Failures
Just as there is a 10% chance for rolling a 10 on a ten-sided die, there is also a 10% chance of rolling a 1. Each 1 rolled is called a botch and negates the highest number success rolled. For example, Howard is playing Omar who is trying to construct a prefabricated piece of furniture. The GM rules that this action requires and Intelligence + Crafts roll at difficulty = 6. Howard rolls poorly, scoring a 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, and a 6. The 6 he rolled is the only success and it becomes negated by the 1. The end result is that no successes were made during that scene and the piece of furniture remains in a state of disarray. Next, Howard tries again and rolls even worse scoring a 1, 1, 1, 5, 9, 10. The first 1 negates the 10 so Howard will not get to reroll his critical success. The second 1 negates the nine, while the third 1 had no successes remaining to negate. In these circumstances where a player scores a negative number of successes a botch has occurred and something detrimental usually happens as a consequence. The GM might rule that Omar broke part of the furniture off or made an unsightly rip in the upholstery.
Botches
A botch occurs anytime a player rolls more 1's than successes. A general rule of thumb is that a roll scoring no successes results in a temporary set back for the character but no additional negative consequences, while a botch adds some sort of additional problem that needs to be overcome. Keep in mind that botches on low stakes rolls—like answering a math question—should not result in catastrophic injury or net permanent consequences. The additional problem caused by the botch should always be in keeping with the nature of the roll. In the case of a botch when answering a math question, the GM may rule that the Character not only answered incorrectly, but also embarrassed themselves by how boldly they stated their wrong answer.
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