Chapter 4: The Duelist's Sum

“It’s a game of choices. The dice tell you what fate handed you. Everything else — the aim you took, the iron you carry, the ground you’re standing on — that’s what you bring to the table.” — Sheriff Crowe of Rustwater

Every meaningful action — pulling a trigger, picking a lock, convincing a stranger, channeling the Current — is resolved through the same fundamental process. Master this chapter, and you understand the skeleton on which the entire game hangs.

The Core Mechanic

Resolution follows five steps:

1. Build the Pool — Determine how many dice you roll.
2. Determine the Target Number — Establish what you need to achieve.
3. Roll and Sum — Roll your dice and add the two highest.
4. Apply Roll Modifiers — Add your bonuses, subtract your penalties.
5. Compare to TN — Determine success, failure, Critical, or Fumble.

The whole game runs on this loop. Combat, social, exploration, psionic — same five steps every time.

Step 1: Build the Pool

Your dice pool is your raw capability — natural talent plus trained skill. It is measured in d8s (eight-sided dice).

Base Pool = Attribute Rank + Skill Rank.

Caleb has QUICK 3 and Ballistics 3. When he fires his revolver, his Base Pool is 6 dice.

Unskilled Checks (Rank 0)

If your Skill Rank is 0, you roll with Disadvantage:

1. Roll your Attribute in dice, plus one extra die.
2. Discard the single highest die.
3. Sum the two highest of the remaining (minimum 2 dice).

If discarding would leave fewer than 2 dice, keep 2 instead. Even the least capable character has a chance — however slim — at success.

Caleb has SAVVY 2 but no Medicine skill. He rolls 3 dice, discards the highest, sums the best two. If he rolls [3, 5, 7], he discards the 7 and sums 3 + 5 = 8.

Pool Modifiers

Certain conditions add or subtract dice from your pool. Pool Penalties are capped at −5; minimum pool is always 1 die. Pool Bonuses are uncapped but rare outside of Bleed Dice and Assistance.

The full list lives in the core-roll-modifiers reference table. The most common penalties are Wounded (−1 die per threshold), Suppressed (−2 dice), Off-hand (−2 dice), and Engaged for ranged attacks (−2 dice). The most common bonuses are Assistance (+1 per helper, max +2) and Bleed Dice (+1 to +3, see below).

Psionic Talents can grant Pool Bonuses that exceed normal training — Seer’s Probability Spike, Bastion Soul’s Aegis. This is part of the cost/power exchange: Psionics pay in Strain and soul to grant capability mundane characters can’t match.

Step 2: Determine the Target Number

The Target Number (TN) represents the difficulty of what you’re attempting. Base TN = Difficulty Rating or Defense Value.

For tasks without active opposition, the GM sets a Difficulty Rating from the ladder (see tn-difficulty-ladder). For attacks and contested actions, the TN is typically the target’s Defense Value plus situational modifiers.

The Difficulty Ladder in short:

• TN 5 (Trivial) — Don’t bother rolling.
• TN 7 (Easy) — Routine work, ample time.
• TN 9 (Routine) — Mild stress.
• TN 11 (Moderate) — Trained characters succeed more often than not.
• TN 13 (Standard) — The default for combat and dramatic action.
• TN 15 (Hard) — Even skilled characters may fail.
• TN 17+ (Legendary) — Impossible without significant Roll Bonuses.

Set TN 13 by default. Players who consistently see TN 11 get bored; players who consistently see TN 15 get tired.

TN Modifiers

External circumstances adjust TN — cover, range, target state, positioning. Full table in core-roll-modifiers. Key examples: Light Cover +2, Hard Cover +4, Flanking −2, Higher Ground −1, Far Range +2 (pistol), Point-Blank −2 (pistol/shotgun).

TN floor: 5. TN ceiling: uncapped — but at TN 17+, raw dice cannot succeed (max sum of two d8s is 16). Roll Modifiers, Bleed Dice, or Specializations become mandatory.

Step 3: Roll and Sum

Roll all your pool dice simultaneously. Select the two highest. Add them. This is your Base Sum.

With d8s, the possible Base Sum range is 2 (snake eyes) to 16 (double eights). The two-highest system creates a bell curve that rewards larger pools while maintaining meaningful variance.

This is the math behind the feel: a 6-dice pool succeeds against Standard difficulty (TN 13) about 73% of the time. Add a +2 Roll Bonus from preparation and that jumps to ~90%. The system rewards investment and preparation; it does not let you trivially overcome difficulty without them.

Step 4: Apply Roll Modifiers

After rolling, apply Roll Modifiers to your Base Sum. Final Sum = Base Sum + Roll Bonuses − Roll Penalties.

Roll Modifiers represent factors you brought to the moment — preparation, equipment quality, expertise. They are capped at ±10 each direction.

The most common Roll Bonuses:

• Aim (banked): +2 / +3 / +4 for 1 / 2 / 3+ actions of aiming. Lost if you move or take damage before firing.
• Equipment Quality: Superior +1, Masterwork +2 (Masterwork replaces Superior; does not stack).
• Specialization: +1 when your declared Specialization applies.
• Signature Weapon: +1 (via the Signature Weapon talent).

The most common Roll Penalties:

• Visibility: Dim Light −1, Darkness −2, Pitch Black −4, Obscured −2.
• Rushed: −2.
• Difficult Terrain: −1.

