Out here a person is measured by what they are made of. How much they can take. How light they move. How quick they think. How sharp their eye. And how well they work a room. Every soul in Saratoga sits somewhere on those lines, and carries a few fixed traits besides. This chapter is where you decide where you sit.
Your Five Attributes
Every character is defined by five attributes, each rated on a track from one to five. They are the raw numbers behind everything you attempt, from talking your way past a deputy to hauling a wounded friend out of a burning barn. When you make a check, you add the relevant attribute to the card you play. Higher is better, always.
| Attribute | Governs | In a Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Tough | Endurance, strength, raw grit | How much you can take and how much you can lift |
| Agile | Dexterity, stealth, quickness of hand | How nimble your hands and feet are |
| Smart | Knowledge, memory, reason | What you know and figure out |
| Sharp | Aim, perception, wits | What you notice, hit, and piece together |
| Charming | Persuasion, presence, nerve | How you work people |
Fixed Traits: Speed, Range & Health
Three more numbers sit on your character sheet, but they are not attribute tracks. They are fixed traits, set by your build and your gear rather than rated one to five. Speed is how many squares you move and the number you add to the initiative flip. Range is how far you can reach with your attacks. Health is how much damage you can take before you fall.
Speed is both a fixed trait on your sheet and a chip you can spend. As a trait it sets your movement and feeds your initiative. As a chip you can ante it to seize the initiative or push a little farther in a pinch. Raising Speed means buying the trait; spending a Speed chip means burning it for the moment. Keep the two straight and Speed becomes one of your sharpest tools.
You raise your attributes by spending points when you build and level your character. Your faction grants attribute bonuses on top of what you buy. We cover the full point-buy in the Leveling chapter. For now, just know these six numbers are the spine of your character.
How a Skill Check Works
When the outcome of an action is uncertain, the Dealer calls for a check and names a target number. You play a basic card from your hand and add the attribute that fits the action, plus the rating of the skill in play. If your total meets or beats the target, you succeed. Along with your basic card, you may also play one special card if it carries the icon for that check.
Basic card value + attribute + skill + any other modifiers vs. the Dealer's target number. Meet it or beat it to succeed. You may add one special card that bears the matching icon. It is your hand against the odds, and you choose which cards to spend.
Because you are spending cards from a hand of only four, every check is a real decision. Burn your best card to pick a lock now, and it is gone from your hand for the fight that might follow. A wise gunhand learns when a moment is worth the good card and when a low one will do.
The Skills
Skills are the non-combat tasks any character can attempt. Six of them are natural: everyone has them from the start. The other four must be purchased for one point each when you build your character. Each skill is tied to an attribute, and you add both the skill and its attribute to your card when you make the check.
| Skill | Covers | Attribute | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eye | Spotting things, catching a tell | Sharp | Natural |
| Bluff | Convince, intimidate, disguise | Charming | Natural |
| Sneak | Move silently, hide | Agile | Natural |
| Ascertain | Read people, put two and two together | Sharp | Natural |
| Focus | Concentration, steadying the nerves | Smart | Natural |
| Figure | Decipher transcripts, solve riddles | Sharp | Natural |
| Booksmart | Knowledge: history, geography, politics | Smart | 1 point |
| Conjure Up | Craft, jury-rigging and fitting gear | Sharp | 1 point |
| Thievin | Pick locks, crack safes, slip cuffs | Sharp and/or Smart | 1 point |
| Lingual | Languages, one point per tongue | Smart | 1 pt each |
Conjure Up is your Craft skill, and it does double duty. Some gear does not just snap into place. Fitting a long-range sight or a scope to a rifle calls for a Conjure Up check against a target number printed on the gear card. A note like "Conjure Up x7" means beat a target of seven to make it work. No craft, no scope.
Lingual is bought one language at a time: English, Spanish, Mkwa, Nefew, Heyatobo, Mohado, the Lost tongue, and more besides. A gunhand who can parley in three tongues opens doors a faster draw never will.
Tiered Outcomes
Not every check is pass or fail. Many are graded. The higher you beat the target, the more you get. The Dealer may set several thresholds for a single action, and your total tells them how much to reveal or how well you did.
One action can have several target numbers stacked on top of each other. Meeting the low one gets you the basic result. Beating a higher one gets you more.
Say you brace a couple of hired guns at the bar with a Bluff. A total of 10 tells you they were hired by the sheriff. A 13 tells you what they were hired to do. A 15 and they fold for good and leave your target be. Same threat, three different depths, decided by how hard you can push and what card you spend to push it.
Opposed Checks
When your action is aimed at another character who can resist, it becomes an opposed check. Instead of the Dealer setting a fixed number, your opponent plays a card and adds their own attribute and skill. Both totals are compared, and the higher one wins. A grapple, a stare down, a race to grab the same rifle, all opposed.
Both sides play a card and add the fitting attribute and skill plus modifiers. Highest total wins. Ties go to the defender, unless the Dealer rules otherwise at the table.
When to Call for a Check
Not everything needs a check. If an action carries no real risk and no pressure of time, the Dealer should just let it happen. Checks are for the moments that matter: when failure costs something, when an enemy resists, or when the story leans on the outcome. The rest is just riding down the trail.
The Dealer sets every target number and every threshold. This guide gives them the tools, but the frontier is wide and no rulebook can name every situation. If something is not covered, the table decides. That is the High Noon way, and it is written into the game’s own constitution.