Player Handbook

A RollRule wordRoll2d12 + one Characteristic + one Aptitude, measured against a DC, an AC or an Opposed Roll. is always the same calculation:

2d12 + one Characteristic + one Aptitude

There is no second formula. An attack, a dodge, a lie and a morning at the forge all resolve this way. What changes is the pair you use and the number you have to reach.

When dice come out

You do not roll for everything. A Roll costs the table time, so it has to decide something.

1. Describe. You say what your character wants and how they go about it.
2. Roll. If the outcome is uncertain and failing costs something, you make a Roll.
3. Resolve. The result settles it, and the situation moves on.

An action whose outcome is not in doubt succeeds without a Roll. An action the fiction forbids does not get one either: it fails. Between the two, you roll.

Choosing the pair

No AptitudeRule wordAptitudeA field of know-how. It makes up half of every Roll. is tied to a CharacteristicRule wordCharacteristicOne of a character's six core scores. It makes up half of every Roll.. The GM picks the pair from the way you are acting, and every combination is open.

That is what keeps you useful outside your speciality. A character built on StrengthCharacteristicStrengthThe character's physical power, the kind that lifts, pushes and strikes. intimidates by breaking a table rather than by raising their voice, and the Roll becomes Strength + IntimidationAptitudeIntimidationImpressing or threatening someone into giving way, and standing up to whoever tries to terrify you.. A character with nothing but IntelligenceCharacteristicIntelligenceThe character's ability to analyse, remember, learn and deduce. gets past a physical obstacle by understanding it, and the Roll becomes Intelligence + AthleticsAptitudeAthleticsClimbing, jumping, swimming, grabbing or shoving, and standing firm against whatever pulls or holds you..

It also gives you a floor. Without the Aptitude you would want, you keep your Characteristic: nobody rolls bare dice.

A Skill may impose its pair. Its text says so when it does.

Naming a Roll

Two ways, depending on what the rule needs to pin down.

• A MeleeAptitudeMeleeLanding a blow in close combat, with a weapon, unarmed or with a natural weapon. Roll, when only the Aptitude matters.
• A Strength + Melee Roll, when the whole pair has to be known.

Against what

The total is compared against one of three defences.

DCRule wordDCThe difficulty a Roll has to reach, set by the GM or by a rule.

A number the GM sets, or one printed in a rule.

ACRule wordACArmour Class, the total an Attack has to reach to hit you.

The Armour Class, when an attack targets a creature directly.

Opposed Roll

The Roll of whoever is on the other side. Both sides roll.

Matching the defence is enough. Equal or higher is a success.

Opposed Rolls

Everyone rolls, and the highest total wins. On a tie, settle it in this order:

1. the higher combined Characteristic and Aptitude;
2. the greater net number of AdvantagesRule wordAdvantageAdds a d12 to the Roll. Keep the two highest dice. An Advantage and a Disadvantage cancel out.;
3. the status quo.

A status quo means whoever was trying to change the situation does not manage it. Where no status quo exists, only the tied Rolls are made again.

Advantage and Disadvantage

An Advantage adds a d12 to the Roll. You keep the two highest dice.

A DisadvantageRule wordDisadvantageAdds a d12 to the Roll. Keep the two lowest dice. A Disadvantage and an Advantage cancel out. adds a d12 to the Roll. You keep the two lowest dice.

The total is always worked out from two dice, however many you rolled.

Stacking

An Advantage and a Disadvantage cancel, one for one. Count both, remove the pairs, apply whatever is left.

What is left has no ceiling. Three net Advantages add three dice, and you keep the best two of five.

An example. You strike with 2 Advantages and 1 Disadvantage: 1 net Advantage remains, so you roll 3d12 and keep the highest two.

Expertise

Having ExpertiseRule wordExpertiseGives 1 Advantage on every Roll that uses the Aptitude in question. in an Aptitude gives you 1 Advantage on every Roll that uses it.

The same effect twice

Unless stated otherwise, the same effect does not stack with itself. The same Skill, the same state or Expertise in the same Aptitude, received from two sources, applies only once, and only the strongest counts. Different effects add up, as Advantages do.

Two Skills that each give you Expertise in CraftAptitudeCraftKnowing metal, leather and wood and how to work them. Can also be used to make weapons, armour and equipment. give it to you only once.

Criticals

Only the two dice you keep count, criticals included.

Two 12s kept

Critical success. You describe an exceptional result, consistent with what you were attempting.

Two 1s kept

Critical failure. The GM adds a complication tied to the action you tried.

A critical does not make possible what the fiction rules out. A critical success on a jump over a tower is still a failure; it only makes the leap spectacular.

An Advantage therefore changes two things at once: it raises the expected total, and it makes a critical more likely in both directions.

The difficulty ladder

The GM sets a DC whenever no rule prints one.

A DC in between is allowed when the situation calls for it. Thirty-five is the ceiling because it is the highest non-critical total available: 12 and 11 on the kept dice, plus a modifier of +12.

A trivial action needs no Roll. Setting a DC of 5 is asking for dice that decide nothing.

The DC a Skill sets

When a Skill lets its target resist, the DC comes from whoever plays it:

10 + one Characteristic + one Aptitude

The Skill names the pair, the Roll the target makes, and what happens on a success as well as on a failure. So: “The target makes a SpiritCharacteristicSpiritThe character's attention and empathy, the sharpness of their senses and their bond with the supernatural. + WillAptitudeWillKeeping a cool head in the face of fear, intimidation or manipulation. Roll against your DC of 10 + Charisma + Intimidation.”

You do not have to remember that number. It is worked out when the Skill is played.

Adjusting an AC

A creature’s AC is not fixed. The GM may move it by up to three steps, according to what exactly you are aiming at and what is protecting the target: −3 for much easier, +3 for much harder.

Past that it is not difficulty but impossibility. A target in full cover cannot be hit, and no modifier brings it back into reach.

There is no attack roll and no saving throw

Aubaine has no separate kind of Roll for attacking or for resisting. An attack is an ordinary Roll measured against an AC. A resistance is an ordinary Roll measured against a DC.

Three Aptitudes most often land a blow, Melee, FinesseAptitudeFinesseLanding a precise blow with a weapon suited to it, such as a dagger or a rapier. and AimAptitudeAimHitting at range, by shooting, throwing a weapon or an object, or hurling a Spell., and three most often resist one, ReflexesAptitudeReflexesReacting on instinct to dodge an explosion or an area effect., ResistanceAptitudeResistanceHolding out against poison, disease, cold or being stunned. and Will. They follow no special rule. They simply come up more than the others, which tells you where to invest.

They close nothing, though. Any Aptitude can carry an attack or a resistance when the way you are acting warrants it: InvestigationAptitudeInvestigationDeducing from clues, searching a document or working out how something works. to see through an apparition that repeats too regularly, Athletics to dig your heels in against a pull, Intimidation to face down something trying to terrify you.