Bless Spell - Stupid Question?

[InexplicableVic]

"All of the subject’s dice rolls (except rolls on tables) are modified favorably by +1..."

Maybe I'm just too tired, but does this mean that if I roll a 15, it's really treated as a 14, if it's a skill roll, and if I roll 10 damage, it's really 11? It's less of an issue for damage rolls per se, but for skill rolls...I read it as not modifying the target number, but the result of the actual roll.

In other words, if I am reading it correctly, let's say that Sir Yvor Gryffyn, who has Broadsword-20, decides to Rapid Strike with Deceptive Attack 1, meaning his net skill is 20-3-2=15. If he has been Blessed, when he makes his roll:

1. His target is still 15, but whatever he rolls is lowered by 1; so, if he rolls a 10, that's really a 9. OR...
2. Does it make his target 16, and not 15?

I think it is #1, but maybe I've read this totally wrong.

I think it is relevant, for example, if your target number is, say 13. So, if you roll a 5, does the roll go to a 4 (crit!)? Or is your target number 14 (in which case the 5 doesn't matter)?

[Balor Patch]

GURPS rules are pretty good about matching what they mean and what they say. It doesn't say anything about modifying your skill or your target number otherwise, just "the dice roll".

[Dalin]

I've always adjusted target numbers like every other bonus or penalty that I can think of in GURPS.

I don't know that the crit issue has ever come up at my table, but I think we would handle crits as we usually do. In your example, the target number would be 14, so a roll of 5 would not be an automatic crit. (But, if the base skill level was 14, it would rise to 15 because of Bless, which would extend the critical success range up to 5.)

[Kromm]

Uh, it's just +1 in whatever direction helps your roll. If you would be rolling against 14 to hit and have Bless +1, now you're rolling against 15 and yes, you get a critical success on 3-5 instead of 3-4. If the hit does 2d+4 damage, now it's 2d+5. And if an onlooking admirer rates your murder, you get +1 on the reaction roll to score higher than the Russian contestant.

[Polkageist]

One could argue that if you needed to fail a roll for whatever reason, Bless would nudge it in the right direction.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Polkageist

One could argue that if you needed to fail a roll for whatever reason, Bless would nudge it in the right direction.

That's the spirit of the effect, yes.

[InexplicableVic]

Makes sense, and that works for me. Just based on the wording, I can see an edge case where modifying the target number is not as "good" as modifying the roll. So, for example, modifying the skill from 16 to 17 (or anything higher than 16) isn't as helpful (because 17 is always a failure) but modifying the roll from 17 to 16 (against a skill 16 or higher) is very helpful. [Without making Bless "go off," if you will]

[finn]

Another edge case that could have been derived from the wording is that it makes critical much more likely.

If you roll a 5 when you have an effective skill of 13 to 4, it could be a critical success (since your roll is now a 4).
If you roll a 7 when you have an effective skill of 16+, it could also be a critical success (since your roll is now a 6).

The chance of critical success could have increased even further if you had Bless 2.

Great to know that it modifies what you roll against, not the die roll itself.