Rulebook

Summary: When a player character does something dangerous, uncertain, or contested, use the dice to find out how well it goes. You’ll roll the dice and add one of your attributes modifiers plus your proficiency bonus (if applicable) to get a final result, then use that result to figure out what happens next.

1. DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, AND HOW YOU DO IT
If the GM decides that it is risky or uncertain enough to warrant a roll, go to step 2. Otherwise, the GM will tell you what happens.

2. CHECK THE DIFFICULTY AND THE RELEVANT MODIFIERS
The GM will tell you the difficulty of your roll based on the following table:



This is called the Difficulty Class, or simply, the DC. The more difficult a task, the higher its DC. Sometimes, the GM can also increase or decrease the DC by 2 for a smaller bonus or complication.

If you put the DC as part of the reason in your roll (ex: Melee attack DC10), Gamersplane will automatically highlight the results.

The next part are the Dice Modifiers, or DM. Each task will be related to an attribute, that will give you a bonus or penalty to your test. It's usually obvious which attribute should be used, but when in doubt the GM has the final word.

Finally, a skill represents a specific aspect of an attribute score, and an individual’s proficiency in a skill demonstrates a focus on that aspect. If a character has a skill bonus, they add it as part of the DM. On the other hand, if a character has no level in a skill, then they are untrained and, with the GM's permission to roll the dice, will suffer a –4 Dice Modifier when trying to use that skill.

If a character has a zero level in a skill, then they are competent in using that skill, but has little experience. They don't get any bonus when using it but at least he avoids the penalty for being untrained.

3. ROLL THE DICE!
Roll 1D20 and add the relevant DMs, if any.

Subtract the DC and use the total result to determine how successful you are, according to the following table:


If you put the DC as part of the reason (see example below), Gamersplane will highlight your results automaticaly.

4. SITUATIONAL ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

Side note: To do that, you roll 2D20H1 + ModifiersWhenever you have a situational advantage, you can roll 2 dice instead of 1 and keep the highest, adding your modifiers as usual.

Some examples of situations that confer Advantage are:
- Assistance from another player with a relevant skill
- Attacking from surprise.
- Using a particularly good tool for the job at hand.

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Side note: To do that, you roll 2D20L1 + Modifiers.Disadvantages are also about rolling 2 dices and keeping only one, in much the same way as an Advantage. But with it, you must keep the lower.

Some examples of situations that confer Disadvantage are:

- Attempting to work in poor terrain, bad weather conditions or in the vacuum of space without training
- Not having a required and complex mental skill (ex: Doing a surgery without medical training. You really shouldn't risk that)
- Suffering from withdrawal
- If you’re drunk, concussed or mentally impaired

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The GM has the final word, on a case-by-case basis, whether any in game actions or effects will confer Advantage or Disadvantages.

Notes
The Game Master never rolls the dice.
The players are the central figures here. It revolves around their actions and the daring choices they make. When an NPC launches an attack against a player, it's the player who must make the roll, determining whether they can evade, retaliate, or pursue an alternative course of action. Should a player sustain damage, it typically results from their own dice roll, which might lead to a complication or a missed opportunity.

Only Roll When It’s Interesting.
Avoid rolling the dice when a character's action falls within their routine capabilities or when failure would yield no compelling outcomes. Similarly, refrain from rolling for tasks that are outright impossible. Instead, aim for situations where success is feasible but challenging, striking that delicate balance.

Nothing Never Happens.
Rolling the dice invariably alters the narrative. In the event of a successful roll, the player character achieves their objective, propelling the story forward. Conversely, a complication or failure on the roll leads to an escalation of the situation, injecting more drama and complexity into the storyline.

Effect
For most situations, the only thing that needs to be
determined is whether or not the character succeeds. Often, though, it is important to know how well the character did – or how bad. To do this, consider the remaining number after you subtracted the DC. This margin of success (if positive) or failure (if negative) is the Effect, which can be used in combat to calculate damage.

Multitasking
A character can do multiple things at once, like firing his blaster pistol at the same time as flying an air raft. But to do so, each task receives +5 to its DM.

Opposed checks
If a player character is opposing a relevant NPC (one who has attributes and skills) the DC is 10 + Attribute modifier + Relevant Skill Level. For instance, to shoot a NPC with Dexterity 16 (+3) and Reflex 2 is a DC15 check. Assuming this same NPC has Ranged weapons-0, a PC’s check to avoid being shot is Reflex DC13.

