Tests

*See also: Skills*
Many effects require investigators to resolve a **TEST**. To resolve a test, the investigators do a skill check by rolling dice to determine whether he passes or fails the test. Passing tests often provides benefits to the investigator, while failing tests often have negative side effects.

## Making a Test Check

When resolving a test, there are four steps to take:

### Determine Dice Pool

The investigator determines the number of dice he will roll. This number is his **dice pool**.

* He starts with a number equal to the skill being tested.
* He adds or subtracts the test modifier (the number that follows the skill icon on the effect).
* If he has an Improvement token for the skill being tested, he adds the Improvement token's modifier.
* If he has an Impairment token for the skill being tested, he adds the Impairment token's modifier.
* He uses at most **one** bonus (for example, "Gain +3 "). If there are multiple effects that provide a bonus, he uses only the highest bonus. This includes bonuses to all skills, such as Minh Thi Phan's ability or Markings of Isis's effect, or conditional bonuses such as bonuses applied only on Combat Encounters. Bonuses without the word "may" *must* be applied when resolving a test with the indicated skill.
* He adds any "additional die" he gains from effects that apply. Additional dice are cumulative and are in addition to other effects. Unlike the bonuses stating "Gain +X [Stat]", additional dice from multiple effects can stack.
* He substracts any "fewer die" from effects that apply. This effect is cumulative to any other effect that alters the dice pool.

### Roll Dice

* If an investigator's dice pool is below 1, he rolls 1 die instead.
* If an investigator's dice pool is greater than the number of dice available, he rolls as many dice as possible, notes down their values, and rolls the dice again until he has rolled a number of dice equal to his dice pool.
* After rolling, the investigator can use his reroll and dice manipulation effects. Each of these effects causes the new result to replace the old result as if the new result had been rolled naturally. Thus, if he rolls a 5 but bumps it to a 6, treat that die as if he rolled a 6 originally.

### Determine Result

Each "5" or "6" rolled is one **Success**.  The total number of successes rolled is the **test result**. If he rolls at least one success, he **passes** the test. If he does not roll any successes, he **fails** the test.

Any effect which alter what counts as a success (Blessed, Cursed, Double-barreled Shotgun, etc.) are taken into account to calculate your result. If the investigator has a Blessed Condition, each "4" rolled also counts as one **Success**. On the other hand, if the investigator has a Cursed Condition, only "6"s rolled count as **Successes**.

### Resolve Pass or Fail Effect

The consequence of passing or failing the test is determined by the effect that triggered the test.

* Some effects specify only a pass effect or a fail effect. If an investigator passes a test that does not have a pass effect, there is no effect. Likewise, if an investigator fails a test that does not have a fail effect, he suffers no ill effects.
* On encounter cards, tests are declared using their skill icon embedded in the test in parentheses. The test declaration may also indicate a test modifier.
* Effects that are dependent on a test are always preceded by "if you pass," or "if you fail." Any effect in that sentence occurs only if you pass the test or fail the test, respectively. Any effect after the period or part of a new paragraph, is independent from previous effects.

## Rerolling Dice

Immediately after rolling dice during a test, an investigator may spend a  Clue token,   Focus token, or use the special ability of an Asset that could allow him to reroll a die. Each token spent allows for a single reroll, unless otherwise specified by the card, or by abilities like  Trish Scarborough's. He may perform this multiple times, as long as he spends a Clue or Focus token each time. He determines whether he passed or failed after resolving all rerolls.

If an effect allows an investigator to reroll up to two dice but he has rolled only one die, he may use that effect to reroll his single die.
He cannot use that effect to reroll a single die more than once.

## Rulings, clarifications, and reminders

* There is a distinction between tests and rolling die. When an effect states to "Roll X dice.", such as in the  effect of a Cursed Condition, this is different from a test. In these cases, you cannot use additional dice rolls, re-roll effects, or any bonus to increase the number of dice rolled that affect tests, unless an ability specifically grants it to the player for that purpose.
* When determining your dice pool, you must declare the number of dice that you will roll *before* rolling. This means that you cannot use "roll X additional dice" effects after you have rolled your initial set of dice.
* Unlike additional dice, you do not have to declare the number of re-rolls you will be using. This means that you can use re-roll effects from cards one-by-one until you wish to stop. This potentially saves you from using certain "once per round" re-roll effects.

## References

1. ↑ Reference Guide p. 11.
2. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for Test on  *BoardGameGeek*.
3. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for bonuses to all skills on  *BoardGameGeek*.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 FAQ p. 3.