Success, Failure & the 4d6

Any risky action — leaping a gorge, staring down a levy-man, hurling a spell or a blade — comes down to one roll: 4d6, compared against an attribute.

The roll

[4d6: X + X + X + X = SUM] + [Modifier]  vs  [Attribute]

The Modifier is the world's mood. A bonus (-) makes success easier; a penalty (+) makes it harder. Heavy rain, a broken tool, a pounding heart — the Master adds pressure; anchoring on a ledge, using good tools, or calling on a Connection buys you slack.

You win if SUM + Modifier ≤ Attribute. You fail if it creeps above.

How well you do

The Gap — how far your roll sits from your attribute — tells you what happened:

• Critical Success — the sum lands 4–6, or 10+ below your attribute. Same goal, and an unexpected bonus: you spot a hidden weak point, finish early, trigger an opening.
• Success — the action lands as intended.
• Failure — you miss by 1–5. No grave cost, but no gain.
• Hard Failure — you miss by 6+. The price is real: lost gear, a wound, a spent resource.
• Critical Failure — the sum rolls 23–24. Something breaks, badly, and the world remembers it.

The Master sets the difficulty by bending the Modifier, never the target: Easy −2, Medium 0, Hard +4, Nigh Impossible +8. Play takes the shot — no roll, no result. Risk defines the story.

Fate Points keep the story from ending wrong

You hold 3 Fate Points a session. Spend one to reroll, to dodge a death you did not earn, or to coax the world into a lucky break. Connections feed them back: act on one of your beliefs or bonds and you not only gain +1 on the roll — you recover a Fate Point. The harder it is to stay true, the more the world pays you for staying true anyway.