Dice & Tests
Dice and Tests - The Heart of the System
Rolling is simple. Effective Level, or EL, determines how generally competent you are for a particular task, and all modifiers tweak that number. When the GM asks for a test, always start with your base Level. Add as many modifiers as make sense. Would a Role apply? Would another also apply? Maneuvers? Active boosts? Situational bonuses? Add them all.
Is the character hurt? Blindfolded? Holding their breath against poison? Those modifiers reduce EL for that action. If your EL drops below 1, the task becomes impossible until you find ways to boost it back above zero. Negotiate disagreements. Once you establish the EL for a task, that's your target number. If it's something that can't be done without training, only add as much base Level as your rank in the relevant Role - your best, if you have more than one.
As ability increases, your best results improve and your chances of failure decrease unless you choose your dice very badly. If you're using zero-base dice, which we'll discuss later, then a zero always generates no effect. No matter how well you choose your dice, if every die starts at zero there's always some chance for a zero total. If you default to an even/odd Simple Pool, even numbers are zero and odd numbers are 1's. This makes it simple and easy.
EL can be radically different from task to task, for a lot of reasons. You might switch from using a Role you're not very good at to one at which you excel, with well-developed Maneuvers to apply. Circumstances and Boosts can improve it, while Harm and opposing conditions drag it down.
Success just means rolling better than zero, but at or under your EL; anything higher is beyond your current ability and fails. Within that range, roll as high as possible for maximum effect that is hardest to resist or oppose. A roll of 1 technically "succeeds", but it's weak and easy to thwart since rolled result is seldom the final effect. Even if you punch well, your opponent might still block better. The actual effect is your roll minus any opposition or resistance, which means ties go to the defender.
Think of it this way: even at EL1 you can roll one even/odd die for a 50% chance of success. Without opposition to push back, nothing would ever be harder than a coin flip, which is absurd. Opposition is what creates real challenge, turning that basic 50/50 into genuine uncertainty.