Saga RPG is a roleplaying game, and any roleplaying game is defined by conflict. Like any game, a system is required to resolve these conflicts. That is the topic of this section.
Whenever your character attempts something difficult, such as convincing a jury of a defendant’s innocence or swinging your sword at a monster, you must attempt a test. A test, in Saga, is a roll of one or more dice with different numbers of facets (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12). Each die that comes up 4 or higher represents a success. Count the number of successes for the total value of the roll. Your GM then compares the value of your roll to a set number, called the difficulty of the test. If the value of your roll meets or exceeds the difficulty of the test, your attempt succeeds. This is the basic mechanic.
Raises: Whenever you roll for a test, if you roll the highest possible number on a die, you not only gain a success, but you get to roll an additional die of that type. If that roll is a success, add it to the total value of your test. This is called a raise.
Sometimes a test involves interaction between two or more parties, such as a pair of wrestlers trying to throw one another to the ground. This calls for an opposed test. In an opposed test, both sides roll dice and compare the values of their rolls. Whoever rolls the highest number of successes is victorious. If both parties roll the same number of successes, the result is a stalemate.
At other time your GM may call for a kind of test called an Excellency test. Excellency tests work the same as normal tests, except you take the highest value amongst all dice rolled as the end value of the test instead of counting the number of successes. When making an Excellency, roll, you cannot raise.
In Saga, every test made is based upon certain skills your character posesses. Skills represent training and acquired capacities for performing different tasks. Each skill has an associated rank. Rank in a skill represents your expertise in that area. It has a numeric value of at least one, and the higher the value is, the more training you have had in that skill.
Skills, in turn, are based upon attributes. Attributes represent your innate talent in certain areas. They each have an attribute rating of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12, representing a certain die type. Whenever you make a test, you first choose which skill covers the action, then select an appropriate attribute. Your attribute rating tells you what kind of dice to roll, your skill rank tells you how many to roll. With this information in hand, you can make a complete test.
Modifiers-- Sometimes, the situation at hand calls for your basic roll to be modified. In Saga, this takes the form of certain bonuses (additions to your roll) and penalties (subtractions from your roll). Collectively, these are called modifiers, and there are three types in the game: inherent, static and soft.
Inherent modifiers are penalties or bonuses applied directly to your skill rank. These are added to your skill rank before making the roll. Most modifiers are inherent. Examples include modifiers from race or advantages, as well as those granted by specialties.
If a net inherent penalty is greater than your skill rank, subtract your rank from the penalty and add one. Your effective rank becomes one, and the result of this bit of arithmetic becomes a soft penalty instead of an inherent one.
Static modifiers are sets amount of dice added to your roll. These include bonuses to defense from armor and bonuses to attack from weapons. These modifiers are only ever bonuses.
Soft modifiers are applied after your initial roll, but before raises are taken into account. A soft bonus allows you to re-roll a number of failures (a face value of 3 or less on a die) you accrue in a test, while soft penalties require you re-roll a number of successes. Combat Openings, for example, are a set -2 soft penalty to Defense, meaning you reroll two successes you make on any Defense test before your next action.
Soft penalties always apply to raises first, then the smallest die type on which a success was rolled. Soft bonuses apply first to the smallest die type on which a failure was rolled. If the soft penalty exceeds the number of dice being rolled, re-rolled successes can be challenged again. The same goes for a soft bonus.
A Test can be divvied up into nine steps, as outlined below. Not all of the steps are taken all of the time, and you don't necessarily have to memorize them all. But the diagram does help determine the order of events when trying to resolve a conflict.