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01 - Core Resolution Test

This test checks whether the core dice engine feels clear, fast, and fair before testing the rest of the system.

Use this test with two people:

  • Runner: presents situations, sets DCs, records results.
  • Player: chooses whether to roll, push, and describe outcomes.

Switch roles halfway through if useful.

Goals

Test whether:

  • The dice procedure is easy to remember.
  • DCs feel right.
  • Partial Criticals create excitement.
  • Legendary Success feels rare but possible.
  • Push-your-luck decisions are tempting but costly.
  • Players understand success, miss, complication, and consequence.

Materials

Needed:

  • d4, d6, d8, d10, d12
  • A notes page or spreadsheet
  • This test sheet
  • core.md
  • skills.md difficulty benchmarks

Record each roll using this format:

Test:
Dice:
DC:
Pressure:
Leverage:
Roll result:
Outcome:
Partial Critical?:
Legendary?:
Push offered?:
Push taken?:
Complication:
Notes:

Quick Rule Reminder

Roll skill dice plus any Leverage die.

Keep the two highest dice and add any flat skill bonus.

Compare to DC.

  • Success: result meets or beats DC.
  • Miss: result is below DC.
  • Partial Critical: any die rolls its maximum value.
  • Legendary Success: result is 24+.

Pressure raises DC.

Leverage adds a bonus die.

Difficulty Benchmarks

Use these DCs:

DC Meaning
6 Trivial
8 Easy
10 Average
12 Moderate
14 Hard
16 Very Hard
18+ Nearly Impossible

Do not roll routine low-risk actions.

Roll when failure would change the scene.

Test Dice Sets

Use these three dice profiles.

Untrained

Use 2d12.

This represents a competent person attempting something without a trained skill specialty.

Competent

Use the current Rank 1 / Competent skill dice from skills.md.

If unsure, use d10 + d12 + 2.

Strong

Use one tier above Competent from skills.md.

If unsure, use 2d10 + 4.

The exact dice are less important than testing whether better skills feel more reliable.

Part A - Basic Roll Feel

Run 10 rolls for each row.

Profile DC Situation
Untrained 8 Easy but risky task
Untrained 10 Average task under consequence
Untrained 12 Moderate task
Competent 10 Average trained task
Competent 12 Moderate trained task
Competent 14 Hard trained task
Strong 12 Moderate expert task
Strong 14 Hard expert task
Strong 16 Very hard expert task

For each roll, record:

  • Success or miss
  • Partial Critical
  • Legendary
  • Whether the result felt believable

After each row, ask:

  • Did this DC feel too easy, too hard, or right?
  • Did the skill profile feel meaningfully different?
  • Did Partial Criticals appear often enough to matter?

Part B - Leverage and Pressure

Use a Competent character.

Base task:

Climb through a broken second-story window while something moves in the alley below.
Base DC 12.

Run 5 rolls for each condition:

Condition Dice / DC Change
Normal DC 12
Leverage Add d6 Leverage
Pressure DC 14
Both Add d6 Leverage and use DC 14

Ask after each set:

  • Did Leverage feel like opportunity?
  • Did Pressure feel like danger?
  • Did having both at once make sense?
  • Was it clear why the modifier applied?

Part C - Partial Critical Meaning

Use short fictional tasks where a Partial Critical can matter even when the total result is close.

Run 10 rolls with mixed DCs from 10 to 14.

Example tasks:

  • Force a swollen door quietly.
  • Jump a narrow alley gap.
  • Stitch a wound while hands shake.
  • Pick a lock before footsteps arrive.
  • Steady a lantern in strong wind.

For every Partial Critical, decide one extra benefit:

  • Save time.
  • Avoid noise.
  • Preserve gear.
  • Help an ally.
  • Learn extra information.
  • Improve position.

Questions:

  • Was it easy to invent a Partial Critical benefit?
  • Did the benefit feel meaningful?
  • Did it slow the game down?

Part D - Push Your Luck

Use failed rolls from Part A or create new ones.

Run at least 8 failed checks where pushing is available.

On each miss:

  1. Runner states the immediate miss consequence.
  2. Runner offers a push.
  3. Player decides whether to push.
  4. If pushed, apply the push rule from core.md.
  5. Record the complication.

Use complication categories:

  • Harm
  • Exposure
  • Resource loss
  • Time loss
  • Position loss
  • Noise / attention

Questions:

  • Was pushing tempting?
  • Did the cost feel clear before the choice?
  • Did the complication create a new situation?
  • Did the push feel too generous or too punishing?

Part E - Outcome Language

Run 6 quick improvised checks.

For each, the Runner must state:

  1. What success means.
  2. What failure means.
  3. What pressure exists.
  4. What a Partial Critical might add.

Only then roll.

Example:

You are crossing a rotten floor.
Success: you cross safely.
Failure: a board breaks and you end prone, making noise.
Pressure: darkness, +2 DC.
Partial Critical: you spot the safest route and one ally gains Leverage to follow.

Questions:

  • Did stating stakes before the roll make the choice clearer?
  • Did the Player feel surprised unfairly?
  • Did the Runner have enough structure to improvise?

What To Watch For

Mark any time:

  • Someone forgets which dice to keep.
  • Someone forgets whether Pressure changes dice or DC.
  • A Partial Critical is hard to interpret.
  • A push complication feels arbitrary.
  • The DC feels wrong after the roll.
  • The Player asks, “What am I risking?”
  • The Runner cannot explain what failure means.

These are design issues to revisit.

Pass Criteria

Core Resolution passes this first test if:

  • Both people can explain the roll procedure after 10 minutes.
  • DC 10 feels like a real average risky task.
  • DC 14 feels hard but possible for trained characters.
  • Leverage and Pressure are easy to apply.
  • Partial Criticals create useful extra texture.
  • Push-your-luck creates meaningful decisions.
  • Most rolls resolve in under 60 seconds once stakes are clear.

After-Test Summary

Fill this out together.

## Core Resolution Test Summary

Date:
Testers:

Best-feeling DC:
Worst-feeling DC:

Did Untrained feel competent?
Did Competent feel reliable?
Did Strong feel meaningfully better?

Did Partial Criticals work?
Did Legendary Success happen?
Did Push Your Luck work?

Biggest confusion:
Slowest moment:
Most exciting roll:

Rules to revise:
Retest needed:
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