Mechanics

Determining the Ability and Attribute:

The Storyguide decides what Attribute/Ability pair is most relevant to the task
If a character doesn't have a score for one of the expected traits, trace up or down the tree to find a trait that is defined for that character
- you must justify the appropriateness of any descendent trait
- any ancestor of the requested trait is automatically assumed to be appropriate
a supporting Ability is not the expected ability, an ancestor, or an appropriate descendent, but somehow applies to the task at hand

Calculating the Dice Pool:

you start with 1 Add Die
every point of the relevant Ability adds an Add Die to your Dice Pool
every point of the relevant Attribute adds a Modifier Die to your Dice Pool
- negative Attributes add Penalty Dice
- positive Attributes add Bonus Dice
optionally, every point of a supporting Ability adds a Bonus Die to your Dice Pool
Add Dice may be converted to Modifier Dice (presumably Bonus Dice) on a one-for-one basis

Picking the Dice:

the base die is a d8
you may substitute different dice in order to improve your odds in one way or another
- substituting (d10-1) or (d12-2) increases the odds of rolling very high, and increases the maximum by (Add Dice) or 2x(Add Dice), respectively. either also noticably increases the chance of a botch
- substituting (d6+1) or (d4+2) eliminates the chance of botching, but at the cost of chopping off the top of your results; the maximum is decreased by (Add Dice) or 2x(Add Dice), respectively. Also, the minimum is increased by the same amount, so making one of these substitutions may guarantee success on a very easy task.
you have to use the same die type for your entire Dice Pool

Rolling the dice:

every roll has a Dice Pool
there are two kinds of dice in your Dice Pool
- Add Dice are used for finding your total
- Modifier Dice (Bonus and Penalty Dice) only alter your odds, and arenšt added into the final total
- if you have both Bonus Dice and Penalty Dice, they cancel each other on a one-for-one basis
you always roll your entire Dice Pool (Add Dice + non-cancelled Modifier Dice), but you only use some of the dice to find your final total
- if you have Bonus Dice in your pool, discard that many dice, starting with the lowest ones
- if you have Penalty Dice in your pool, discard that many dice, starting with the highest ones
- this should leave you with as many dice as you had Add Dice to total
your final total is found by totaling the values on all the Add Dice
if your final total is greater than or equal to the Difficulty for the task, you succeed
for some tasks, a Degree of Success is required
- for every 5 points you exceed the difficulty, the success level goes up one
- for every 5 points you fall short of the difficulty, the failure level goes up one

when the Degree of Success is used to modify an Effect Level, it may be applied positively or negatively at the playeršs discretion

if all of your Add Dice come up 1šs, it is a Botch, and you do not succeed, even if the total exceeds the Difficulty

Not Rolling the Dice:

Automatic Success
- some tasks are automatic, and do not require a roll
Automatic Failure
- on some tasks, there is no chance of success, and no roll can be made
Dice Phobes
- at the playeršs option, any roll may be foregone and the result considered to be (5x(Add Dice) + Bonus Dice - Penalty Dice), from which Degree of Success, etc., is calculated normally
- note that this does not give the average roll for that Dice Pool, but is a simplification that weights Add Dice more and Modifier Dice less than an actual roll would
NPC actions
- NPCs that are minor or that are performing unimportant actions that donšt directly involve the PCs shouldnšt roll; instead, use the dice phobes rule
- for directly opposed actions, the dice phobes total becomes the Difficulty for the PC

Working Together:

Simple Addition: for tasks that the characters can contribute to fully (such as lifting a large object)
- total the Dice Pools, Modifier Dice, and Add Dice
- cancel Bonus and Penalty Dice normally
- roll normally
Combining Dice: for tasks where the characters can contribute, but not perfectly (such as a non-expert helping narrow down which books the expert should look in for an answer)
- total the Dice Pools
- use the highest individual Add Dice number as the new Add Dice total
- all dice that are not accounted for by members' Modifier Dice or the new Add Dice total are considered Bonus Dice, canceling any remaining Penalty Dice normally
- roll normally
Either/Or: for tasks where only one (or some) of the characters could possibly succeed, and which one is unknown/random (such as two people searching a group of bodies, only one of which has the clue they need)
- the Storyguide determines who has a chance of success (usually through a random roll)
- each character rolls normally, against the same Difficulty
- characters who have no chance of success fail, regardless of result
- the character with a chance of success determines success normally
Worst Roller: for tasks where "too many cooks spoil the broth" (such as two people both trying to fasttalk the same guards, without first making sure their stories agree)
- total the Dice Pools
- use the highest individual Add Dice number as the new Add Dice total
- all dice that are not accounted for by characters' Modifier Dice or the new Add Dice total are considered Penalty Dice, canceling any remaining Bonus Dice normally
- roll normally

Working Against:

