Here are detailed examples on when and how to use +roll.
If it's just you rolling:
This is an 'unopposed' roll. All you do is roll the appropriate stat for whatever action your character is attempting. For example:
- To pick up something heavy, +roll str
- To be sneaky, quiet, or agile, +roll dex
- To notice something out of the ordinary, +roll per
- To resist an impulse, +roll wil
- To cast a basic, usually single-glyph spell, +roll int
- To cast a complex, intricate, and/or difficult spell, +roll wil
And so on. Pick whichever stat or skill seems to best suit the situation and roll it (don't forget to include any modifiers!).
Unopposed rolls are OPTIONAL in most cases; if it's reasonable for a character to succeed at something, then you can skip the roll and pose success if you so desire. If you want them to fail for the sake of drama, similarly skip the roll and just pose their failure. If you would rather leave the outcome up to chance, then roll.
If you score less than 0, the character fails at whatever you were attempting. The lower the score, the more abysmal the failure.
If you score more than 0, the attempt succeeds. The higher the score, the more profound the degree of success.
A roll of exactly 0 can go either way; it could be a near miss or a skin-of-the-teeth success at your discretion.
Nimue took a trip out of the city to collect a few herbs that she can't make grow right in the tainted ground at Maratha. She managed to forget her striker, so she has to cast a spell to get a fire started. Because this is simple, as spells go (the only glyph she has to use is Fire), her player rolls Intelligence to determine how her attempt goes.
>> Nimue rolls Intelligence for a value of ...
- -1 means she might get a spark, but it sputters and goes out. (Did you remember to use dry tinder, Nimue?)
- -2 means she doesn't get any response at all. Spell failed. Utterly.
- -3 might mean the tinder goes up in a whoosh that probably singes her eyebrows.
Anything lower is a lot like a -3 in practice, unless you can come up with some ingenious method by which to make it worse.
Nimue really needs that campfire, so she gives the spell another go.
>> Nimue rolls Intelligence for a value of ...
- 1 means the tinder catches; the flame's survival might be a little questionable at first, but it hangs in there and has the makings of a nice campfire.
- 2 means she does very well. Might even start burning wood right off.
- 3 is either a resounding success, or too much of a success. Maybe her fire's hot enough to singe the rocks underneath. Or it goes through the tinder too quickly to make a campfire.
Any higher roll is an accordingly greater success.
If Nimue's attempt at firestarting received only a 0 on her roll, this could either be a bare success (slightly worse than a 1) or a minor failure (just better than a -1). Which way it goes is at player's discretion.
If you're not the only actor on stage:
This is an 'opposed' roll. These always show up in combat, and may also apply when someone's trying to sneak past you.
Usually, the sequence of events follows this pattern:
- One person poses an action.
- This may be: an attack, a spell, an attempt to be sneaky, etc.
- That person rolls the appropriate stat for their action.
- e.g. Melee (attack), Intelligence (spell), Dexterity (sneaking), etc.
- The other person rolls a countering stat.
- e.g. Dexterity (dodging), Melee (to parry or counter), Perception (to see them coming), etc.
- Roll values are compared to see who won.
- If person 1's roll is greater than person 2's, their attempt succeeded.
- If person 2's roll is greater than person 1's, their defense/perception/etc. succeeded.
- Ties go to the defender (usually person 2).
- Person 2 writes their pose accordingly.
Examples of scenarios and roll pairings are given below.
The attacker rolls whatever stat goes with their action. For example:
- Swords, axes, daggers, staves, and anything else you hold -> +roll melee
- Thrown knives, bows, and crossbows -> +roll ranged
- Bare hands might be:
- +roll str (if you're just swinging as hard as you can)
- +roll unarmed (if there's a method to your madness, or you're trained in fistfighting)
The defender decides whether they want to try and dodge, parry, or just take the hit.
- To dodge: +roll dex
- To parry or block: roll the appropriate stat for whatever you're parrying with, as in the above section
- e.g. to block with a sword, +roll melee
- When taking the hit (not dodging or blocking), you can either:
- consider the attacking roll to do as much damage as its value
- consider the attacking roll to do as much damage as its difference from your Constitution stat
- Gamble, +roll con, and take the difference as damage
( See Outcomes and Damage for how different outcomes play out ICly. )
This covers not only a magical duel, but whenever someone is using magic on another person, be the target mage or nonmage.
The person using the magic rolls the appropriate stat for their spell. For example:
- To use fire, a simple spell, +roll int
- Lightning is simple enough: +roll int
- Trying to slow down your opponent isn't so simple: +roll wil
- Digging around in someone's mind isn't easy, either: +roll will
What the defender rolls depends on the spell that was used.
- A spell with physical effects (e.g. Fire, Lightning) can be treated just like a physical attack.
- to dodge, +roll dex
- to take the hit, +roll con
The difference is, unless you're a mage also, you cannot block or deflect the spell by magic / in kind.
(Attempting to do so works like casting any other spell: simple glyphs are +roll int, complex spells are +roll wil.)
- If the spell has physical effects but cannot be dodged/deflected, +roll con
- (e.g. poison or another "status effect")
- If the spell is mental or otherwise has intangible effects, +roll wil to try and resist it.
