CN: Ascend Basic Mechanics Part I

Ascend: Basic Mechanic

All conflicts in the game are resolved through a roll of the dice called a Trial. Ascend uses multiple ten sided dice when rolling. These dice are known as d10, and a collection of these dice is a Dice Pool. A d10 has a range of numbers, from 0 to 9. In Ascend, the 0 is a 0. Multiple d10's are known by the nomenclature of Xd10 in which X being the number of dice rolled.

Example: Susan is rolling a Dice Pool of 5d10. Therefore she rolls 5 ten sided dice.

A Trial occurs when a Hero's Skill or Belief is being Tested. A Skill is a trained ability or series of interrelated abilities. Martial Arts, Divination, Leadership, and Wayfinding are Skills. Belief is a Hero's fundamental faith and understanding of the Philosophy of their faction. It measures spirituality, determination and insight.

Skills and Belief are Ranked from 0 to 4. A Skill Ranked 0 denotes lack of any training or familiarity with the tasks of a Skill. Rank 4 denotes a supreme competency in the skill, representing a level of mastery achieve only by the eldest of Heroes. Belief ranked 0 shows no faith in the tenants of a Philosophy. Even most Infidels have at least 1 Rank in a Belief. Perhaps only the members of the Council and the rare wandering Hero have Faiths Ranked 4.

The goal when rolling a Trial is to roll the Rank or under of the Skill or Belief being tested. Each die of the Dice Pool is individually compared, if it is equal to or less the Rank, that die is a Success. Trials may have more then 1 Success. All Trials with 1 or more Successes are successful. A Trial with no Successes is a failure.

Example: Trent rolls his Dice Pool of 6d10 Testing his Hero's Martial Arts, Ranked 2. Trent rolls a 0, 2, 5, 5, 6, and 9. The dice showing 0 and 2 are both Successes as they are equal to or lower then the Hero's Martial Arts Rank of 2. The 5's, the 6 and the 9 are not Successes. Trent's Hero has succeeded with two Successes!