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--- basic_systems [2014/03/12 10:11]
storyteller [Difficulty and Difficult Actions]
+++ basic_systems [2014/03/15 20:18]
storyteller [Rolling Dice and Dice Pools]
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ===== Rolling Dice and Dice Pools =====
+You roll dice whenever the outcome of an action is in doubt or the Storyteller thinks there’s a chance your character might fail. Your character’s strengths and weaknesses affect the number of dice you roll, and thus directly affect your chances of success. While the dice are present to give a sense of chance or destiny to a situation that calls for a roll, they do so objectively for everyone, so that every player has a fair shake to succeed at her character’s actions, or to fail interestingly.
+That last bit is important. If the potential for failure isn’t interesting, the Storyteller should question whether a roll is even necessary. Calling for a roll slows down the pace of the game session. Moderating the pace of the story can be one of the Storyteller’s best techniques, but Storytellers shouldn’t toss a dice roll into the proceedings just to alter the tempo. If a roll of the dice doesn’t create multiple possible interesting outcomes, there’s not much benefit in calling for one.
 When your character takes a dice action, you roll one die for every dot in the Traits most suited to that task. The Storyteller decides which are the best Traits simply by choosing the Ability that best covers the action being attempted.
 Attributes (innate capabilities) and Abilities (things you know and have learned) have individual ratings, but are added together to determine the Dice Pool.  If your character has a 3 [[mental_attributes|Perception]] and you put two dots in [[alertness|Alertness]], your Alertness Dice Pool is 5.  Whenever your character performs an Alertness-related action, you roll five dice.
+If your dice pool involves a Trait whose maximum rating is 10 (such as Humanity, Path, or Willpower), you usually can’t add any other Traits to your dice pool.
+It’s effectively impossible for a normal human being to have more than 10 dice in a dice pool.
 ===== Default Traits =====
 On occasion your character may not have a rating in an Ability that the Storyteller designates. If so, you default to the Attribute on which the Ability is based. So if the Storyteller calls for a Perception+Alertness roll, but you put no points in that Ability, you simply use your character's rating in Perception. This system reflects the idea that someone who improves upon her natural capability through training will generally perform better than someone who tries to get by purely on raw talent.
@@ Line 60: / Line 68: @@
 ===== Automatic Successes =====
-Your character may be so skilled in a certain task that you need not roll for it. At the Storyteller's discretion, your character has an automatic success if her Dice Pool for an action is at least equal to the Target Number of 7. So if you have eight dice or more, your character succeeds automatically — you don't even need to roll. Still, it's merely a standard success; you might want to roll anyway to achieve extra successes.
+Your character may be so skilled in a certain task that you need not roll for it. At the Storyteller's discretion, your character has an automatic success if her Dice Pool for an action is at least equal to the Difficulty. So if the difficulty is 8 and you have eight dice or more, your character can succeed automatically — you don't even need to roll. Still, it's merely a standard success; you might want to roll anyway to achieve extra successes.
 You may also spend a [[Willpower]] point to earn an automatic success. This "free" success is in addition to any successes gained by rolling dice. You won't want to do this too often. While Willpower points are easy to spend, they're not easy to earn. Only one Willpower point may be spent per turn to gain a free success.

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