Dice Rolls

Dice rolling is the most common mechanic on Beyond the Pale. Similar to other TTRPGs, dice are rolled when your character performs a difficult or complicated action while in an encounter, task or expedition. These rolls are most commonly accompanied by stat bonuses that can make an action easier or more difficult based on the character's expertise. When a staff member needs you to roll a dice to determine if you succeeded or failed, they will often ask you for a "[Stat] Roll" or a "1d6 + Stat". These both mean the same thing - roll a six-sided die and add your stat bonus (also called a stat modifier) to it.

Example: Lilypaw is trying to jump across a large gorge to impress her friends. In order to succeed, she has to pass a Grace check that needs a 3 or higher. Her Grace modifier is a -2. She rolls a d6 and gets a 4. When her Grace modifier is added to it, she gets a total of 2 Grace. Unfortunately, this fails the check and she trips down the gorge!

Beyond the Pale currently used a six-sided die (or a d6).

Situations that would call for a dice roll and what their modifiers might be:

• Convincing a stubborn apprentice to clean his nest (Heart)
• Climbing a very tall fence while running away from something scary (Grace)
• Clubbing a monster with a rock (Daring)
• Solving a mysterious loner's riddle (Wit)
• Keeping your cool while a monster is passing by your hiding place (Spirit)

Advantage & Disadvantage

Sometimes, a staff member will ask you to roll with advantage or disadvantage. This means that you will roll twice and either take the highest result (advantage) or the lowest result (disadvantage.)

Critical Success & Critical Fail

Occasionally, you'll roll so high or so low that your results are magnified as a result. In Dungeons & Dragons 5e, a "critical success" is when you roll the highest number on the die (20), while a "critical fail" is when you roll the lowest number (1). Since we use a d6 die instead of a d20, we use a somewhat different system.

Instead, we determine "critical successes" by if you roll two 6s or two 1s. If you roll a 6 (without any modifiers), you will roll a confirmation roll to see if you get a critical success. If you get another 6, it's a critical success! Using the same logic, if you roll a 1 (without any modifiers) followed by a confirmation roll of a 1, it's a critical fail.

If you roll a 6 but your confirmation roll is a 5 or below, you will still use the first value of 6 in your results. The same is true if you roll a 1.