Rolls #

Whenever your character attempts something with a significant chance of failure, the GM may call for a roll. Rolls have the following steps.

1. Set Base Stat and Difficulty. The GM sets a relevant base stat from the stat list (for example, Agility to cross a rickety bridge) and a difficulty from 10 (easy) to 22 or more (impossible).

2. Add Stars. Create your die modifier (ranging from +0 to +18) by adding up the stars on your character sheet from the following sources. The total is your modifier. For example, 6✦ results in a modifier of +6.

   • You must add stars from the roll’s base stat, which range from 1✦ to 5✦.
   • You must add stars from the stress track, which range from 1✦ to 3✦.
   • You can optionally exhaust up to one tag relevant to add its stars, which range from 1✦ to 5✦. To exhaust a tag, fill in the circle next to it on your character sheet. After exhausting a tag, you cannot exhaust it again until you recover it through boons or rest. You can alternatively exhaust a tag irrelevant to the attempt to gain its bonus, but at a -1✦ penalty.
   • You can optionally spend up to five drive to gain that amount of stars, plus that amount of boons on a success or higher (not multiplied by critical effects). Describe what unique strategy your character is using or why this attempt is particularly important to them.

3. Roll. Roll a 20-sided die and add your modifier, resulting in one of the following outcomes. Critical outcomes take priority over non-critical outcomes.

   • If you roll a natural 19 or 20, your outcome is a critical success.
   • If you roll a natural 1 or 2, your outcome is a critical failure.
   • If the total value rolled is greater to or equal than the difficulty, your outcome is a success.
   • If the total value rolled is less than the difficulty, your outcome is a failure.

4. Double Down. Optionally, choose whether to double down. If you double down, roll the same die again, add the same modifier, and compare it to the same difficulty. If you succeed your second roll, your original outcome increases by one tier on the Outcomes table (for example, from a success to a critical success). If you roll a natural 19 or 20, it instead increases by two tiers. If you fail your second roll, it decreases by one tier. If you roll a natural 1 or 2, it instead decreases by two tiers.

5. Calculate Boons and Banes. With your final outcome, the GM refers to the Outcomes Table to determine whether you earned boons or incurred banes, keeping note of any multiplier the outcome may list. If the outcome results in boons or banes, the GM then refers to the Difficulty Table to see how many, multiplying the total by the multiplier in the Outcomes table. Boons from drive are not multiplied in this way.

   • If your roll resulted in boons, spend them in the Boons Table.
   • If your roll resulted in banes, the GM spends them in the Banes Table.

6. Deal Damage. If in combat, deal damage based on your outcome in the Outcomes Table.

7. Gain Drive. If your outcome is any tier of failure, gain one drive. Describe why your character failed and try to connect it to your character’s flaws.

In Double Down, only players roll dice. Whenever other characters or enemies act, the GM imposes a roll on one or more players. For example, if a player character is attacked by a goblin, then the goblin does not roll; instead, the attacked player makes a defensive roll of the GM’s design (for example, a Toughness roll to block a charge attack).

Support Rolls #

If a player’s roll exclusively aims to gain benefits from the Boons table, such as when attempting to heal an ally, then that roll becomes a support roll. In a support roll, the player gains half boons (0.5x) on a success. Boons gained from drive are unaffected. For example, succeeding at a support roll with a difficulty of 16 with no drive gives you 3 boons instead of 6.

When determining support roll difficulty, a good baseline is 10 plus the amount of stress the target has taken, but the GM can ultimately set the difficulty of their choice based on other circumstances.

Group Rolls #

If one or more characters collaborate on an attempt, the roll becomes a group roll. One of the group roll’s participants of their choice becomes the roller and rolls the D20 for the group. The roll’s modifier is still formed by the stars of up to one stat, one tag, one stress track, and five drive. However, these sources can come from any participant.

For example, if players are collaborating to lift a heavy object, then one character can contribute stars from their Toughness (5✦) stat, another stars from their Four Arms (4✦) tag and one drive (1✦), another stars from their stress track (2✦) and one drive (1✦), and another stars from two drive (2✦), for a total modifier of +15.

The group votes on whether to double down, with the roller breaking ties. Only the roller gains drive on a failure.

Contested Rolls #

If a player makes an attempt against another player, such as when trying to pickpocket them or tell if they are lying, the GM first offers the target player a choice. The target player can either allow the attempting player to automatically succeed, make them automatically fail, or let them roll to leave it up to chance.

If the target chooses to roll, then each player simultaneously chooses whether to exhaust a tag or spend drive. The target player adds 10 to their total modifier, forming the difficulty for the attempting player. The attempting player then rolls normally. The GM can choose to ignore any number of banes incurred during contested rolls.

Example Roll #

The following is a full example of a roll:

1. If a character attempts to cross a precarious bridge, the GM may call for an Agility roll with a difficulty of 14.
2. The player has 3✦ in Agility. They decide to exhaust the Rogue tag to add its bonus of 2✦ to the roll as well. They also decide to spend one drive, adding 1✦ and a boon if the outcome is a success or higher. The player has added 6✦ to the roll, which totals to a modifier of +6.
3. The player rolls a D20 and gets a 6, which added to the modifier of +6 results in 12: a failure.
4. The player chooses to double down. They roll again and get a natural 20: a critical success. The original failure is upgraded two tiers to a critical success.
5. The critical success results in four boons (plus one boon from the spent drive) and the player can spend that amount on any of the effects from the Boons table. For example, with the five boons, they may give themselves two drive and recover one stress.
6. Since the player is not in combat, they do not deal damage.
7. Since the player did not fail, they do not gain drive.