The Gods do Not Play Dice
Dice factors are the tools both players and Narrator use to tilt a roll before the dice land. Players can add to their pool by paying a cost, while the Narrator adjusts risk and impact to match the scene.
Narrator Tools
When a player is about to perform a roll, the Narrator might influence that roll with one of the following factors, which help establish the risks and rewards of a given roll.
The Narrator might determine the direction of the approach, based on how strongly the Hero’s approach fits their Action or their general position based on the situation.
Direction can be applied to Action rolls, Reaction rolls, or Downtime rolls.
If the direction is favourable or advantageous, after rolling, they will raise the lowest die by one.
If the direction is unfavourable or disadvantageous, after rolling, lower the highest die by one.
The Narrator might set a degree if the goal or problem could not be reasonably resolved in a single Action or Reaction. The degree is a way to track the Heroes’ contributions to this goal until it’s won or lost.
Degree is only used on Action rolls or Downtime rolls.
To measure the degree, the Narrator will use a segmented clock, which will have a number of segments that scales to the scope of the degree.
If a Hero’s approach is risky, the Narrator will set a level of danger. Danger gauges how badly things might go wrong if the Action fails.
Danger is only used on Action rolls.
The level of danger is represented by danger dice, which the Hero will roll alongside their main set of dice. Each level of danger adding one more die up to a maximum of four dice.
Players’ Tools
A player has a number of ways to also influence the roll of the dice. Most of them give them ways to increase their dice pool before rolling, while another allows them to boost the result after rolling.
Once the base dice pool has been set, players can use any of the following options to increase their dice pool by 1 die. However, each option can only be used once for any given roll.
Note: If a player would roll with no dice, the roll automatically fails.
Flare represents a Hero’s willpower and determination. Heroes spend it to exceed normal limits, power abilities, or act under pressure. Players can Burn Flare (2) to push beyond normal limits and gain +1d.
Fate represents the Hero’s connection to larger story forces. It introduces complications and turning points. Players can Tempt Fate, giving the Narrator a Fate token, to gain +1d.
Another Hero can directly help provided it makes sense within the fiction. If they can, they will then add 1 of their own dice to the that player’s dice pool.
After the roll, a player can spend a point of Luck to improve one of their Hero dice by 1, potentially changing a miss to a swing, a swing to a hit, or a hit to a crit.
Multiple points of Luck can be spent this way.
Morningstar Fables 