The Oracular Nature of Skill Checks

From chaos to structure

A night at the library

Picture this: your character is nose-deep in the crumbling tomes of an ancient library, searching for juicy secrets about a long-lost cult. Your ever-mischievous referee grins and says, "Make a Library Search check!" You roll the dice, heart pounding. Success? Failure? The suspense is real.

"I rolled a 43. It's a success!"

"Alright! You uncover a dusty manuscript filled with ominous symbols and cryptic warnings. Now what?"

Or... "I rolled an 87. It's a failure."

"Well, you flip through book after book, but all you find is mold and disappointment. Now what?"

Traditionally, skill checks are treated like a binary switch: success or failure, yes or no, hit or miss. But what if I told you they could be so much more? What if every skill check had a touch of fate, a whisper of prophecy—a little oracular magic?

The Dual Nature of Skill Checks: Mechanics and Storytelling

Skill checks have a split personality. On one side, there's the hard-and-fast mechanics, the rules of the game. On the other, there's the storytelling potential, the juicy narrative bits that make games memorable.

Mechanically speaking, skill checks come in more flavors than your favorite ice cream shop: d20 high, d20 low, d100 systems, 3d6, dice pools, and even wild options like using tarot cards or pulling tokens from a bag. The classic approach? A yes/no outcome.

"Roll a d20. If you meet or beat the target number, you succeed!"

"Oops, you rolled a 2? Welp, that dragon is still very much alive, and now it's your turn to be toast."

But here’s the thing—dice rolls shouldn’t just tell you if something happened. They should tell you how and why it happened. Let's rewind to that library scene:

• Scenario A: "You succeed! You discover that the cult has been active since 1402 AD."

• Scenario B: "As you scan an old tome, you hear a faint rustling nearby. Suddenly, a book tumbles off the shelf as if nudged by an unseen hand. You see no one, but the book’s title sends a chill down your spine: The Red and The Purple: A History. The symbol on its cover looks eerily familiar..."

See the difference? The second outcome isn’t just informative—it’s alive with possibilities. Is someone helping? Is this sheer luck? Or is something more sinister afoot? Your next move suddenly matters in ways beyond a simple success/failure.

The Oracle Function: Generating Meaning from Rolls

If you want to inject this oracular magic into your game—whether as a GM or a solo player—start by asking better questions:

• Why did the character succeed or fail?

• How does this outcome shape the story?

• What unexpected elements emerge?

Failure isn’t just a dead end. It’s a crossroads. Maybe a failed check opens a new, riskier path. Maybe it leads to unintended consequences (we’ve all been there, haven’t we?).

And success? Success shouldn’t always be free. It can come with costs—time, resources, stress—or degrees of accomplishment. Did you barely scrape by? Or did you succeed so spectacularly that the results are bigger than expected, for better or worse?

Underlying Mechanics That Drive Storytelling

Let’s put this into practice with a system like y own Failstate:

• You roll 3d6, trying to stay under a target number.

• Every 1, 2, or 3 you roll increases the impact of the outcome, leading to different degrees of success or failure.

• And if you want to spark even more creativity, look up these handy tables:

Table: Failures

|  d6 | Reason              | Mishap   | Consequence |
|----:|---------------------|----------|-------------|
|   1 | Inappropriate Tools | Harm     | Damage      |
|   2 | Lack of Skill       | Breakage | Delay       |
|   3 | Poor Conditions     | Loss     | Setback     |
|   4 | Distraction         | Exposure | Noise       |
|   5 | Misjudgment         | Waste    | Confusion   |
|   6 | Fatigue             | Misfire  | Cost        |

Table: Successes

|  d6 | Reason           | Boon       | Consequence     |
|----:|------------------|------------|-----------------|
|   1 | Proper Technique | Efficiency | Speed           |
|   2 | Experience       | Precision  | Durability      |
|   3 | Ideal Conditions | Insight    | Advantage       |
|   4 | Keen Focus       | Resilience | Recognition     |
|   5 | Ingenuity        | Momentum   | Resourcefulness |
|   6 | Assistance       | Mastery    | Opportunity     |

Say, you rolled a 2, 1 and 6 and it’s a success overall, now you have also Experience, Efficiency and Opportunity to play with.

But this isn’t just for niche systems! Let’s try it in Dungeons & Dragons:

Normally, you roll a d20 + modifiers and aim to beat a Difficulty Class (DC). Now, let’s spice it up with the Margin of Success:

• If you beat the DC exactly, you barely made it—expect some minor setbacks.

• Every 5 points above the DC amplifies success with additional benefits (roll on Boon or Consequence column of Success table).

• Conversely, every 5 points below the DC makes failure progressively worse (roll on Mishap or Consequence column of Failure table).

If this sounds familiar, congratulations! You’ve probably been doing it instinctively. But making it a conscious habit? That’s where the magic happens.

Practical Techniques for GMs and Players

So, how do you bring this all into play? Here are a few tips:

• Instead of just stating the outcome, ask questions to build the story.

• Use open-ended interpretations—let the dice guide the narrative.

• Try "Yes, but...", "No, but...", "Yes, and...", or "No, and..." to keep things moving.

• Leverage little random table found on the Internet, let yourself be surprised! Sometimes, the dice know better than you do.

• Do this for a few sessions, and I promise—you’ll never look at skill checks the same way again.

Until next time, happy rolling!