Player vs Player (PvP) checks
If a player character is opposing another player character, the GM chooses the results, based on their skills, narrative considerations and what is best for the adventure. No need to roll anything. The dice is not used in these, supposedly rare, situations.

A couple of rolls

COMBAT
We will resolve fights just like any other risky situation. When a player attacks an enemy who is prepared to defend themselves, they should almost always be rolling the dice to do it. When an enemy opens fire on a player, the player will likely be rolling the dice to avoid the attack or counter it somehow. There is no formal structure of turns or rounds. We will simply follow the action as it unfolds, shifting focus from character to character naturally and resolving their actions.

Some possible actions during combat are: Shoot, All-out attack, Full defense, Aim, Evaluate, Aid, Hinder, Supress, Heal, Insult, Parry, Wait, etc. Just tell the GM what you wanna do and he will give you a skill and a DC to roll against.

When a player takes damage, it will usually be because of a miss or a complication. Outside of a fight, a PC might take damage from other dangerous situations, like falling into a pool of acid blood, being in the vacuum of space without a suit, or being exposed to dangerous radiation.

When players damage NPC’s, they inflict damage as indicated by the type of weapon they are using (see the Gear thread), plus the Effect (see notes from the post above for an explanation). For example, if the PC got an 18 in a DC15 roll using a heavy blaster, they do 3D8+3 damage.

Enemies and hazards inflict damage against PC’s in a similar way, as determined by the GM, and based on the Effect from the PC's Reflex (if dodging), Melee (if parrying), Ranged weapons (if exposed while shooting), etc.

HEALTH
Health is a measure of how much damage a character can take before they are in serious trouble. Both PC’s and NPC’s have a health score.

When an NPC reaches 0 health, they are out of action. Either dead, seriously wounded, or unconscious, depending on the fictional circumstances and the desires of the attacker.

When a PC reaches 0 health, they are in serious trouble. They roll using Strength + Resilience DC15 with the results below:

Success (0+): They are down for now, but with rest and care, will make a full recovery.

Succeed with a cost (-5 to -1): They are down for now, and they will live. But the player must choose some consequence. For example, the steadiness in their hands is forever gone due to trauma, their legs must be amputated or their left eye is blind. This may or may not have an immediate mechanical effect, but might make life difficult or create Disadvantages in certain situations in the future.

Failure (-6 or less): The PC is doomed. They might not die right away, and they might get a chance to do one last thing before they go, but they will not live to the end of the scene.

HEALING
There are 3 ways to recover health:

- First Aid: If you have a few quiet minutes and a medkit, you can try to heal another character by rolling Medicine + Wits. The DC will depend upon the severity of the injury and if you need to do a field surgery or just apply a spray. If successful, you heal the Effect. Otherwise, the GM will tell you a consequence or complication. You can try this only once per injury.

- Medical Care: If you have access to specialized medical care - including adequate facilities - you can cure almost any disease and heal any injury in our setting. As long as the patient is alive, they may not only survive, but emerge without a scratch. Roll 1D6 every day of medical care. On a six, you recover all your Health and receives hospital discharge. If you healed naturally, you are also discharged. Either way, it costs 5,000 credits per day, plus any prosthetics, cybernetic limbs or organ regeneration bills.

- Resting: If a character has received first aid, is stable and gets the equivalent of a good night’s sleep, they recover 1D6 Health. This is in addition to any First Aids or Medical Care received.

COMPLEX INVESTIGATIONS
Typically, investigations involve 1 or 2 rolls and collaborative scene play. However, for particularly intricate or time-consuming situations, a mechanic streamlines legwork, sparing us from delving into the often tedious details of gathering and providing information.

During major investigations, we'll follow a four-step process:

1. Specify the questions for the investigation, distinguishing between yes/no queries and open-ended questions, which are more challenging and require more clues.

2. The Game Master (GM) identifies the necessary skills, sets the Difficulty Class (DC), determines roll durations (number of hours/days passing after each roll), and assigns the number of Clues needed for each question.

3. Players roll, describing their skill utilization. The number of Clues achieved is calculated by Effect +1, if successful. If you fail the roll, the GM will tell you a complication or increase the DC for the next rolls. Either way, based on previous accumulated Clues, if any, and the roll results, players choose which questions to answer.

4. The GM shares answers or a report with relevant information. If a question is too broad or specific, requiring prerequisite answers, the GM provides those questions instead, spending clues as usual.