Made Roll By Results
Exactly Character’s lifting capacity increases by
10% for purposes of lifting, or causing damage to, the object at this time; any damage prevention points the charac- ter gains are increased by 10%
1-2 Character’s lifting capacity increases by
20% for purposes of lifting, or causing damage to, the object at this time; any damage prevention points the character gains are increased by 20%
3 or more Character’s lifting capacity increases by 30% for purposes of lifting, or causing damage to, the object at this time; any damage prevention points the character gains are increased by 30%
Half or better Character’s lifting capacity increases by 40% for purposes of lifting, or causing damage to, the object at this time; any damage prevention points the character gains are increased by 40%
ANALYZE SKILLS
Characters can buy Analyze to evaluate another character’s Skills. They have to buy it by Skill category or specific Skill: Analyze Agility Skills, Analyze Interaction Skills, Analyze Knowl- edge Skills, Analyze Demolitions, and so on. The basic rules for Analyze apply, though the GM should adjust them as appropriate. For example, the +1 DCV for making the roll by 3 or more becomes a +1 to the character’s roll in Skill for Skill Versus Skill Contests against the target. In some cases, determining where or how a character learned a particular Skill may not be possible; not every Skill involves distinctive mannerisms or opinions a char- acter might pick up from a teacher or school.
ANALYZE STYLE
Analyze Style allows a character to assess an enemy’s fighting skills (i.e., his Martial Arts and related abilities). He may only use it after watching the enemy fight — he must observe his target fight- ing for at least one full Turn before he can make a Skill Roll. The information the character gains from an Analyze Style roll depends on how well he succeeds, as indicated in the accompanying table. A character with Analyze Style gets a +2 to his Skill Roll if his target possesses a Style Distinctive Fea- ture (see The Ultimate Martial Artist, page 135).
Analyze Style also allows a martial artist to take advantage of an opponent’s consistency. Some characters tend to favor one or two attack maneuvers, usually because they offer high damage capabilities or some advantageous combination of CV bonuses. In this situation, a character can make an Analyze Style roll to prepare himself for this favored attack. If he succeeds with the roll, he gets +2 DCV against that maneuver in this particular fight. (With the GM’s permission, characters can also use KS: Specific Martial Art this way.)
ANALYZE TECHNOLOGY
Gadgeteers, engineers, technicians, and other characters who work with technology can buy an
Analyze Skill to suit their talents: either Analyze
Technology (which would cover any sort of tech- nological device, but suffer penalties when dealing with more specialized forms of technology), or spe- cialized versions like Analyze Computer, Analyze Vehicle, Analyze Robot, Analyze Alien Technology, or Analyze Weapon. Technology-based Analyzes allow a character to evaluate and determine the capabilities (and perhaps weaknesses or vulner- abilities) of the relevant technological devices. For example, a successful Analyze Vehicles roll would tell a character which of two cars was faster; an Analyze Computer roll would reveal which of two computer had faster processing speed (in game terms, a higher SPD). In both cases it’s not hard for anyone to look that information up, but a character with the Skill doesn’t need reference materials; his knowledge of and/or experience with the technol- ogy lets him make the correct evaluation without any outside help.
The Analyze Technology table rewrites the Basic Analyze Effects table to apply to objects. The effects it lists aren’t cumulative with the effects on the Basic Analyze Effects table.
ANALYZE MOTIVE
Makes Roll By Information Gained
0 (exactly) The character realizes the other person has some motive or agenda beyond what he claims or what’s immediately apparent.
1 or 2 The character knows that the other
person is using an Interaction Skill on him (if, in fact, he is), but not neces- sarily which one. He gains a +1 on any rolls to resist the Interaction Skill.
3 or more The character can identify the Interac-
tion Skill used on him; if the other person is lying, the character knows this (but that doesn’t mean he knows what the truth is, only that a lie’s being told). He gains a +2 on any rolls to resist the Interaction Skill.
Half or better The character gains +3 on any rolls to resist the Interaction Skill.
ANALYZE STYLE
Makes Roll By Information Gained
0 (exactly) The character knows whether the
target is a poor, medium, good, or master-level fighter.
1 or 2 The character knows how the target
compares to the character in terms of fighting prowess (“I’m far superior to him,” “It would be a close thing but I think I’d win,” “It’s anybody’s guess who would win,” “He has the edge over me,” or “I don’t stand a chance.”)
