Sometimes two characters will need to compare their relative skills to settle a battle or competition. A Contest of Skill is a quick way to resolve a competitive situation without playing it out in detail.
When a Contest of Skill is called for, both characters make their success rolls in the appropriate skill. Any appropriate modifiers are used.
There are two types of contest:
A quick contest is usually over in a second; e.g., two people grabbing for the same weapon. Each character makes his skill roll. If one succeeds and the other fails, the winner is obvious. If both succeed (or fail) the winner is the one who succeeded by the most, or failed by the least. A tie means nobody won.
A regular contest may take some time; e.g., arm wrestling. Each character tries his skill roll. If one succeeds and the other fails, the winner is obvious. If both succeed or both fail, the charactersJ relative positions are unchanged and they may try again.
The time each attempt takes will depend on the activity, and is up to the GM to determine. In a combat situation, each attempt takes one second. In a library-research contest, with the fate of the world hanging on who finds a certain obscure reference first, each attempt could represent days of time.
If both characters have a very high skill, the contest could go on indefinitely. Therefore, shorten it as follows: If both skills are over 14, reduce the higher one to 14, and subtract the same amount from the lower one.
Eventually, one character will make his roll and the other one will miss. At this point, the one who made his roll is the winner of the contest.
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