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The Universal Task Profile (UTP) provides you uwith a simple (but still comprehensive) method of codifying tasks. So how does the UTP system work? A UTP answers these questions about a task:

How hard is the task?
What skills and characteristics are crucial to the task?
How long does the task take?
Does the task involve any special risks?
How can a player modify a task during play?
What happens when a task fails?

The UTP provides a list of answers to these questions, using predefined answers. The predefined answers are specified in real-world terms. Even if you don't know the task system, you can quickly understand a task defined by a Universal Task Profile.

What Does A UTP Look Like?

The UTP always follows the same format. For example:

To locate the source of the strange hum:
Routine, [Recon, Int], 1 minute, (hazardous, Unskilled OK).
Referee: Any Major or Destroyed mishaps automatically become Minor mishaps.

The UTP is always separated from the surrounding text by a blank line both above and below.

How Hard Is The Task?

When setting the difficulty, select from four difficulty levels:

Simple:: Success is highly likely. Roll 3+ on 2D to succeed.
Routine:: Success is likely. Roll 7+ on 2D to succeed.
Difficult:: Success is unlikely. Roll 11+ on 2D to succeed.
Formidable:: Success is rare likely. Roll 15+ on 2D to succeed; success is only possible with Die Modifiers (DMs).

Note that the 2D roll for each level is easy to remember because it is four more than the prior level.

What Is Crucial To Success?

When crucial skills and characteristics are chosen as task modifiers (DMs), a task uses related skills (like Pilot and Ship's Boat), or one skill and one characteristic.

A skill level added directly as a DM on the task roll. Characteristics are always divided by five (drop fractions) when used in tasks. Never add characteristics directly.

If a two is rolled, a fumble occurs and the task attempt fails, no matter what.

How Long Does The Task Take?

The time increment UTP is ten percent of the typical task duration. A roll of 3D (whose average result it 10.5) determines how many increments the task takes. The increment is always one-tenth of the typical task duration.

If the duration of the task doesn't matter, the task is Instant and that's that. No time roll is made.

If the duration always takes the same time, the task is Absolute. No time roll is made.

The duration of an attempt equals the increment times 3D (after any DMs are applied). Any DMs that were added to the success roll are subtracted from the time increment roll. The skills and characteristics that make success more likely also serve to reduce the amount of time the task takes. The minimum is three increments.

Does The Task Involve Any Special Risks?

The standard task assumes a normal amount of risk. Other levels of risk are possible:

Safe: If a mishap occurs with a safe task, the mishap is never damaging.
Hazardous: There is a high likelihood of a serious mishap if a hazardous task fails.
Fateful: A mishap always occurs if a fateful task fails. Do not confuse this with a hazardous task, which indicates the severity of the mishap. "To avoid a mishap" situations are good examples of fateful tasks; if they fail, the mishap has not been avoided.
Uncertain: The result of the attempt is largely opinion or cannot be confirmed. Individuals associated with the task have some idea of how successful the task attempts was; however, they are uncertain of the outcome.
Sensor readings, interchanges between characters (including any task which might require a reaction roll), psionics, computer programming, repairs and research are all good candidates for uncertain tasks.
Unskilled OK: The specified skills are useful, but not required to attempt the task. There is no penalty for not having the specified skills.
Confrontation: When two opposing sides are working at cross-purposes, the task becomes a confrontation.

Player Decisions: Hasty Or Cautious

The standard task attempt assumes the character is taking a reasonable amount of care while performing the indicated task. The player can change this amount of care.

Hasty: When it is more important to finish quickly than to reduce the chance of a mishap, a player can specify a hasty task. The time required is shorter, but the task becomes harder. The task DMs are doubled before subtracting them from the time roll; the task difficulty increases by one level (four points).
Cautious: When it is more important to reduce the chance of a mishap than to finish quickly, a player can specify a cautious task.
A determination task must be attempted first. If successful, the task is cautious. If unsuccessful, the task is increased in difficulty one level (four points).

Regardless of the outcome of the determination task, the time roll is doubled before subtracting DMs and the task difficulty decreases one level. If the character failed the determination task, the increase in difficulty effectively negates the normal decrease provided by a cautious task.

Tasks That Fail

The details of handling failed tasks are the realm of the referee and are covered more fully in the Referee's Manual.

Last modified: 2002-Jun-19 21:54:19

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