ALL ROLLS
SUCCESS & FAILURE
Roll a number of dice equal to your score in a revelant ability plus appropriate bonuses.
Each die that comes up 1, 2, or 3 is a failure (aka “worm” or “traitor”). Each die that comes up 4, 5, or 6 is a success.
If you get at least as many successes as the “Obstacle” of the test, you succeed: What you wanted to happen, happens. Getting more successes than required often allows extra effects.
If you get fewer successes than the Obstacle, you fail. You and the GM must decide:
(1) you simply don’t manage to do what you were trying to do, OR
(2) you manage to do it, but the effects are NOT what you wanted.
BONUS DICE IN BRIEF
Good roleplaying, clever tactics, or special circumstances can justify ONE bonus die.
Having the right equipment can provide one, two, or (rarely) three bonus dice.
Skills can get bonus dice from other Skills used as “FoRKs” (Fields of Related Knowledge); Circles can get bonus dice from your revelant Reputations and Affiliations; Resources can get bonus dice from economic conditions or from other characters giving you wads of money! See the sections below on Skills, Circles, and Resources for details.
Other characters may offer bonus dice as Help (see next section); prior Skill rolls (not Circles or Resources rolls) by you or another character may offer bonus dice as Linked Tests (q.v.).
HELP!
Other characters may HELP you with your roll. You can get helping dice from any or all of the other players whose characters could plausibly affect what’s going on, and from ONE non-player character. (Your thousand nameless minions cannot each give you a die – just your BEST minion).
Each character helping you gives you either one or two dice: You get one bonus die if the helper’s relevant ability score is 1-4, two bonus dice if their score is 5 or more.
RESTRICTIONS: If you’re rolling a Skill, other players can only Help you with their Skills; if you’re rolling Circles, other players can only help you with their own Circles; and if you’re rolling Resources, other players can only help your with their own Resources. Major extended conflicts – using the Firefight, Duel of Wits, Psychic Duel, or Infection rules – have their own special restrictions on Help.
METAGAME: If you Help another player with any roll at any time during the course of a Maneuver (i.e. session-long or half-session-long sequence of scenes), you may also give them Helping dice on the final Infection roll at the end of the Maneuver.
INSTINCTS, TRAITS, & EXTRA ROLLS
An appropriate Instinct may allow you to make a roll when you otherwise wouldn’t have the chance: “Always have my bodyguard with me” allows a Circles roll to bring the bodyguard into play if you’re attacked, for instance.
Certain traits are “call-on” traits: you can “call on” these traits to reroll if you fail. Each trait can only be used in specific circumstances and only ONCE PER SESSION.
ARTHA
You earn Artha by playing hard to your Beliefs, getting yourself in trouble by ignoring (or following) your Instincts, and in general by roleplaying well; you may spend Artha to get bonus dice before you roll, get a bonus die for each “6” you rolled, or to reroll failures. See the separate “Artha In Brief” sheet for details.
Only the player physically rolling the dice gets to spend Artha: Other players can give you Helping dice or dice from Linked rolls, but they can’t spend Artha when it’s your turn to roll!
But if you have multiple characters (e.g. a sidekick or subordinate), you can spend Artha for them freely, because you’re the one rolling for them.
SKILL SPECIFICS
SCOPE OF SKILLS
Roll one of your Skills to do something physical or social to a person or thing. (The hardware or other character you’re working with must have already been introduced to the scene by prior play or by rolling Circles or Resources, however).
Major extended conflicts – using the Firefight, Duel of Wits, Psychic Duel, or Infection rules – involve many Skill rolls and have their own special rules (see the separate crib sheets for Firefight, for Duel of Wits/Psychic Duel, and for Infection).
The final roll to affect the strategic big picture at the end of a Maneuver (the “Infection” roll) is ALWAYS a Skill roll, never a Resources or Circles roll.
HELP WITH SKILLS
Other characters may Help you with one relevant SKILL of their own: You get one bonus die if the helper’s Skill is 1-4, two bonus dice if their Skill is 5 or more. They may not Help you with their Circles or Resources scores.
