Dice Pool

Basic Dice Pool

There are two sides to every basic dice pool — the side the player contributes (in the form of Ability dice and Proficiency dice ) and the side the GM contributes (in the form of Difficulty dice , Challenge dice , Boost dice , and Setback dice ). Additional factors may modify the number and type of dice for a check. The GM sets the difficulty level of the task once prior to the roll. After creating the base dice pool, either side may have the opportunity to upgrade dice.

Skill and Characteristic

When performing a task, the GM and player determine which skill is most appropriate. This also determines which characteristic is used.

Once the characteristic and skill are determined, the player can start building their dice pool. The player compares their ranks of skill training and the linked characteristic's rating.

The higher value between the two determines how many Ability dice are added to the skill check's dice pool. Then the player upgrades a number of those Ability dice into Proficiency dice based on the lower of the two values. If a character is unskilled (possesses no ranks) in the necessary skill, that is automatically the lower value—zero—and the character will rely solely on the appropriate characteristic.

Difficulty

The GM then chooses the level of difficulty for the task by consulting Table: Difficulty Levels. The difficulty level of the task determines the number of Difficulty dice that the player must add to their pool.

In some cases, the GM may upgrade one or more of these Difficulty dice — removing them from the dice pool and replacing them with an equal number of Challenge dice. Difficulty dice are most often upgraded into Challenge dice when facing skilled opposition, particularly challenging circumstances, or when Destiny points are invested to make a check more challenging.

Difficulty Levels

Impossible Tasks

Attempting an Impossible task automatically requires the player to spend one Destiny point .

If there are no other factors influencing the outcome of the attempt, the basic dice pool is now complete and can be rolled to determine success or failure, as well as any potential side effects.

Modifying a Dice Pool

These other factors can affect or modify the dice pool in a number of ways. The most common ways are by adding dice, upgrading/downgrading dice, and removing dice.

Adding Dice

One way to modify the basic dice pool is to add dice to reflect environmental conditions or various advantages and disadvantages. This is done primarily through the use of Boost and Setback dice. As a general rule, one Boost die is added to the dice pool for each bonus that would help the character succeed, and one Setback die is added for each disadvantage or obstacle impeding success.

Boost dice and Setback dice do not cancel each other out.

The use of Boost dice and Setback dice is a common resource all players can use to help reinforce important elements of the story. Players are encouraged to describe their actions in detail, and point out both advantages and disadvantages that may influence a particular action.

Upgrading and Downgrading Dice

Improving a die is called upgrading. Weakening a die is called downgrading. Upgrading and downgrading dice most often occurs when one of the participants invests a Destiny point into a skill check. Certain talents or special abilities may also allow a character to upgrade or downgrade dice.

Upgrading Dice

Upgrading dice is a mechanic specific to Ability dice and Difficulty dice. These are the only two types of dice that can be upgraded. When an Ability die is upgraded, it is converted into a Proficiency die . When a Difficulty die is upgraded, it is converted into a Challenge die .

When a special talent or effect calls for one or more dice to be upgraded, the player first determines how many dice are to be upgraded. Once the player determines this, they remove that number of Ability dice or Difficulty dice from the pool and replace them with an equal number of either Proficiency dice or Challenge dice . When an effect requires a character to upgrade dice, the rules always state whether Ability dice or Difficulty dice are being upgraded.

Upgrading More Dice Than Available To Upgrade

There may be situations in which a player needs to upgrade Ability dice into Proficiency dice, but there are no more Ability dice remaining in the pool. In this case, the player performs the following steps. First, they determines how many dice upgrades remain. Then, using one upgrade, they add one additional Ability die to the pool. If any upgrade opportunities remain, they then upgrade the newly added Ability die into a Proficiency die . This process is repeated until all potential upgrades have been applied.

Likewise, if a player needs to upgrade Difficulty dice into Challenge dice but there are no more Difficulty dice remaining, the same process is followed. First, one additional Difficulty die is added, then if there are any more upgrades remaining, the Difficulty die is upgraded into a Challenge die , and so on.

Downgrading Dice

Downgrading dice is also a specific mechanic, and applies only to Proficiency dice and Challenge dice. When a Proficiency die is downgraded, it becomes an Ability die When a Challenge die is downgraded, it becomes a Difficulty die .

When a special talent or effect calls for one or more dice to be downgraded, the player first determines how many dice are to be downgraded. Once they determine this, they remove that number of Proficiency dice or Challenge dice from the pool and replace them with an equal number of either Ability dice or Difficulty dice . When an effect requires a character to downgrade dice, the rules always state whether Proficiency dice or Challenge dice are being downgraded.

Downgrading More Dice Than Available To Upgrade

There may be situations where a player needs to downgrade Proficiency dice into Ability dice or Challenge dice into Difficulty dice If all the potential dice are already in their downgraded form, any further downgrades are ignored.

Upgrades and Downgrades in the Same Pool

Sometimes abilities will call for both dice upgrades and downgrades. When this occurs, all upgrades are applied first. Then, any downgrades are applied. This is important, since upgrading dice could potentially add more dice to the overall pool.

