Power Rolls

Whenever a hero or other creature in the game attempts a task with an uncertain outcome, such as attacking a foe, sneaking by a guard patrol without being seen, or persuading a queen to provide military aid, the creature makes a power roll to determine the outcome of their actions.

Types of power rolls

The game uses two types of power rolls. An ability roll is used when you activate certain abilities to determine their impact. For instance, if a fury uses their Brutal Slam ability to strike an enemy, their ability roll determines how much damage the enemy takes and how far back the enemy is pushed. See Abilities for more information.

A test is a power roll you make outside of using your abilities to affect or interact with the world around you. A tactician might not have an ability that lets them climb up the face of a cliff, so climbing is an activity they can attempt with a test. An elementalist doesn’t have an ability that lets them automatically intimidate a cultist into backing down from a fight, but they can make a test if they want to try. See Tests for more information.

Making a power roll

When you make a power roll, you roll two ten-sided dice (sometimes noted as 2d10 in the rules) and add one of your characteristics. The characteristic you add depends on the kind of roll you’re making, as outlined in Abilities and Tests.

Outcomes

• Tier 1 (11-)

  This is the worst result a power roll can have. If you’re using an ability, a tier 1 result means you still do something, but the impact of what you do is minimal. With this result, a strike ability might deal a little bit of damage and not do much else. For a test, a tier 1 result means you fail at what you set out to do, and you might also suffer a negative consequence.

• Tier 2 (12-16)

  This is the average result of many power rolls, especially for heroes who are 1st level. When using an ability, a tier 2 result means that what you do has a moderate impact. With this result, an strike ability deals a decent amount of damage and has an effect that briefly helps allies or hinders enemies. For a test, a tier 2 result means you might succeed at what you set out to do— though depending on the difficulty, success might have a cost.

• Tier 3 (17+)

  This is the best result a power roll can have. When using an ability, a tier 3 result means you deliver the maximum impact possible. With this result, an strike ability deals a lot of damage and has a powerful or lasting effect on enemies or allies. For a test, a tier 3 result means you succeed at what you set out to do. If the test has an easy difficulty, you also get a little something extra in addition to your success.

The specific outcome of any power roll is determined by the effect or ability that requires the roll (see Abilities) or the rules for tests (see Tests).

Downgrading a power roll

Whenever you make a power roll, you can downgrade it to select the result of a lower tier. For instance, if an ability has a tier 3 result that lets you impose the restrained condition on a creature, but the tier 2 result for that ability lets you impose the slowed condition, you can use the tier 2 result if you would rather have the creature slowed than restrained.

If you downgrade a critical hit, you still get the extra action benefit of the critical hit (see Critical Hit in Abilities).

Natural result

The result of your power roll before your characteristic or any other modifiers are applied is called the natural result. The rules often refer to this as “rolling a natural X,” where X is the result of the roll. For example, if you get a 20 on the power roll before adding your characteristic, this is called rolling a natural 20. Whenever you roll a natural 19 or 20 on a power roll, you always achieve the tier 3 result, no matter what characteristic is added to the roll and whether or not the roll has any banes.