Imperium

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Conventions Of Imperium

Characteristics
All characteristics are percentage-based. It is possible for them to go above 100, but that is only normally the case with incredibly powerful characters. The standard human profile has 50 for all these scores, and abhumans are not normally far away. Aliens, mutants and Daemons may have profiles vastly different from this.
Here's a brief breakdown of what each characteristic means, in the order they appear on the statline:

Physical Characteristics
Weapon Skill (WS)
This is an indicator of how well-trained or naturally proficient a character is in hand-to-hand fighting. It is used during both armed and unarmed combat, and when firing pistols in close combat.

Ballistic Skill (BS)
This is the character's ability to shoot straight, or throw objects.

Strength (S)
Literally how strong a character is. Some weapons are so heavy that they can only be used efficiently with a certain Strength score, and some tasks (breaking down doors and so on) require tests on the characteristic. It is worth noting that a character's Strength score is his total strength, and when counting the strength of one arm (e.g. arm-wrestling, using a weapon one-handed), the Strength characteristic should be halved.

Toughness (T)
This is a character's natural fortitude and ability to withstand pain. Not only is it used to determine how much punishment a character can take before suffering severe injury, it is also used in Resistance tests against poisons like nerve gas, animal venom and alcohol.

Initiative (I)
This is an abstract indicator of a character's reaction times, eyesight, hearing and other factors that could affect his awareness of what goes on around him. Initiative's main function is in determining the order in which PCs and NPCs act over the course of a turn, but it is also used for Awareness and Reaction tests.

Mental Characteristics
Willpower (Wp)
This is the character's strength of mind. It's primary use is for intimidating other characters, resisting torture and so on, but it is also used when casting and resisting psychic powers.

Sagacity (Sg)
This is how intelligent a character is, taking into account his education, life experience and problem solving skills. Most Imperial citizens go through life blissfully unaware of the hows and whys of the universe - things just are, as far as they are concerned - so their Sagacity will rarely rise.

Nerve (Nv)
Nerve is the character's ability to remain calm in stressful situations, when under fire, being approached by security guards while carrying stolen documents, when confronted by a Daemon.

Leadership (Ld)
A multi-role characteristic, representing a character's own discipline and ability to obey orders, as well as showing his ability to command others. It also determines how well the character can get along with other people. Strategic geniuses or born orators may be as high as 100.

Characteristic Tests
Frequently, actions will require a characteristic test in order to be successful. To make this test, roll a D100 and compare it with the characteristic being tested. If the roll is equal to or lower than the characteristic, then the test is passed; if it is higher, the test is failed.

Many tests will have some kind of modifier to the characteristic, which are in effect only for the purpose of the test. For example, firing a weapon in the off-hand has a -20 to hit modifier. For a Ballistic Skill 50 character, this means that BS is counted as 30, for this shot only.

When performing two actions at the same time (e.g. using a sword in each hand, or firing a weapon while swinging through a window), the chances of success are halved.

Matched Successes and Matched Failures
When making a characteristic test, a roll of a double may have an important effect on the outcome of the test. For example, a character that needs to roll 50 or under to pass a test will have a matched failure on a result of 55, 66, 77, 88, 99 or 00, and a matched success on 11, 22, 33 and 44. This does mean that a basic level human character is more likely to stuff up badly than to succeed superbly, but most PCs (and many NPCs) have at least some characteristics at 55 or higher.

Automatic Success and Automatic Failure
There's always going to be a small chance of pulling off even the most difficult task, or of messing up in the most simple. This is represented by reserving 5% at either end of the D100 scale for these possibilities. In English, a percentile roll of 01-05 on a characteristic test will always succeed, no matter how low (or even negative) the required score to pass was. Likewise, a 96-00 will always fail, even if the characteristic being tested is greater than 100. Note that an automatic failure of 99 or 00 is also a matching failure, and may have additional effects.

There are frequently going to be circumstances in which the GM decides that no dice roll is required - a healthy Inquisitor is always going to be able to fasten his bootlaces, and an ogryn is never going to be able to pick up a land train. Obviously, if no dice are rolled, the automatic success/failure rule is ignored.

Modifiers
When modifiers are applied to a test (as a positive or negative amount), it is the characteristic that is modified, not the roll of the D100. As a reminder, negatives are bad, positives are good.

Scale
Imperium uses Imperial measurements, with the yard as its base measurement. If the GM or players prefer the metric system, it is possible to replace references to yards with metres, since they are roughly the same, but this practice should be consistent, i.e. always use yards or always use metres - do not alternate within the same session.

Fractions
Sometimes, you may end up with fractional results to some dice rolls or characteristics (e.g. injuries halving a characteristic). Round all fractions up to the nearest whole number.

With distances, or periods of time, there's nothing to stop you rounding up to the nearest half. This is often a good idea when small numbers are involved. There is far more difference between one and a half yards and two yards than there is between thirty yards and thirty and a half yards.