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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jeffh" data-source="post: 6170859" data-attributes="member: 2642">The core mechanicThe Standard RollMost actions involve making a Standard Roll, which consists of rolling some number of six-sided dice and counting the number of successes. A “success” is an individual die that get at least a certain number, usually 5 for defending yourself in combat and 4 for everything else; this number is called the threshold.Whenever you roll a 6 on one of the dice in a Standard Roll, that die explodes; not only does the 6 count as a success, but you may reroll that die as well, adding in any success you get on the reroll. As long as you keep getting 6es, you may keep rerolling until a result other than a 6 comes up. All such rerolling is optional.In some cases, all that matters is whether you achieved at least some minimum number of successes or not. In others, the number of successes determines how powerful an effect you create. In particular, in combat, attacks inflict significantly more damage the more successes they achieve.Types of Standard RollsMost Standard Rolls fall into two broad categories:•    Combat Rolls, which use one of four numbers collectively referred to your Core Combat Scores. These cover the following four situations:o    Attacking an enemy with a weapon (including unarmed strikes), or using some other ability that depends on your skill with a particular weapon. This is called an Attack Roll, and the number of dice you use when making it is called your Attack. o    Trying to protect yourself when an enemy physically attacks you, or something else happens that makes you use the same skills and instincts as avoiding a physical attack. This is called a Defense Roll, and the number of dice you use when making it is called your Defense. o    You cast a spell or use some other supernatural ability, especially when you use it to damage or debilitate an enemy. Not every character can do this, and not every character who can do this consciously thinks of it as magic, but all classes have the option of taking at least a few abilities of this sort. This is called a Magic Roll, and the number of dice you use when making it is called your Magic. o    You are trying to avoid a magical attack, shake off a debilitating condition such as poison or temporary blindness, or otherwise protect yourself in ways that aren’t Defense Rolls. This is called a Ward Roll and the number of dice you use when making it is called your Ward.•    Skill Rolls are used for various non-combat abilities collectively referred to as Skills. These cover such diverse pursuits as brewing a potion, helming an airship, recalling relevant historical facts, and trying to sneak past an enemy. The number of dice you use when making one is called your Skill.o    These rolls can also be referred to more specifically by the name of the skill or specialty involved, so for example, brewing a potion might be referred to as an Alchemy Roll (the general skill it falls under) or a Herbalism Roll (the specific specialty of that skill that it uses). Overall there are nine skills, each with three specialties, for a total of 36 types of skill rolls (nine general skills plus 27 specialties).Determining the ThresholdThe threshold is determined mainly by the nature of what you’re trying to accomplish. The thresholds for the most common types of Standard Rolls are:•    4 for Attack Rolls, Magic Rolls and Skill Rolls•    5 for Defense Rolls and Ward RollsIn other words, the threshold is normally 5 when defending yourself from attacks (including spells, traps, etc) or otherwise trying to prevent direct and immediate harm to yourself, and 4 in all other situations.The overwhelming majority of Standard Rolls fall into the categories mentioned above, but occasionally a rule or ability calls for one that doesn’t. In these cases, the rule or ability will specify the Threshold.In the Novice Rules, only one thing ever changes the Threshold from the default values specified above – the Blind status ailment, which raises the Threshold of Attack Rolls by 2 (i.e. from 4 to 6 in the absence of other modifiers). More ways of changing the threshold are introduced in the Hero and Legend rules. However, nothing can make the threshold less than 3 or more than 6. If some combination of factors would move the threshold outside of this range, use a threshold of 3 or 6 instead, ignoring the excess.Simple and Opposed RollsSometimes, you just need to get a certain number of successes in order to accomplish what you’re trying to accomplish. This is called a simple roll. For example, deciphering a mysterious code your character has found might require two successes on a simple Skill (more specifically Lore) roll. Skill Rolls are usually (but not always) Simple Rolls.Other times you are making an opposed roll, meaning someone else is trying to prevent you from succeeding at whatever you’re doing. In that case, the “active character” or “attacker” – the one who is actually trying to do something – rolls dice and counts successes, and simultaneously the “passive character” or “defender” – the one trying to resist the active character’s efforts – rolls dice and subtracts his or her successes from the active character’s. The result, called the active character’s net successes, determines what happens. Most Combat Rolls are opposed rolls, with the active character making an Attack or Magic roll