There are two types of rolls used within 7th Sea. Simple and Contested.
A simple roll is when a Hero is doing something on his own and only his abilities are being contested.
Example:
Kate, an Ussuran swordswoman, wishes to jump from her mount in motion, to the mount of the man she is in pursuit
of. The GM assignes the TN of 20, because it is a very difficult task. The GM then tells Kate's player that she needs
to roll balance 4 and finesse 3, keeping finesse just to stand up on the steed. So Kate's player would roll 4+3=7, 7 dice,
keeping her finesse which is 3. Kate's player rolls and gets 10, 5, 4, 3, 9, 5, 8 and decides to keep the 10, the 9 and the
8 for a total of 27. Because she rolled a 10 she gets to reroll it and add the new result ot her score. She rolls a 3 and
now has a total of 30. She passed her first action.
Now for her next action the GM tells her to leap from one mount to the next it will be jumping 2 and finesse 3. 2+3=5,
5 dice for the next action, keeping only 3 dice. The TN is still set at 20 for both horses are at a run. She rolls a 9, 7,
5, 2, 3. She decides to keep the 9, 7, and the 5 for a score of 21. She succeeds her roll and jumps from her steed to the
other.
A contested roll is when the Hero is actively opposing or being opposed by another character. This works
differently from the simple roll. The dice are chosen based on the action and rolled in the same manner, but:
The TN for the roll is equal to the opposed trait x 5.
Both the Acting and Opposing characters make rolls and the success of the action is determined by the result.
Note: If only one character in an contested roll is successful, then he automatically wins. If both roll successfully,
then the one with the higher score wins.
Example:
Alexander and Dante are facing off in a arm wrestling match. The GM determines this is a contested brawn action.
Alexander's brawn is 3 and Dante's if 5. So the GM tells Alexander his TN to beat Dante is 25 and then tells Dante that his
TN to beat Alexander is 15. Both are then told to roll and keep brawn for this test.
Alexander rolls a 5, 2, 10. Reroling the 10 and getting a 9. His total for this contest is 26, He Successfully met
the Target Number.
Dante rolls and gets a 5, 5, 3, 6, 8 for a total of 27. He too successfully met his Target Number.
The GM then compares the scores and declares Dante the winner for he scored a 27 over Alexanders 26.
