Okay, the default difficulty for Melee and Ranged attack actions is Easy (1 Purple), and the target's defense is added to the pool.

A few questions:

1 - Does this apply to Melee and Ranged attack spells as well?

1a - If not, are spells resolved as Opposed checks?

2 - Does this base difficulty only apply to actions that are specifically vs Defense (as opposed to Grapple or Dramatic Flourish)?

2a - If yes, are those attacks made vs 'non-Defense' with Opposed checks?

Thanks!

1) Yes

2) Yes. The difficulty of other types of Opposed tests are worked out via the Opposed test table.

2a) Yes. 'vs. Defence' is a special type of opposed check. All other opposed checks use the standard table to resolve base challege and misfortune.

N.B. Some checks are not Opposed. The type of check is marked on the Action card.

If the check reads 'Spellcraft(int) vs. Defence' then the base difficulty is 1d and the Target's Defence value is added to the dice pool. The target can also play a Dodge card.

So a poor wizard can end up with a 4d Spellcraft check: 1d base + 1d Spell Mod + 1d Quickcast + 1d Improved Dodge.

But remember, 1d is the default. If you want it to be higher or lower, it may be modified by the GM, as per the standard RAW. Default simply means, the basic mode, but not always the actual mode.

Fresnel said:

I thought spell craft was 0d, not 1d.

plutonick said:

There is no base difficulty for spellcraft, I think he just means that if the difficulty listed on the card is 1d (in the upper left corner) you can end up with 4 purples. One from the card, one from defense, one from quick casting and one from imp. dodge.

plutonick said:

If the Spell Card is 'Spellcraft vs. Defence' it follows the 'vs Defence' rules (see FAQ for explicit confirmation).

gruntl said:

Defence adds misfortune (m) not challenge (d).

The base difficultly for all ' vs Defence' action cards is 1d.

If the check simply states a Skill check - like Spellcraft(Int) - then it is unopposed and so 0d by default.