Might

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Typically used with: Muscle

In short: be strong. Might represents great feats of strength: picking things up, bursting through bonds, prying a chest open, hurling a rock, breaking down a door, or yanking a knife out of an opponent's hands. The physically inclined, the professional athlete, the hired brawn: all users of the Might skill. It can be used to push, pull, throw, lift, and smash. In the descriptions below where you see the phrase "if a character rolls a 30," take that to mean a character with a Muscle of 10, 10 ranks in Might, and who rolls a 10: the limit of human achievement.

Push/Pull/Lift

Your character may need to push, pull, or hoist an opponent, ally, or other heavy object. The heavier the thing, the higher the DL.

Depending on the conditions, a character can lift its own weight from the ground with a DL 10, twice its weight at DL 20, and three times its weight at DL 30. If lifting from beneath an object, DL 10 is 150% of its weight, DL 20 is three times its weight, and DL 30 is 450% its weight. A character attempting to regularly lift more than its own weight has to be concerned about the stress it puts on the body — especially to the skeleton and internal organs.

For example, Nox the human knight is a huge, well-built soldier, weighing 300 lbs. Thus, if he rolls a Might of 30, he can pick up 900 pounds from the ground. (For perspective, a world record for dead lift is about 1,000 pounds). If he gets beneath the object and lifts with his whole body, he can pick up 1,350 lbs (a world record for squat is over 1,200 pounds).

Trying to lift a very heavy object for more than a few moments requires a Stamina check.

Throwing

Your character may need to throw a weapon to a comrade or a bomb to an enemy. For a light-weight object that can fit in the hand (an apple, a baseball, a dagger), the result of the roll times 15 should be the number of feet the object is thrown. Thus, if a character rolls a 30, the object can be thrown 450 feet.

If you have a relatively light object (20 pounds or less) and a good amount of momentum, the result of the roll times 10 should be the number of feet thrown. A traditional Olympic games hammer weighs 16 pounds. An Olympic javelin weighs just under 2 pounds. Thus, if a character rolls a 30, they can toss either 300 feet (for perspective, a world record for the hammer throw is about 285 feet, the javelin throw 297 feet).

A shot put weighs the same as the hammer, but it gets much less momentum. For a toss with less momentum, the roll times 3 should equal the number of feet thrown. Thus, if a character rolls a 30, they can toss a 16 pound shot 90 feet. (For perspective, a world record for the shot put is about 76 feet).

Obviously, a heavy object can be thrown much shorter a distance. For a 60 pound object, the result of the roll should be the number of feet thrown. Thus, if a character rolls a 30, they can toss a 60 pound weight 30 feet. (For perspective, a world record for throwing a 56 pound weight is 36 feet).

Smashing

Typically, this is used to shove open locks, doors, and the like. The DL here deals with the solidness or fortitude of the object in question.

Example DL
A simple wooden door 10
A standard wooden door 15
A reinforced wooden door 20
Rope bonds 25
Chain bonds 30
Iron bars, a metal or stone door 35

If you actually want to destroy the thing, it's treated as an attack roll (the object will actually receive a Guard Roll and have HP).

Bigger/Smaller Creatures

The example DLs and feet listed here are calculated for creatures of average human weight and height: between 100–250 lbs., and between 5–7 feet. Characters who are much smaller or much bigger should take into account their own weight for lifting (an elephant weighing 6 tons should be able to lift his own weight on a DL 10 Lift), and their own height for throwing (a lemur should only be able to throw a marble so far).

Opposed Rolls

Might can be used when two characters are vying against each other (e.g. arm wrestling, escaping a Grab). Escaping a Grab is opposed by the attacker's Grip check.


When creatures of different sizes roll opposed Might checks, each should add its Size Muscle Bonus. As noted in the Size table in the Life and Death chapter, a creature's Muscle Bonus is its Size × 5. Thus, firnoy have a penalty of −5 and kulgeris have a bonus of +5. This modifier should only be included when those rolling have different Size scores.

Retry

Opposed rolls cannot be retried (without spending a fate point) as failure means the other character wins. Non-opposed rolls can be retried as often as time allows.

Time

The amount of time a Might check takes really depends on the task. Throwing or picking up an object should be 1–2 AP. Bursting bonds and breaking down obstacles should be 4 AP.