Like modifiers don’t stack (two Superior weapons don’t give +2). Unlike modifiers stack (Aim +2 + Masterwork +2 + Specialization +1 = +5).

Step 5: Compare and Resolve

Compare your Final Sum to the TN.

Margin and Steps

How well you succeeded matters. For every full 3 points of positive Margin (Final Sum − TN), you gain +1 Step.

Steps apply differently in different contexts: +1 damage in combat, +1 to leverage / duration / information depth in social and exploration, +1 to duration / area / intensity for Psionic Talents (each Talent specifies how).

A Margin-12 hit is the kind of thing they tell stories about. The system rewards investment with proportional effect.

Critical Success

A Critical occurs when both kept dice are natural 8s (regardless of Sum). Independently, a Margin of +9 or better is also treated as Critical-worthy effect — see margin Steps.

A Critical grants one of:

• +1 Step on top of normal Margin Steps.
• Vital Strike: +1 damage.
• Adrenaline Surge: +1 Mettle recovered.
• Trigger a Weapon Quality (Bleed, Stun, Knockdown, etc.) that’s normally optional.
• Narrative advantage at the GM’s discretion.

Fumble

A Fumble occurs at Margin −6 or worse, OR when the majority of your dice show 1s (regardless of Sum). The action fails, and the GM describes an additional setback:

• Weapon jams; clear with an action.
• Ally is endangered; you create an opening.
• Equipment damaged; needs Downtime repair.
• For Psionic Channeling: Fumble Backlash — discipline-flavored catastrophe (see the Backlash keyword).

Every Fumble also adds +1 die to the Tension Pool. Failure invites misfortune.

Bleed Dice: The Chamber

Sometimes the dice aren’t enough. The shot has to land. The lock has to open. The lie has to convince.

Bleed Dice are how you reach beyond your training and pull more from the Current — and they come with a price.

Adding Bleed Dice

Before you roll, you may add 1, 2, or 3 Bleed Dice to your pool. They are added to your normal pool dice; you still select the two highest of all dice rolled.

Bleed Dice are physically distinct from your normal dice (different color, different size). This matters because only Bleed Dice can cause Backlash.

Backlash

Count the 1s rolled on Bleed Dice only. The result triggers escalating consequence:

The probabilities are real but manageable: with 3 Bleed Dice, the chance of at least one 1 is ~33%, two 1s is ~4.4%, three 1s is under 0.2%. You will trigger The Flicker. You will rarely trigger The Tear. You will almost never trigger The Breach.

But “almost never” includes the night you needed it most.

When to Use Bleed Dice

Add Bleed Dice when the cost of failure is greater than the cost of Backlash. A Strain is cheap when the alternative is dying. An Erosion is expensive — but a Memory is cheaper than a campaign ending.

Don’t add Bleed Dice when:

• The math doesn’t help. If you need Sum 22 and your max is 16, adding dice can’t get you there. You need Roll Modifiers or another approach.
• The stakes are low. Don’t risk your soul for routine work.

Mettle: The Reaction Currency

Mettle represents your reserves of focus, grit, and desperate will — the energy you call upon in crisis to push beyond normal limits or react to sudden threats.

Mettle Pool = (SAVVY + GRIT) ÷ 2, rounded up.

SAVVY contributes your situational awareness; GRIT contributes your stubborn endurance. Together they determine how many times per scene you can dig deep.

Mettle Refresh

• Start of Session: Full refresh.
• The Ember: +2 Mettle when you Spark a Memory this way.
• Camp (Long Rest): +1 if you eat and sleep.
• Critical Success: May regain 1 Mettle.
• No refresh if you are Fatigued or Depleted (Strain at half Cap or higher).

Spending Mettle

Reaction Limit: Only one Reaction (Dive, Dodge, Parry, Intercept) between your turns. Steel, Push, and Desperation are not Reactions and can be used freely within your Mettle budget.

The Desperation Die

When you activate Desperation, any die that rolls its maximum (8) explodes — roll it again, add the new result, chain on further 8s. A single die could theoretically produce 8 + 8 + 8 + 5 = 29.

But: if an exploding die’s reroll shows a 1, it becomes a Cursed Die, treated as a Bleed Die for Backlash purposes. Count Cursed Dice 1s together with Bleed Dice 1s.

Desperation can cause Backlash even without using Bleed Dice. The Current responds to anyone reaching beyond their limits, and larger pools create more opportunities for catastrophe.

With a 6-dice pool, the chance of at least one explosion is ~53%. The chance of at least one Cursed Die per roll with Desperation active is ~6.6%. The risk is real but manageable — until you get greedy.

Opposed Rolls

When two characters directly contest each other — grappling, racing, debating, staring down — both roll their relevant pools against TN 11 (typical; circumstances modify), apply Roll Modifiers, and the highest Final Sum wins. Ties go to the active party (the one who initiated the contest); if still tied, both efforts result in stalemate.

This is the resolution loop for Grapple, Psionic Duels, persuasion contests, and any situation where two living wills are pulling against each other.

When NOT to Roll

Don’t call for rolls when:

• Success is trivial and failure is boring.
• The character has ample time and no pressure.
• The outcome doesn’t matter to the story.

The dice exist to introduce uncertainty into meaningful moments. If a moment isn’t meaningful, narrate the outcome and move on.