(11)
The years go by, and before you know it you have passed a modest amount of GCSEs at equally modest grades. You cannot believe this, as just a mouse-click ago you had your school-years stretching out ahead of you like...um...like a stretchy thing. Still, that's Fantasy Brass for you. Talking of which, during your time at school you have developed as a stronger human being (more as a result of having your head repeatedly flushed down the lavatory than anything else), and your cornet has been there by your side the whole way. It has shared your joy, and shared your pain. Well, as far as a brass instrument can do anyway. Unfortunately you have to hand it back when you leave school and buy one yourself. Shame.
You still have your lessons with Man-In-Black, but (since that incident with the bottle of Schnapps) the rest of your group have decided to have tuition elsewhere. Despite your teacher's dubious influence, your playing has improved...but how much. Well...it's time to pick up them dice and find out!
Roll one die. The resulting score is your current PERSONAL ABILITY score; make a note of it. This represents how good a player you are at any given moment. If you throw a 6 you have obviously been practicing those arpeggios. If you throw a 1, do not despair. You are still young and there's always time for improvement (even in our band).
Now throw both dice and add the result to your Ability score. This is your PERSONAL POTENTIAL score - make a note of this as well.
Ok, you should now have two scores written down - one score between 1-6 and the other between 3-18. Every so often, as your playing improves, you will be able to add to you Personal Ability score. However, at no point during your fantasy brass career can this ever exceed your Potential score (unless specifically indicated). So...ideally you need a high Potential score if you are going to go very far. If you have ended up with a Potential score of 3 for example, then you might as well cancel that copy of "Carnival of Venice" you ordered, and start thinking of ways to brighten up the rest of your life spent as a back-row player. Sorry. On the other hand, if you somehow finished with a Potential score of 18 (cheats remember, you are only cheating yourself...) then the world is your oyster. Always provided you make the right choices along the way.