My answer: 0w2. (that's right, Zero with Two Masteries. Not Twenty with One Mastery)
w2 - against the 14 of "the world" this gives 2 bumps - the hero will never
fail or fumble.
0 - But he shouldn't be criticalling even as much as every 20 times he uses
this ability.
This *is* intentionally breaking the rules by using a 0 as a target number.
HOWEVER! You should never roll this (as a matter of fact, you can't. No way to roll a 0 on a D20!). You should never put this on a character sheet (too many other things that need to go there!). You should never increase this using Hero Points (or any other method of improvemnt, say Heroquesting).
Basically, this is only a indication of what an ability rating of "can't fail" means.
"But" I hear some one say [lengthy pause.............] Okay, I don't hear
someone say.
"What if a fellow with Fly 17 races a bird? How do you do the contest? A
bird has a fly of 'Can't Fail!'"
I answer (off the top of my head):
Well, Most birds have some speed or acrobatic-related ability. In Anaxial's
Roster, these are often pretty low (Golden Eagle: Fly Fast 12 - not very
fast is it?). So, as a thumb-rule, use Fly Fast to augment "Can't Fail" -
suddenly that Goldie has a racing speed of Fly 1w2. (If you augment the
other way around, the Goldie has a +4 to his Fly Fast, for a 16 - big
whoop).
Now, I would only use this in a case like a magical ability giving a previously unavailable ability to the character - Don't use "Run Fast" to augment "Can't Fail" when he is racing another human (it would cancel out the masteries anyway, leaving a race of "Run Fast 2" vrs "Sprint 3" - boooring!...). But if he was up against a swarm of Land-walking Piranhas with "Fin Rapidly along the Ground 12", he *should* have the edge on them in a straight race, even if he doesn't have any "run" abilities (The default 6 yields a +1 augment). Anyway, it's those Flying Piranhas you have to look out for!
So all creatures that walk have "Walk 0w2" as an ability. All flying
creatures have "Fly 0w2", All normally-sighted characters have "See obvious
things 0w2". Use common sense, of course - a Seal does not have "Flop on
Beach 0w2" - just watch a nature film. They are Aquatic creatures, and their
"Run over Rough terrain" is used straight against a land-based creature.
(Yes, I know they can rush, but they have no stamina!).
It can also solve those "A Squirrel and a Human walk a tightrope over Niagra Falls" and "A Squirrel and a Human are facing an Alynx - who is Braver" questions, if you absolutely MUST roll them.
Anyway, a quickie answer to a quickie question. Note that I'm *not* suggesting "just add two masteries to the ability". That can lead to some wirdnesses due to Mastery Inflation.
Roderick
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