Rolls

1. 1. Attribute and Skills Rolls

Every character has six primary attributes that determine how physically and mentally tough, resilient, and agile they are (more on these later), as well as skills that define what they have been trained to do. When the character encounters a situation in which the Game Master (GM) determines that an attribute or skill will be called into play, the player will roll a number of 6-sided dice equal to the level at which they possess the attribute or skill in question.

One very important rule is that whenever a character rolls a 6, they are entitled to roll an extra die, meaning that even minimally trained characters can achieve success if they are very lucky.

Jeremy has learned to use a short sword at level 4. One day the time finally comes for him to use his sword for the purpose for which it was created. The player rolls four 6-sided dice to determine Jeremy’s degree of success. On this occasion, he rolls very well, getting a 3, 4, 6, 6. Because of the two 6’s, he gets to roll two extra dice, getting 2 and 6. The new 6 again entitles him to an extra die roll, which nets him another 4. The final result of his roll is 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6. Not bad for only having 4 dice to roll!

1. 1. Bonus and Penalty Dice

Sometimes the character knows a skill sufficiently well or the the task is so easy, that the GM will award one or more bonus dice. On the other hand, if a character knows a skill poorly, or if the task is very hard, the GM may assign penalty dice. Both bonus and penalty dice are extra dice that are added to the roll in question. The difference between the two is that for each bonus die that roll, you get to remove the lowest number that you rolled. Penalty dice work the other way around; you must remove the highest die that you rolled. Sometimes a situation may exist in which bonus dice and penalty dice are both rolled at the same time. This will have the effect of subtracting both high and low rolls.

A bandit jumps Jeremy in an alleyway. Jeremy must use his short sword to defend himself! As mentioned earlier, Jeremy’s Short Sword skill level is 4, but because he is has recently been ill, the GM has assigned 2 penalty dice to all physical rolls, and combat certainly qualifies as physical. The player therefore rolls 6 dice (4 for his skill + 2 penalty dice), and gets 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 6. Unfortunately, because of the 2 penalty dice, he must ignore the two highest rolls (5, 6), so the result of his skill roll is 1, 2, 3, 5. He does not get to add a die for the 6 he rolled. In this case, Jeremy’s weakness prevented him from achieving that extra level of success.