Core Rolling

When the outcome is uncertain and failure would matter, build a dice pool and roll d10s. The result is measured in successes.

Build the pool

Add the most relevant Attribute and Skill. Strength + Brawl, Dexterity + Stealth, Charisma + Persuasion, and Intelligence + Investigation are common examples. The Storyteller may use two Attributes, an Attribute and a Discipline, or a Skill alone when the fiction calls for it.

Your Hunger rating determines how many dice in the pool are Hunger dice. Set aside that many dice, up to the size of the pool; the remaining dice are regular dice. Hunger dice are rolled with a different color or physical position so their results remain visible.

Read the roll

Every die showing 6 or higher is one success. The Storyteller sets a difficulty from 1 to 5 before the roll:

Meet or exceed the difficulty to succeed. Each success above the difficulty is an extra success and may improve speed, quality, damage, or information. A roll with no successes fails. A roll with no successes and one or more 1s on Hunger dice is a bestial failure: the character fails and the Beast creates an immediate complication chosen by the Storyteller.

Criticals

Two 10s count as a critical, adding four successes instead of two. Every additional 10 adds two more successes. If at least one 10 in the critical combination is a Hunger die, the result is a messy critical: the character succeeds, but the Beast leaves a visible, violent, humiliating, or otherwise costly mark on the scene.

A critical result can still fail if the total does not meet the difficulty. A messy critical never cancels the success; it changes the price of getting what you wanted.

Modifiers and rerolls

The Storyteller may add or remove dice for strong advantages, bad conditions, tools, or preparation. Remove Hunger dice last. A pool can never fall below one die unless the Storyteller rules the action impossible.

Spend one Willpower to reroll up to three failed regular dice. Hunger dice cannot be rerolled, and a Willpower reroll cannot create a critical from dice that were not part of the original roll. Use this sparingly: Willpower is also a trackable resource for resisting harm and pressure.

When two characters directly oppose one another, both roll the relevant pools. The higher total of successes wins; the margin is the winner's number of extra successes. Ties favor the defender or preserve the status quo.

When not to roll

Do not roll for an action that is safe, automatic, or uninteresting. Describe the result and move on. Roll when the table needs an uncertain answer, a meaningful cost, or a chance for the Beast to take the scene somewhere dangerous.