3 or 4 The character knows certain Physical
Limitations and Vulnerabilities pos- sessed by the target (the GM decides which Limitations the Skill can detect; Lame would be, while 2 x BODY from Poisons would not be, for example). Half or better The character knows the location of
the target’s open Gate (if target has the Breath Control power described under Damage Resistance on page 122 of The Ultimate Martial Artist.)
EQUIPMENT
Generally Analyze doesn’t require or involve equipment — it’s a purely personal ability. In some settings advanced sensors could be defined with Analyze to represent their capacity for compar- ing and evaluating certain objects or people. For example, a character using Analyze Construction to find the “weak points” in a building so he can blow it up more easily might use ultrasound scanners, magnetic imaging, or ground-penetrating radar to examine the structure in ways he can’t with the naked eye.
POWERS AND ANALYZE
If he feels it won’t unbalance the game, the GM can allow a character to make an Analyze roll as a Complementary Skill Roll to a Find Weakness roll. Since Analyze is so much cheaper than Find Weakness, GMs should be wary of allowing this (or should restrict the amount of bonus to the roll that Analyze can provide), but in some circumstances it works.
Of course, an Analyze roll can only Comple- ment a Find Weakness roll if it applies to whatever the character’s trying to Find Weakness against. Analyze Style and Analyze Combat Technique, the two most common forms of Analyze in most cam- paigns, should never Complement Find Weakness; they involve analyzing something intangible. Ana- lyze Vehicle wouldn’t help a character make Find Weakness rolls against an enemy’s powered armor or a building wall, but would Complement a roll to Find Weakness in a car, plane, or train.
CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE
Typically a failed Analyze roll simply means the character can’t learn anything about the target. A badly-failed roll (by 4 or more) may put the char- acter in a disadvantageous position: he accidentally decides the target is better or stronger than he is; or perhaps he suffers a -1 DCV penalty for the rest of the fight because he mistook the nature of the target’s martial arts skills.
BASE TIMES
Using Analyze typically requires a minimum of a Half Phase Action (and often longer) during which the character must observe the target. If the Analyze involves a particular type of ability (such as Analyze Magic or Analyze Style), the character must observe the target using that ability; just watching the target in general doesn’t work. In some cases the GM may allow a character to make an Analyze roll as a Zero Phase Action. In other cases he may rule that a character has to spend a long time (many Phases, a Turn, 30 Segments, 1 Minute, or even longer) observing the target before he can make a roll — 1 Turn is a good guideline in these situations. Some of the examples of Analyze described above require specific periods of obser- vation; for example, to use Analyze Style a character must watch the target fight using his Martial Arts for at least one full Turn.
SUBDIVIDING ANALYZE
In effect Analyze is already “subdivided,” since a character has to specify what he can Analyze when he buys the Skill and can’t change it thereaf- ter. If the GM wants to make Analyze less broadly useful, he should require characters to designate the type of Analyze they have more precisely: Analyze Asian Martial Arts instead of Analyze Style; Ana- lyze Fighter Jets instead of Analyze Vehicles; Ana- lyze Skyscrapers instead of Analyze Construction.
ANALYZE BY GENRE
Analyze works the same in all genres, but the types of Analyze a character can buy may vary from genre to genre. Analyze Magic only works in
Fantasy Hero games and other campaigns featuring
magic, for example, and Analyze Computer is much more common in Cyber Hero and other genres that feature computers as a major element.
ANALYZE TECHNOLOGY
Makes Roll By Information Gained
0 (exactly) The character has a general idea of how skilled or powerful a techno- logical device is compared to other such devices (“That plane is more maneuverable,” “That weapon is more accurate”). If it’s a device he doesn’t already know about (such as a weird form of alien technology, or a Mad Science device), he knows what the device is used for in general terms (“This is a weapon,” “This is a tool for working on starship engines”).
1 or 2 The character knows where, how, and
by whom the target was manufactured, modified, or the like (if this isn’t already obvious). If appropriate, he knows exactly what the device is used for (“This is a weapon that fires a pulson energy beam tuned for special effective- ness against isokinetic force shields”). 3 or more The character can discover distinctive
features about the device that grant him a +1 on Skill Rolls to use or affect it Half or better The character gains +2 for all relevant