If a chaos star shows up in a non-card skill check (for example Sneak) does it just get ignored?

i.e. it would get interpreted as a single bane which has no effect.

On a related note, for initiative checks I'd guess we should ignore boons? (except for the universal 2 boons == recover something in this case fatigue).

I definitely would not ignore a Chaos Star on any roll.

No, do not ignore chaos stars. Of course, there can be occasions where letting it be used as a bane can be motivated (if you really can't think up anything better and need to make a decision on the fly). On an important skill check I think the GM should always have some prepared effect for the chaos stars. The use of chaos stars is necessary in the 3e system in my opinion, that's what makes the tests exciting (since success is usually quite easily achieved).

So for Stealth checks you could let a chaos star on an otherwise successful roll signify that the PC feels threatened by the situation and has to add one stress, that he sprained an ankle (one wound). Or make a more complicated solution and say that despite his silent sneaking an additional patrol has come by (perhaps it's bad luck, perhaps it's the the Influence of Ruinous powers) and that he now has to make another stealth test (or otherwise deal with the situation) but with 2 extra. It all depends on what you as GM think is appropriate.

I one of our sessions our smuggler had a chaos star on a successfull climbing check. I, exactly as written in rules (!!!),allowed him to climb up the building, but I let him lost his Dagger (best quality), when he just had finished his climb.

Our woodsman made an excellent Observation-Spot check (3 successes) an a chaosstar. He not only spotted that there are beastmen in the forest and how many. He was so excited that I let him throw a fear 1 test.

There are so many possibilities to use the chaos star and the comet for storytelling and suspense.

When writing or converting scenarios I always write down in my notes what the outcome of rolls are, so I am prepared. For rolls that has no direct effect on the scenario I usually think of something on the fly or just count it as a bane if they also have one on a misfortune die.

Echoing what's been said a successful skill check should always succeed at the task - climb the wally, sneak past the guard, pick the lock etc... The chaos star should be used to introduce something else into the occasion to in some ways complicate things. A brick crumbles and falls from the wall alerting the guards, a cat jumps out of now where and startles the guard, your lock pick breaks....

Just remember the dice are a tool that are there to help nudge your story in directions you may not have anticipated. You are of course free to ignore them but I find that things are much more interesting when you don't. Especially from the GM side, I love some of the unpredictable ways the dice will make me change the story. No longer is it a pass/fail situation on a skill check it helps me keep the creative juices going. Taking everything else out of the WFRP 3 equation I find it positively dull now playing most other RPG's, they just feel so binary.

Kryyst said:

That's so true. And that's how players appreciate much more the GM : when the GM is also shaken by dice results.

We all play together after all, and that's a good way to realize it : Players will think "What does the GM is going to imagine with a Chaos Star in that situation ?" while GM's thinking "hmm... okay... PC (or NPC's) Chaos Star / Fumble... let's take that opportunity to make something unpredictable happens... Chaos star is the good time to surprise us all, including me".

Good gaming ! Imagination is power.

I say it is OK to ignore Chaos Stars on occasion (and banes as well) or make them minor effects. Everything in moderation. Chaos Stars represent an opportunity to modify the story, but you don't have to if it doesn't feel right. You don't want to punish players for making a bunch of dice rolls. Example:

In a recent battle, a player had to make a bunch of skill checks because of some environmental effects and some triggered observation checks. After rolling a couple double banes and a Chaos Star in previous checks, I then asked him to give me another observation check and he said "No! I don't want to notice anything, I don't want to look around! I have a really simple goal that I'm trying to achieve and I'm tired of losing stress and -bleep!- going wrong due to skill checks!"

Granted, it was just a series of bad rolls, but he was right: Every chance to roll dice is not necessarily also a chance to have something go awry. So while I almost always use Chaos Star and Bane effects, I view them as a tool that needs to be used with discretion.

indirect effect is cool too sometimes... rain, fog, enemy reinforcement coming in from far away...

The Chaos Star can really be an excellent GM tool to introduce new elements to the story as well.

My players were fishing for dinner, and one player rolled a Chaos Star on his test. So instead of a fish, I put something a little more aggressive on the line. It all ended with one player pulling it out of the water with its jaws firmly clamped around his ankle.

No significant injury, but it was a fun little encounter that would not have happened otherwise - the players ranked it as one of the high points of the evening.

What's funny is that my play group stubbornly refuses to roll may stars. I think in the entirety of our sessions its come up twice, maybe three times.

I had a case in my last game. A player has 2 wounds. A priest heal him and got enough success to heal the 2 wounds but get one chaos star

On the action card the success heal the 2 wounds but the chaos star convert one wound in critical wound. If we apply the success first there is no wound to convert, if we apply the chaos star first there is only one wound heal. I chose to let the player finish with one critical wound. Would you have rolled it that way?

scramasax said:

Yes. As a GM, I would inflict the penalty of rolling the Chaos Star result first and then apply the success result. Either that or I would find some other dramatic use for the Chaos Star. I regard rolling the Chaos Star as a bad omen and like my players to sweat a little when it happens. I personally feel a little disappointed if a Chaos Star comes up and doesn't get used. This is Warhammer. If you're not rough on your PCs, you're missing some of the "grim and perilous" tone that makes the setting interesting.

A Chaos Star on a successful roll should always be an opportunity for a "Yes, but..." response.

I'm having some trouble narrating both sigmars comets and chaos stars in skill checks. Our group loves skill checks the most in our sessions and we are having a lot of them.

Especially cumbersome is when a skilled character tries a hard or daunting task which usually results both comets and stars and as they do not cancel each other out I'm left with a situation like no or one successes, some boons or banes and both comets and stars argh.. I've tried making skill check tables for most important checks with all the results predetermined but for spontanious checks (core of our gameplay) I'm left buffled.

Well, the simple answer to this is: get more experienced in WHFRP GM:ing.