FoRK: USING MULTIPLE SKILLS
You may “FoRK” your other Skills into your roll for bonus dice if they qualify as “Fields of Related Knowledge”:
- You may get ONE bonus die if you have a relevant “-wise” Skill (e.g. “Forged-Lord wise” gives a FoRK die for rolls dealing with a Forged Lord).
- You may get ONE bonus die if you have a relevant Skill that’s not a “-wise” (e.g. Conspicuous can give a Fork die to Command if you want your troops to notice you).
You may never get more than TWO bonus dice from FoRKs (one from a -wise, one from a non-wise).
LINKED ROLLS
You may also LINK your Skill roll to a later roll – either by yourself or by someone else, whether that roll is with a Skill, Circles,or Resources. Explain how your current action lays the groundwork for the later, Linked action.
If your roll succeeds, the linked roll will get one bonus die. If your roll fails, the linked roll has its Obstacle raised by one (with friends like you, who needs enemies?).
While each prior roll only gives one bonus die, you may Link as many prior rolls to the same upcoming roll as you like. In fact, any number of characters, controlled by any number of players, may all make rolls they then Link to the same final roll, giving lots of bonus dice (and probably some Obstacle penalties from preparatory rolls that failed).
RESTRICTIONS: You cannot Link a roll to a subsequent roll that’s part of a major extended conflict, i.e. one using the Firefight, Duel of Wits, Psychic Duel, or Infection rules.
METAGAME: If you successfully Link one of your rolls to a later roll by another player – i.e. if you manage to give them a bonus die, NOT if you make their Obstacle worse! – you may also give them Helping dice on the final Infection roll at the end of the maneuver. (You may NOT Link directly to the Infection roll, since it’s part of a major extended conflict).
PSYCHOLOGY
If you have a telepathic Connection to a psychologist character, you get one bonus die for any social Skill roll of your own (your own latent psychic talents have awakened enough to give you an edge).
The psychologist CANNOT withold this bonus die from you if they don’t approve of what you’re doing: You get it automatically – and you only give it up when YOU decide to kick them out of your mind.
CIRCLES SPECIFICS
SCOPE OF CIRCLES
Roll Circles to bring a character into the scene – either a minor character made up on the spot, or a preexisting character you want to contact.
If you spent points in character creation to have a Relationship with another character – be they friend, subordinate, or enemy – you don’t need to make a Circles roll: You can automatically bring them into a scene, unless there are exceptional circumstances (in prison, in a coma, on the wrong planet).
Roll a number of dice equal to your basic Circles score. Give your bonus dice for any relevant Reputations and Affiliations you have.
If you are using Circles to contact someone who has a Reputation, add their Reputation score to your bonus dice: Well-known people are easier to find!
Circles rolls are easier during Building Scenes, and harder in the middle of a major Conflict scene: standard Obstacle during a Building scene, +1 Obstacle at the start of a major Conflict scene, +3 Obstacle right in the middle of a major extended conflict (“Oh yeah, did I mention that I have trained ninja bodyguards? Really, I do!”)
HELP & LINKS WITH CIRCLES
Other characters may Help with their own Circles score: If their base Circles is 1-4, they can give you one die; if their base Circles is 5 or above (very rare!), they can give you two dice.
Other characters may NOT Help with their own Reputations or Affiliations, or with their Skills, or with their Resources – only with their base Circles score.
You may NOT get “FoRK” dice from your Skills.
But ANY prior Linked roll may give you a bonus die. It doesn’t matter whether the prior roll was by you or by another player; it doesn’t matter whether the prior roll was using Circles, Resources, or an appropriate Skill. Since Help is so limited and FoRKs are forbidden, prior Linked rolls are very valuable for Circles rolls!
SUCCESS & FAILURE
A successful Circles roll against an Obstacle of one will turn up a minor character who is completely average for your social circles: They’re roughly the same social status as you, their attitude towards you is neutral, they don’t know anything special about what’s going on, and any ability score they might use is assumed to be 3.
Increasing your Obstacle BEFORE the roll allows you to look for someone more highly skilled, better informed, more friendly (or more hostile if you’re hunting enemies), or more distant from you in social standing (either higher OR lower).
The minor character will also have whatever equipment is appropriate for their job (a gun for a security guard, Iron for a Lord-Pilot Anvil, a starship for a Lord-Pilot Hammer) without any need for a Resources roll. They won’t give you this equipment, though, and it goes away with them at the end of the scene!
