Core mechanics
Stat Checks
Whenever your character is in danger, or attempts something risky, you roll a stat check. Roll d20 under or equal to one of your stats, chosen by the Referee. The Referee narrates how it goes, but they can always ask for your input. Critical rolls (1s on the die) and fumbles (natural 20s) double the effect or bring a consequence or side effect into play.
Advantage & Disadvantage
To reflect difficulty, situation and other external factors, the Referee will sometimes give advantage or disadvantage to a check. For either of these, roll two dice instead of one
- If you have disadvantage, keep the worst result.
- If you have advantage, keep the best result.
Best and worst above can mean either high or low, depending on the kind of die you're rolling. If for some reason you have both advantage and disadvantage at the same time, roll one die as if it were a normal check.
Free advantage! Once per session, if a player can describe a place, an NPC, or setting element that would explain why they have a better chance of doing something, they can roll with advantage on any check. As the Referee, take a note: it’s your job to exploit what was made up to enliven the next sessions.
Risk dice
A Risk Die is a d12, d10, d8, d6, or d4. It represents a threat or dwindling resource. To identify Risk Dice, I'm replacing the letter d in the usual abbreviation with the Greek letter Delta: Δ. So we have Δ4, Δ6, Δ8, and so on. Sometimes Risk Dice are rolled on a table, or to get a result (such as with armour), other times just to know how close to a certain event the characters are. On a result of 1-3 the die is stepped down (meaning it drops by one type: Δ12 becomes Δ10, Δ10 becomes Δ8, etc.). If a Risk Die is stepped down below Δ4, it fizzles. The die is gone. That's when the crap hits the blade barrier; specific rules will tell you what happens then.
Risk Dice. Usually a 1-3 means an escalation of the risk, and the maximum number is a lucky break. You can assume a 3 is better than a 2, which is not as bad as a 1. Keep this in mind when you need to interpret the result for a Δ you just made up, or if you don't have the right table handy