Focus
If your character is attempting to do something requiring great mental concentration while in the midst of battle, for instance spellcasting or using a special power, or perhaps using another skill, it's time for a focus check. Focus represents your arduous mental discipline to ignore spells, attacks, rough environs, and the like to get things done. It can also be used to remember important or meaningless details about past events or specific people. Note that you must have noticed whatever detail it is you try to recall. If your character didn’t perceive it, he or she won’t have a memory of it. You can justify buying ranks in this skill by having your character learn memory improvement and concentration techniques.
Difficulty
If the player is performing some complicated task, and is trying to ignore damage or spell effects to continue performing said task, the DL is either equal to the DL of impending saves, or if damage is dealt, use 15 + 1/HP lost. If the character is being Grabbed, the DL is equal to the opponent's Grab check (Keep in mind that spells requiring gestures are usually impossible while being Grabbed.
Below are some set DLs for environmental turbulence:
| Example | DL |
|---|---|
| Light rain or wind, a ship’s normal rocking, horseback riding | 10 |
| Heavy rain, a ship’s rocking in a storm, riding at full gallop, minor earthquake | 20 |
| On deck during an ocean storm, major earthquake | 30 |
| Being pulled into a nearby tornado, on the edge of an erupting volcano | 40 |
If a Focus is failed, you fail the task at hand. If the task is spellcasting or using a special power that requires magic points or spirit points, the points are wasted.
If the Focus is to recall past details, The difficulty for a the check depends on the length of time since the event and how noticeable the detail you wish to recall was.
| Example | DL |
|---|---|
| Recalling what you had for dinner 3 days ago | 0 |
| Recalling the name of the tavern | 5 |
| Recalling the name of the waitress | 10 |
| Recalling a verse from a song the minstrel in the corner was singing | 20 |
| Recalling what your friends ordered, how long before it was out, and the total on the check | 30 |
Opposed Rolls
If the Focus is in response to a spell, special power, or Grab check, you must make two checks — one as per usual in response to the attack, and the Focus at the same DL to see if you ruin what you're doing.
Retry
Focus checks cannot be re-rolled without the expenditure of a fate point.