When two characters work in direct opposition (parrying a sword)

each character rolls normally
there is no Difficulty
the character with the higher total triumphs

the degree of success is calculated by treating the lower roll as the Difficulty

When two characters work in indirect opposition (a race)

each character rolls normally
both characters use the same Difficulty
if only one roll succeeds, that character triumphs
if both rolls succeed, whichever character has the higher degree of success triumphs

Detailed Resolution:

For some actions, it may be necessary to determine success in a time-dependent manner (combat, defusing a bomb, hacking into a computer). In these cases, detailed resolution should be used
for purposes of this system, actions are resolved in terms of phases
- a phase is considered to be quite short-about a second-just long enough to accomplish one simple task
- many actions (anything more complicated or time-consuming than logging into a computer or aiming and firing a pistol) will take multiple phases to complete
every action has a base phase cost
- the number of phases it actually takes to complete a task is found by subtracting the character's Reaction Time, Speed, or Wits (as applicable) from the base phase cost for the task
- if a character chooses to switch actions in the middle of an action, there is an abort cost of 2 phases before the new action can be attempted

Multiple Actions:

you can attempt to do multiple actions at once, as follows
- during detailed resolution, the time it takes to perform multiple actions equals the phase cost for the slowest of the actions, plus the number of actions being attempted simultaneously
- during regular resolution, it takes at least as long as the longest action, plus half the regular time for all the other actions

Complex Actions:

Some actions not only take a long time, but have many steps along the way. For these actions, several rolls are used to determine success.
Complex actions are appropriate any time that
- there are many steps or stages to an action
- neither minor failure nor minor success would complete the action, though they would make it harder/easier
for a complex action, the SG sets a difficulty as usual, but also sets a Degree of Success required and a roll frequency
- the player rolls normally, but the only result generated is the Degree of Success/Degree of Failure
- the roll is repeated as often as the SG has deemed is appropriate, until the total Degree of Success (found by adding the Degree of Success of each roll and subtracting the Degree of Failure of any failed rolls) equals or exceeds the required Degree of Success for the task.
Example: to fix a car, the SG might decide that the difficulty is 20 (an easy task for a skill of 3 or more), but that 35 successes are required, and one roll can be made every hour.

Time Factor:

It is sometimes necessary to hurry a task, and complete it in less than the usual time. Likewise, sometimes you have more time, and it is advantageous to take the extra time to do it better.
During Detailed Resolution
- each phase quicker that you perform an action subtracts one Add Die
- each extra phase you take on an action adds one Bonus Die
During regular resolution
- each halving of the time taken on an action subtracts one Add Die
- doubling the time taken for an action adds one Add die
- each additional doubling of the time taken for an action adds one Bonus Die

Armor:

armor has two affects, depending on the type of armor
- all armor subtracts from the Degree of Success of an attack that it can affect
- some armor converts certain types of damage from Lethal to Nonlethal
an attack that succeeds before armor is considered but fails afterwards is assumed to have been stopped by the armor, and the armor suffers any effects which may mean the character is still in danger, depending on the nature of the attack

Trauma:

physical trauma results from any kind of physical damage, such as guns, vacuum, or falling
mental trauma results from any kind of mental damage, such as torture, psychic attack, or extreme fatigue
each type of trauma is measured in terms of Wounds.

Mental Wounds impair mental activity
Physical Wounds impair physical activity
the Physical Threshold or Mental Threshold of the victim is subtracted from the Degree of Success of the attack before determining the Wound
extreme Wounds will also impair the other sort of activity (the figure in parentheses indicates this)
all Wound penalties are cumulative

physical attacks do different types of damage, depending on type

in addition to the Physical Threshold, the Degree of Success for the attack roll is modified by the Muscle Power of the attacker (for physically powered weapons) and weapon damage modifier (added), and the Toughness of the defender (subtracted), to achieve the final Degree of Success for damage purposes
Lethal Damage: done by most guns, piercing, slashing, and chopping weapons and some crushing weapons

the final Degree of Success is compared on the Wound chart to determine the type of Physical Wound

Nonlethal Damage: done by most unarmed attacks, some energy weapons, and some crushing weapons

the final Degree of Success is split evenly between Physical and Mental Wounds (to represent fatigue and general pain), with the extra point (if any) being Physical

Healing:

There are two healing rates, one for Physical Wounds, and one for Mental Wounds
Healing times given are per wound, and for a 0 governing attribute
- the governing attri bute for Physical Wounds is Immune System
- the governing attribute for Mental Wounds is Stamina
- for positive governing attributes, divide the healing time by the attribute; for negative governing attributes, multiply the healing time by the absolute value of the attribute
The Healing times given assume that the character is getting enough rest and has at least stabilized the wounds. Medical attention can greatly improve these times. on the other hand, constant activity can easily move the wound up a step on the chart for purposes of healing time, or even prevent healing while the character is active (SGšs discretion).

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