If you FAIL your Circles roll, you and the GM must decide whether
(1) you just didn’t find anybody, OR
(2) you found somebody all right, but they HATE you (which gives them bonuses against your convincing them to help you).
WE’LL MEET AGAIN
If you like a minor character you summoned up with a Circles roll, give them a name. You get one bonus die for trying to contact them with Circles again.
If you successfully roll Circles for a specific minor character often enough, they can become a Relationship character, at which point you can contact them automatically at will. (Subtract the total dice you rolled on your Circles test from 10: That’s the number of times you have to contact this character with Circles before they become a Relationship).
RESOURCES SPECIFICS
SCOPE OF RESOURCES
Roll Resources to introduce equipment into the game: weapons, armor, vehicles, castles, fancy clothes, whatever. Equipment then gives you bonus dice on rolls you make using it. You can use Resources to introduce an entirely new item or to add previously unmentioned features to an existing item.
You choose your own Obstacle when making a Resources roll: the higher the Obstacle, the harder the roll, but the more bonus dice the equipment is worth if you succeed. (Choose from lists of standard equipment, or design your own using the “Technology Burner” chapter of the rulebook).
You can get ONE bonus die if you name the thing you’re trying to acquire: “a Mark 7 Assault Laser,” “the Palazzo Antonelli,” “Amabandi & Fitz silk lingerie.”
Resources rolls are easier during Building Scenes, and harder in the middle of a major Conflict scene: You get one bonus die if you roll during a Building scene; your Obstacle is one higher if you roll during a Conflict scene.
HELP & LINKS WITH RESOURCES
Other players may Help you with their own Resources: If their base Resources is 1-4, they can give you one die; if their base Resources is 5 or above, they can give you two dice.
Other characters may NOT Help with their own Skills or Circles – only with their base Resources score.
You may NOT get “FoRK” dice from your Skills.
But ANY prior Linked roll may give you a bonus die. It doesn’t matter whether the prior roll was by you or by another player. It doesn’t matter whether the prior roll was using Circles, Resources, or an appropriate Skill (e.g. Accounting or any kind of “-wise” relevant to what you’re trying to acquire). Since Help is so limited and FoRKs are forbidden, prior Linked rolls are very valuable for Resources rolls!
WACKY ECONOMICS RULES
If you’re rolling Resources to obtain your world’s Primary Export (heavy industrial machinery, for Frostvar), you get one bonus die.
If you’re rolling Resources to obtain something Quarantined or Regulated on your world, your Obstacle is increased by one, two, or even three – unless you have a personal connection to the bureaucracy that administers the quarantine and regulations.
You may also TRY to bypass Quarantine and Regulations by going on the Black Market (see pg. 365 for details).
Other players may also loan you cash by making a Resources roll: Their Obstacle is DOUBLE the number of dice they add to your Resources for one roll.
Other players may even set up a fund on your behalf by making a Resources roll: Their Obstacle is DOUBLE the number of dice in the fund, PLUS ONE, but the fund dice are added to your Resources for an unlimited number of rolls. (Trust fund fun!)
There are special rules if you want to build the equipment yourself in your lab, workshop, or factory.
SUCCESS & FAILURE
If you succeed, you now own whatever you wanted, forever. Your Resources score is unaffected: You were able to buy/lease/hire/bribe [whatever] out of ready cash without hurting your financial position. Your Resources score represents your income, assets, and wealthy relatives, not the coins in your pocket!
If you FAIL your Resources roll, your Resources are TAXED: You lose one, two, or more Resources dice depending on how hard the roll was (see pg. 361). Regaining these lost dice requires a financial windfall (e.g. loot) or months of honest work – good luck!
If other players Helped you with their own Resources, they are Taxed the same as you! (Players who set up Linked rolls, loans, or funds on your behalf doesn’t risk Tax).
On a failed Resources roll, you and the GM must decide:
(1) you just didn’t get the equipment you wanted, OR
(2) you got it after all, but you are Taxed worse, and it may not quite work right (the worse your failure, the more defects the GM can add to the equipment).
[cont.]