( See Outcomes and Damage for how different outcomes play out ICly. )
There are a few non-combat cases in which opposed rolls might be useful.
Sneaking
If you're trying to sneak up on (or away from) someone…
- the sneaker uses +roll dex
- the other person uses +roll per
Influence / Intimidation
If you're trying to sway someone to your point of view, or instill fear into them…
- the person trying to convince uses +roll cha
- the person subjected to their charisma uses +roll wil
The same guidelines apply for success/failure in these as for all opposed rolls. See Outcomes and Damage.
Applying modifiers:
Modifiers help tailor rolls to specific IC circumstances. This could be where a character isn't functioning at their normal level of ability (e.g. when seriously wounded, prone on the floor, etc.), or in a circumstance where a gift/flaw comes into play.
If your modifier comes from a gift or flaw, other players may want to know about this trait you have. To show them, use +prove <trait>.
- e.g. +prove Sword Skill might show: Isha has the gift Sword Skill: Melee+1 when using a sword.
NOTE: The +roll program only accepts one modifier in any given roll. So, if you're in a situation where two might apply (e.g. a +1 from a gift, but also a -2 due to injury), take the sum of those modifiers and use it in the +roll command —> +roll <stat> -1, in this example.
Examples of situations that commonly call for modifiers include:
- doing something with your off hand, as opposed to your dominant hand (-1 to the action)
- injuries (usually -1 to any affected actions, but may go to -2 if they're serious)
- prone and awkward positions, or otherwise impaired movement (again, -1 to actions; -2 if it seriously gets in the way)
- trying to see something behind you (-2 to perception)
Gifts reflect a character's specializations and skills. A mercenary, for example, is not equally skilled in using all melee weapons; he may have a lifetime's experience with a sword but only know in theory how to swing a battleaxe.
Stats reflect general ability. Because this mercenary has combat experience and basic training in a number of melee weapons, he probably has his Melee skill at 1.
Gift modifiers are added on top of this generic capability, and can be as specific or general as they need to be to suit the character's skills:
- Since he's really good with swords, he might have a gift like "Sword Skill". The description of this gift is "+2 to Melee when using swords".
- Maybe he also spent time with the infantry and learned how to use a spear, but he's not as good with it as swords, and so his "Spear Skill" is only "+1 to Melee when using a spear".
There is no limit to the number of gifts you can create for your character, but the admin will scrutinize them critically when reviewing your appplication.
Of course, don't put gifts in for things that you won't be rolling; no matter how good an artist your character is, there's no stat or skill for that ability, and thus, no need to add a gift. Those just get mentioned in the abilities section of your pinfo.
Flaws are the opposite of gifts: they reflect a character's weaknesses and shortcomings. A mercenary, for example, might be really good with melee weapons, but have no experience (and no aptitude for) things like bows and throwing knives.
Since he has no experience, his base value for Ranged is probably 0 (but might be -1). Let's say he's average with anything but a bow. Since that means he's 'average' with most ranged weapons, then he really should have a skill of 0.
- Since he's not average with a bow, the mercenary might have a flaw of "Bad Bowmanship, reading "Range-1 when using any variant of an archer's bow".
Flaws could come from poor vision or other senses, lack of skill/training/experience in an area, or anything else that might possibly apply to situations where +roll is used. If it doesn't apply to +roll, it just gets mention in the paragraph(s) about your character's skills and abilities.
There is no limit on the number of flaws you can put on your +sheet. Just remember staff are going to be checking to make sure they're consistent with your character's background and stated skills.
Using +roll:
Most players will only need the following commands:
| +roll <stat> | Returns a random number, which is influenced by your <stat> value. | +roll str |
| +roll <skill> | Returns a random number, which is influenced by your <skill> value. | +roll melee |
| +roll <stat> <mod> | Returns a random number affected by both base value and the given modifier. | +roll con +2 +roll dex -1 |
Don't forget that modifiers are NEVER included in a roll automatically! You have to supply them every single time!
When you're using modifiers in the course of a scene, you might get asked why you're applying a particular one — especially if it lets you utterly trounce whoever made the opposing roll. (Or if, in the case of a flaw, it makes you fail spectacularly.) Thus, another useful command is:
| +prove <name> +show <name> |
Prints out a gift or flaw and its description, for the room to see. |
There are also commands which allow you to roll for spoofed NPCs. The difference here is, you have to supply the NPC's base value; transient, spoofed characters don't have a +sheet for the program to reference.
| +npcroll <stat> <base> | Roll <stat> for an NPC, with the given <base>. If no base value is given, the program assumes 0. |
+npcroll str 1 |
| +npcroll <stat> <base> <mod> | Same as above, but with an additional modifier. Both base and modifier must be provided. |
+npcroll melee 0 -1 |
NPCs may be named, to better keep track of which NPC is rolling what in a scene with several of them:
| +npcroll <name>=<stat> <base> | Roll a stat for a named NPC. | +npcroll Kiriel=str 1 |
| +npcroll <name>=<stat> <base> <mod> | Roll stat and modifier for a named NPC. | +npcroll Kiriel=melee 0 -1 |
See Outcomes and Damage for additional information.
