Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for

[Johnny Angel]

Originally Posted by adaman14

I have just started playing GURPS and really thought it would be the RPG for me but now I am not sure. I have DX 11 and Riding Horses as a skill. Every time I mount a horse I need to check my skill? 1 in 3 chance to fail and then what happens if I fail? Dang, a normal person without the specific skill fails to even mount the horse 95% of the time? I am starting to be afraid to do anything in the game.

I'm inclined to believe that mounting a horse in calm and uncontested circumstances is simple enough that it either doesn't require a roll at all or is rolled with a significant bonus to skill.

Similarly, a character with driving skill is able to walk into a parking lot and start their car without a struggle.


Is there some reason that the character is under duress? Trying to control a horse while traversing up a narrow and treacherous mountain pass might (at the GM's discretion) require a roll.

Likewise, trying to run to a car an escape from an angry mob piling onto the outside of a vehicle might require a driving roll.

Page 8 of Basic Set: Characters mentions this. It is also mentioned at the top-right corner of page 171. (Campaigns elaborates further.)

"...what happens if I fail?"

That depends.

What is the situation? What was the character attempting to do? Did you fail by a little bit or fail by a lot?