and the passive character making a Defense or Ward roll.Normally, if there is at least one net success, the attacker/active character is at least partially successful at whatever he or she is doing. The number of net successes can be negative (if the defender gets more successes than the attacker), which sometimes means that whatever the active character was trying has backfired in some way.To summarize:o    Result of a simple roll = number of successeso    Result of an opposed roll = Active roll successes − passive roll successes = Active character’s net successesExample: You try to attack a goblin (an opposed roll). Your Attack is 4 and the Goblin’s Defense is 2. You roll 1, 3, 4 and 6. That’s two successes, and you can also reroll the 6. You do so and get another 6 – a third success. You roll that die again and get a 4 – that’s four successes, but you have to stop rolling now since you did not get another 6. Meanwhile, the goblin gets a 4 and a 5 – one success. (If it were the attacker, the 4 would be a success, but as the defender, the goblin’s threshold is 5). You have three net successes – the four you rolled, minus the one the goblin rolled.Successes without rolling – Casual skill useSometimes you can use a skill casually. This rule is intended for routine uses of skills outside of combat and other situations with time pressure. In these situations, it’s assumed that you can perform at a minimal level of competence reliably, and where applicable, can keep trying if all else fails.When using a skill casually, you do not roll the dice. Instead, you simply get a number of successes equal to half the dice you would normally roll, rounded up. If you need more successes than this, you must roll the dice.This can only be used on simple rolls, and not in combat or other high-pressure situations. If there's going to be opposed rolls involved or the stakes are high, you can’t use the rules for casual skill use. You are never forced to use a skill casually; you can roll the dice if you prefer. However, you can’t just roll the dice repeatedly until you get a result you like, no matter how casual the situation; you have to accept the first result you get, which is considered to already include your character making several tries where this makes sense.FocusDuring a Challenge (combat and occasionally other high-stress situations, where the Battle Board is used), you can gain a resource called Focus. Any character can use the Focus action (basically taking a momentary breather) to gain one point of Focus; there are additional abilities, called Engines, available to each class that grant additional means of gaining Focus.You can spend Focus to add additional dice to any Standard Roll, including all the types mentioned above as well as those unusual Standard Rolls that aren’t of any type. One Focus allows you to roll one additional die, and you can spend up to two Focus on any particular roll in this way. You may wait until you see what the result is going to be without the Focus before committing yourself to spending any, and you may spend one, roll the extra die (including any rerolls if it happens to be a 6), then decide whether to spend a second.You can also learn powers called Overdrives which also cost Focus. These tend to have benefits that are much more powerful than this generic use of Focus, but also narrower – in particular, the majority of them are attacks and therefore won’t help you on, say, a skill roll.Other types of rolls and dice notationThese rules use only six-sided dice. However, those dice can be used in many ways, not all of which are Standard Rolls.Many other games use a notation for dice rolls where, for example, 2d6 refers to rolling two six-sided dice (usually, but not always, adding up the results to get a number from 2 to 12). This system follows suit, but only when not referring to a standard roll. Standard rolls are always described in words (“roll two dice”, or more usually “roll your Attack”, “roll your Alchemy” and so on).If you see a notation like “roll 1d6” in this game, this will not refer to a standard roll. The most common situation where this occurs is when rolling for Initiative at the start of a Challenge – you roll 1d6 and add your Quickness to determine your starting position on the Initiative Track (as more fully explained in the Battle System rules.) This is not a Standard Roll and there are no “successes” or “threshold” involved – you simply add the actual number that appears on the die to your Quickness. (Sixes don’t explode in these rolls, either.)Similar comments apply if you are told to roll 2d6, 3d6 etc. Sometimes you’ll only use the single highest, or lowest, result from among those dice, ignoring the rest. This is referred to as “keeping the highest” (or “lowest”). If the rules say “roll 2d6” (for example) without mentioning anything about which results to keep, you simply add the dice up and use the resulting number.Examples:•    If you are told to “roll two dice”, this indicates a Standard Roll. If you get a 2 and a 6, on this roll, the result is at least one success, with the option to reroll the 6 in search of more successes if you wish.•    If you are told to “roll 2d6” (without further qualification) and get a 2 and a 6, the result is 8. (You don’t reroll the 6.)•    If you are told to “roll 2d6 and keep the highest” and get a 2 and a 6, the result is 6 (the single highest number rolled).</blockquote>

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