Rolling Dice

This game requires only six-sided dice to play. On rare occasions, the GM may need to roll another kind of dice, but isn’t a part of the base dice set for a player.

It is recommended that a player have several d6 dice as the number of dice increases with the level of each Attribute or Skill. When rolling the dice, the number that appears on the top is the value rolled, and then a modifier may be applied, which will add or subtract from the rolled dice’s overall value. Some modifiers may be applied from the statistic score of an Attribute or Skill, and some may be applied from other statistics or equipment.  When reading dice rolling instructions, the syntax begins with a number, then the type of die. The first number refers to the number of dice you need to roll.

Reference the Dice Rolling Table (left on PC; above or below on mobile) when rolling dice for an Attribute or Skill, noting the ability score of each on a character sheet. The left column  indicates the level of the ability score and the right indicates the number of dice rolled, plus any modifiers. For example, a Level 3 Strength roll is the sum of the rolled 1d6 plus 2 to calculate the result. While the maximum rolls tend to increase rather drastically, the roll table was developed to increase the minimum roll possible for each level as an attribute or skill progressed.

SURGING 

SURGING is absolutely the most amazing thing a player can do in the game with dice, and it needs to be celebrated!

Rolling the highest value on any of the dice  allows a player to roll that die again and add that number to the sum of all dice rolled. There is no limit to the number of SURGE rolls that can be achieved, and SURGING can be applied to every roll. SURGE rolls can also be applied to rolls at the discretion of the GM and used to reward players for their roleplaying achievements. However, they should not be awarded frequently and only in cases where the player has done something of significant merit. If used too often, it will lose its special meaning and purpose.

Challenges and Contested Rolls

There are two types of rolls players will typically make during a SURGE! adventure: Challenges and Contested Rolls.

Challenges are rolled against a pre-determined value, based on the Difficulty Rating (DR). If the player rolling a Challenge meets or exceeds the value of the DR, then the attempt succeeds.  The values associated with DR ratings can be found on the Difficulty Rating Table (left on PC, below on mobile)

Group Challenges

For some challenges, group rolls are possible. All players involved in the challenge may roll their dice and combine the totals of all their rolls. These are known as “assists”.

Contested Rolls are player rolls against an NPC or another player. These could be physical, intellectual, dexterous, magical, or other contests as deemed necessary by the GM. The most typical type of Contested Roll is attacking and defending.

Attacking and Defending

Attacking or defending requires a unique contested roll for each attack action made during combat. The attacking creature will roll either Martial Combat for melee attacks, Marksmanship for ranged attacks with a physical weapon, or Mystic if casting a spell. A defending  creature will contest the attacking roll with a defending roll.  Martial Combat is typically used for defending against melee attacks, Dexterity is typically used to defend against physical ranged attacks, and defense against spells is spell-specific.

Player VS. NPC

If a player is rolling a Contested Roll against an NPC, the result always favors the player in the event of a tie.

Player VS. Player

If a player is rolling a Contested Roll against another player, the attacking player must roll a value that exceeds the defending player’s roll value. Ties favor the defender.