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Push Your Luck

Push Your Luck lets a player force one more chance after a failed roll.

It is not a free reroll. It is shared authorship: the player helps decide what they risk to make the moment work.

When You Can Push

You may Push Your Luck when:

  • You fail a roll.
  • The action still has a plausible way forward.
  • The scene has enough pressure that a cost makes sense.

You cannot push if the Guide says the fiction is already settled.

How To Push

On a miss:

  1. The Guide states what failure means.
  2. The player chooses or proposes a cost.
  3. The Guide confirms the cost is fair and immediate.
  4. Reroll the full dice pool at DC -2, minimum DC 6. This DC -2 adjustment is a candidate for revision pending further playtest evidence.
  5. Keep the new result.

Use this sentence:

“I make it, but…”

Examples:

  • “I make it, but my pack strap tears.”
  • “I make it, but I hit the pothole and collapse prone.”
  • “I make it, but the thing hears me.”
  • “I make it, but I drop the case.”
  • “I make it, but I arrive coughing and lose my next clean breath.”

Cost Categories

Choose a cost that fits the fiction.

Position

You end somewhere worse.

Examples:

  • Lose cover.
  • End prone.
  • Overrun your target.
  • End exposed.
  • Give up a good angle.

Resource

You spend, damage, drop, or lose something.

Examples:

  • Tear a pack pocket.
  • Drop a weapon.
  • Spend extra ammo.
  • Damage a tool.
  • Lose a fragile item.

Exposure

You reveal yourself or draw attention.

Examples:

  • Make noise.
  • Leave a trail.
  • Raise enemy awareness.
  • Reveal your route.
  • Trigger a watcher.

Strain

You force your body or mind past comfort.

Examples:

  • Lose stamina.
  • Take fear.
  • Become disoriented.
  • Worsen footing.
  • Lose an anchor for the next beat.

Objective

You succeed, but the larger situation worsens.

Examples:

  • Arrive late.
  • Let a clock advance.
  • Save one thing but lose another.
  • Complete the action at reduced quality.
  • Close off an easier follow-up.

Who Authors the Cost?

Use the mode that fits the table.

Guide Authored

The Guide states the cost.

Use this for new players or high-pressure scenes.

Player Authored

The player proposes the cost.

Use this for players comfortable adding fiction.

Shared

The player chooses a category, and the Guide frames the exact cost.

This is the default.

Outcomes

If the pushed reroll succeeds:

  • You succeed.
  • The cost still happens.

If the pushed reroll succeeds with a Partial Critical:

  • You succeed.
  • The cost still happens.
  • You also gain the Partial Critical benefit.

If the pushed reroll fails:

  • You fail.
  • The cost escalates from minor to major.

Minor and Major Costs

A minor cost creates a setback without taking away agency.

Examples:

  • Lose cover.
  • Tear a pocket.
  • Make noise.
  • Lose 1 stamina.
  • Arrive late but still act.

A major cost changes control of the scene or creates an immediate new problem.

Examples:

  • Get pinned or surrounded.
  • Lose critical gear.
  • Trigger an alarm.
  • Take heavy stamina loss.
  • Let the target escape.

Limits

The cost must be:

  • Immediate
  • Plausible
  • Connected to the failed action
  • Genre-appropriate

The cost should not directly harm another player character unless:

  • The risk was clear before the roll.
  • The benefit is significant.
  • The table agrees.

The Guide may veto or reshape a proposed cost.

Quick Procedure

Use this at the table:

Miss: You fail because ___.
Push offer: You can still make it, but ___.
Player: I push / I do not push.
Reroll at DC -2. This adjustment is provisional pending further playtest evidence.
Success: You make it, but the cost happens.
Failure: You fail, and the cost gets worse.
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