Dice rolls
Dice rolls settle actions whose outcome is genuinely uncertain. When that happens the Narrator calls for a check, and you roll a d20, add your modifier for the governing skill, and compare the total against a difficulty class.
Rolling is open information, and before you commit the roll card names the skill, the difficulty, every modifier on your side, and what each outcome means.
The roll
You roll one d20, add your modifier, and succeed by meeting or beating the difficulty class.
A natural 20 on the die is a critical success and a natural 1 is a critical failure, whatever your modifier. A critical success delivers more than a plain one, so an information check gives up something specific rather than atmosphere, and a tempering roll lands better than quoted. A critical failure is the opposite, and the Narrator makes it cost you something.
The die you throw is a 3D die you can reskin, and some skins repaint themselves to match the color of the skill being rolled. See Cosmetics for every dice skin and how to get them.
Your modifier
Four things add up into the number beside the die.
| Term | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Attribute modifier | The governing attribute for that skill. A score of 10 gives +0, and every 2 points above 10 give another +1 |
| Proficiency | A flat bonus on skills you are proficient in, growing with your character level |
| Skill mastery | A bonus earned by leveling the skill itself |
| Active effects | Buffs, debuffs, and declared feats that touch that skill, for good or ill |
Equipment and feats that raise a skill feed the same total, and the card breaks it out term by term so you can see where the number came from.
Difficulty
The Narrator sets a difficulty from the situation, never from what you ask for, and each tier covers a band of difficulty classes.
| Difficulty | DC | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Trivial | 1 to 4 | Jumping a puddle |
| Easy | 5 to 9 | Talking past a guard who already likes you |
| Medium | 10 to 14 | Picking a standard lock |
| Hard | 15 to 19 | Climbing an icy cliff face |
| Severe | 20 to 25 | Leaping a wide chasm, breaking a reinforced door |
| Extreme | 26 to 30 | Persuading a hostile king |
Most checks are Medium, and Extreme is rare and meant for characters who have earned it. The ladder tops out at 30, though an action that is all but impossible can still be set between 31 and 40 in rare cases. Praying at a shrine, studying a text, researching lore and reading someone's intent all resolve as skill checks and pay experience like any other roll. Tempering is the one place difficulty is pinned rather than judged, because tempering quotes a fixed DC per action and the number quoted is the number rolled.
Advantage and disadvantage
Advantage rolls two dice and keeps the higher, while disadvantage rolls two and keeps the lower. They cancel each other out, so a roll is never at both.
Advantage has to be earned in the story through an active buff, a companion helping, or the right workspace for the craft you are attempting. Claiming advantage without a reason behind it does nothing, so saying "for advantage" never changes your dice.
What rolling earns
Every check pays experience into the skill you rolled, whether it succeeds or not. Harder checks pay more, a critical success pays best, and a critical failure still pays a little. Experience is sized to the difficulty ladder, so a DC 30 check pays at the top of the scale. Skills level by being used on things that might not work, as described on Progression.
Combat is not resolved through skill checks, because attacks and damage use their own model, as described on Combat.