Skill Tests are tests made with a Target Number based on one of a character’s characteristic scores and their relevant skill rank. Like characteristic tests, skill tests are also modified as appropriate for the Difficulty of the test; unlike characteristic tests, skill tests also take into account a character’s Skills at whatever task they are attempting. Skill tests are used when a task requires some form of specialized training or skill to perform well.
Each skill has an associated set of Governing Characteristics (listed in parenthesis next to the skill, typically) which are the characteristics upon which that skill relies. Typically the player chooses which characteristic to use, but the GM may require that they must use a particular one if they feel the circumstances dictate it.
Once the governing characteristic has been determined, add the character’s skill bonus (equal to ten times their skill rank) and any other applicable modifiers to the characteristic score. If a character instead has no training in the skill, they suffer a -20 penalty in addition to any other applicable modifiers. This value is the target number for the skill test.
Example
A thief attempts to leap delicately between two rooftops. The GM rules this requires an Acrobatics test of Challenging difficulty (-10). The thief has the Acrobatics (Str, Ag) skill trained to the Journeyman rank (+20). The player chooses Agility as the base characteristic for the test as it is higher than their Strength and better fits the task at hand. They apply a net +10 modifier to their Agility score of 43. They then roll a 37, which is a success (with 3 degrees) against their target number of 53.