM rolls all Concealment skill checks. If the result is within 25 of the effective skill level (either way), the character is satisfied with the result. If the check passes by more than 25, the character is pleased with the result. If the check fails by more than 25, the character is not pleased with the result. In the case of critical successes and failures, the character will be very pleased (or displeased) with the result.

After making the roll, the GM will subtract the roll from the character's effective skill level (including difficulty and modifiers), and record this number somewhere. If the skill check succeeds, this number will be positive; if it fails, this number will be negative.

When the concealment comes into play, the character who is being deceived gets an INT check to see through it. The difficulty applied to this INT check will be the number recorded earlier for the concealment. The GM will also assign any modifiers that seem appropriate.

Sample modifiers to INT check:

Concealed object is in shadows-25
Character is not actively searching-50
Character is very familiar with the hidden object (colour, shape, etc.)+20

If the INT check succeeds, then the deceit has failed to some extent. If the check fails, the concealment was successful. Note that just because a secret door is found, the mechanism for opening it is not necessarily revealed.

   
Contents Introduction Characters Skills Combat Other Equipment Skill Descriptions Race Descriptions Appendices