Latest revision as of 23:15, 6 December 2010

Core Mechanics

Actions within the game are determined through dice rolls. The player rolls a determined number of d10 dice, and the results are determined by the following two mechanics.

Threshold Check

In a threshold check, a player rolls dice to beat a numerical threshold. This is used when a character is attempting a task that has no opponent, but still has a consequence for failure, such as leaping a chasm or swimming against a current.

Threshold: X/Y

or: There must be X dice over Y.

If the player's roll meets the threshold, the check succeeds.

Rolling 10

A die that rolls a natural 10 counts as two dice that meet the threshold Y, but only if Y is not 10.

Critical Success and Failure

A Critical Success occurs when the player either rolls 4 10s, or when all of the player's dice are above Y. A critical success represents a character performing a task far beyond expectations, such as slicing clean through an opponent's head or inventing a brand new knot when tying up a prisoner.

A Critical Failure occurs when all of the player's dice fail to reach the Y threshold. A critical failure represents a character bumbling a task rather spectacularly, such as tripping and falling when attempting to jump or breaking his sword on a rock when trying to attack an opponent.

Opposed Checks

In an opposed check, the two players roll dice against each other, and then arrange their dice in order from highest to lowest. The two players then compare dice from highest to lowest, giving victories two either player depending who won. Once all dice are compared, the player with the highest number of victories wins the check.

• If the two players don't roll the same number of dice, the player with the most dice discards his lowest dice to match his opponent.

Ties and Dominant Position

If a player is in the dominant position for the check, that player wins on tied dice. Otherwise, tied dice are ignored.

If both players receive dominant positions (from circumstances, special abilities, etc), the person with the most dominant positions wins the ties. If both players have the same number of dominant positions, tied dice are ignored as usual.

Roll Modifiers

Dice Bonus

A positive X is a good thing, while a negative Y is good.

Reduction of a roll threshold is a powerful buff, and should be used sparingly. Thus, the notation will often be shortened to a +X Dice, ignoring the second half of the notation.

Roll Bonus

The bonus Z applies to only A dice, which are selected by the roller.

This bonus is more balanced, but the A value is more powerful; it's better to have a +1 bonus spread across seven dice than a +7 bonus for one die.

The notation is always written with a +Z/A pair.