📊 The Difficulty Ladder
Instead of target numbers, our generators rate difficulty on one plain ladder. Pick the rung that fits the fiction, then translate it to whatever your system uses — a target number, a dice pool, a harder check, a progress clock. The words travel; the math is yours.
🪜 The Five Rungs
| Rung | What it means | For example… |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Almost anyone succeeds. Only worth a roll if the stakes or a distraction make failure interesting. | Climbing a ladder · recalling common lore · haggling at a friendly stall |
| Easy | A competent person rarely fails. The untrained or unlucky might. | Scaling a low wall · calming a nervous horse · spotting an obvious lie |
| Moderate | Real skill or a bit of luck is needed. A fair test for a capable adventurer. | Picking a sturdy lock · swaying a wary guard · crossing a fast river |
| Hard | Only experts manage it, and even they may fail. Failure should cost something. | Scaling a sheer cliff in the rain · forging an official seal · talking down a furious mob |
| Impossible | Cannot be done by ordinary means. Needs an edge — a tool, a trick, help, or a clever angle that changes the situation first. | Leaping a chasm too wide · convincing a sworn enemy outright · lifting a portcullis bare-handed |
"Impossible" isn't "no." It's an invitation: find the rope, the leverage, the ally, or the approach that knocks the task down a rung or two first.
🎲 Using It at the Table
- Set the rung from the fiction, not the character sheet. How hard is the thing itself?
- Shift rungs for circumstance. Good tools, time, or help move a task down; pressure, poor footing, or haste move it up.
- Translate once. Map the five rungs to your system's scale at the start of a campaign and keep it consistent.
- Let approach beat difficulty. A clever plan can turn a Hard task Moderate — reward that instead of just calling for a roll.