Removing Dice

Just like some effects add Boost dice or Setback dice to a pool, some effects remove dice from the pool before they are ever rolled. Most often this comes from character talents that allow the removal of Setback dice from a pool, reflecting a level of expertise in overcoming minor distractions or disadvantages that would rattle a less experienced character. In a similar fashion, a skilled enemy may have a talent that removes Boost dice from skill checks made against that enemy.

The individual talent or effect describes what circumstances warrant the removal of dice, as well as the number and type of dice to be removed. If an ability would remove more dice of a type than there are in the dice pool, the maximum number of dice available are removed, and any additional removals are ignored.

Removing dice is done after all other dice have been added and all upgrades or downgrades have been applied.

Interpreting the Pool

The first outcome to resolve is determining the success or failure of the skill check. Then, the players can determine if any significant side effects-good, bad, or both-are triggered.

Successes and Failures

If a skill check results in both Success symbols and Failure symbols , the total numbers of each type of symbol are compared. Each Failure symbol cancels one Success symbol . After all Failure symbols have canceled Success symbols , a pool will either have one or more Success symbols , one or more Failure symbols , or everything evenly canceled out.

During this step, it is important to note that a Triumph symbol ( contributes one Success to the pool, in addition to any special effects it may trigger. Likewise, a Despair symbol contributes one Failure to the pool, in addition to its special effects.

If all Successes and Failures in the pool are canceled out, or if there are any net Failures remaining, the skill check fails. If at least one Success remains, the skill check succeeds. Remember, a dice pool must have at least one Success symbol remaining for a skill check to succeed.

Advantages and Threats

It is also likely that a skill check results in either Advantage symbols Threat symbols , or both. The player adds up the total number of Threat symbols and compares them to the total number of Advantage symbols . Each Threat symbol cancels one Advantage symbol . After all Threat symbols have canceled Advantage symbols , a pool will have one or more Advantage symbols , one or more Threat symbols , or have everything evenly canceled out.

Having one or more net Advantage symbols indicates a positive side effect or benefit. Having one or more net Threat symbols indicates a negative side effect or complication with the check. If all the Advantages or Threats cancel each other out, there are no additional effects. This possibility for a positive or negative side effect can occur regardless of whether the task succeeds or fails.

Advantage and Threat can be used to fuel a wide variety of side effects. The player rolling the skill check generally chooses how to spend Advantage, such as triggering a weapon’s special ability, performing an additional maneuver, or possibly recovering some strain. Different weapons, talents, or equipment may have special uses for Advantage.

Threat is generally spent by the GM to impose some sort of complication, with more severe complications requiring more Threat. Threat can result in a number of side effects such as a task taking longer to complete than expected, suffering strain, providing an opportunity to an opponent, falling prone, or being subjected to an environmental effect. Different talents, environments, or opponents may have special uses for Threat.

Triumph and Despair

Two symbols represent far more potent effects than the others. Triumph and Despair are special cases and operate slightly differently than the other symbols. Unlike Success and Failure ( and ) or Advantage and Threat ( and ), Triumph and Despair ( and ) do not completely cancel each other out. Rather, they indicate an especially positive or unfortunately dire side effect.

Remember that it is possible for a skill check to result in both and symbols. In this case, both results are interpreted separately. Just like Threat, it is possible for a skill check to succeed but still impose a Despair effect, or a skill check may fail but still trigger a Triumph effect.

Triumph

A Triumph symbol has two effects. First, each Triumph symbol counts as one Success symbol . Second, a Triumph result indicates an unexpected boon or significantly beneficial effect related to the task. Many weapons and talents have side effects that can be triggered using a Triumph result. Otherwise, the scenario or GM may have other options for using Triumph. It is important to keep in mind that while a Triumph symbol does add a Success symbol to the pool, the presence of one or more Triumph symbols does not automatically mean a successful skill check.

Triumph can be thought of as an enhanced, more powerful version of Advantage. For example, a single Triumph symbol can trigger any weapon’s special quality or inflict a critical injury, rather than requiring a certain number of Advantage symbols . Or, while Advantage may allow a character to recover strain, in the right situation a Triumph may allow recovery of a wound.

Despair

A Despair symbol also has two effects. First, each Despair symbol counts as one Failure symbol . Second, a Despair result indicates an unfortunate consequence, significant complication, or dire effect related to the task. Opponent’s abilities, the environment, or the encounter description may offer different options for using Despair. Otherwise, the GM adjudicates the results of Despair symbols based on the situation. It is important to keep in mind that while a Despair symbol does add a Failure symbol to the pool, the presence of one or more Despair symbols does not automatically mean a failed skill check.

Despair can be viewed as an upgraded, more potent form of Threat. For example, a single Despair symbol may trigger effects that would normally require several Threat symbols . Otherwise, Despair may be significant enough to warrant inflicting wounds instead of strain, mean an important piece of equipment breaks, that a weapon jams or runs out of ammo, or coupled with failure, a grenade hits an unintended target.