Every NPC (nonplayer character, a term used to refer to any creature controlled by the GM) has a Mental, Physical, and Social score. When a player character makes a skill roll to interact with an NPC outside of Combat in some way, these scores determine the complexity of the skill roll the player character makes.

A Mental score comes into play when an NPC uses their knowledge or awareness to counter a player character skill roll outside of Combat. For instance, a player character sneaking past guards with a Mental score of 3 makes a complexity 3 Stealth skill roll, or a player character attempting to beat a scientist with a Mental score of 4 in a trivia contest makes a complexity 4 Knowledge skill roll.

A Physical score comes into play when an NPC uses their agility, strength, or toughness to counter a player character’s skill roll outside of Combat. For instance, a player character trying to spot a sneaking thief with a Physical score of 4 makes a complexity 4 Perception skill roll, or a character crafting a poison to take down a politician with a Physical score of 3 makes a complexity 3 Medicine skill roll.

A Social score comes into play when an NPC uses their charm or force of personality to counter a player character’s skill roll outside of Combat. For instance, a character trying to see through the lies of a crooked merchant with a Social score of 3 makes a complexity 3 Empathy skill roll, or a character attempting to intimidate a military commander with a Social score of 4 makes a complexity 4 Presence skill roll.

Just like player characters NPCs need to make skill rolls to leap across chasms, repair machines, and know obscure facts; the NPC Skill Die Size table determines the die size of the appropriate skill. Each NPC score has a corresponding die size for all the Skills in the score’s category. For instance, NPCs who have a Physical score of 3 use a d6 for all their physical Skills, unless noted otherwise in their statistics.

NPC Skill Die Size