{"id":835,"date":"2026-06-04T19:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/?p=835"},"modified":"2026-06-05T23:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T23:19:12","slug":"rolling-the-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/?p=835","title":{"rendered":"Rolling the Bones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The default formula for StarForged <strong>Move<\/strong> checks is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Roll <strong>1d6<\/strong> (<strong>RISK<\/strong>) and <strong>2d10<\/strong> (<strong>CHALLENGE<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Add<\/strong> the value of the <strong><em>appropriate Stat<\/em><\/strong> to <strong>RISK<\/strong>, as described below.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CHALLENGE<\/strong> dice are not added together, but evaluated separately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>If <strong>RISK<\/strong> is <strong><em>greater than<\/em><\/strong> both <strong>CHALLENGE<\/strong> dice, it is a<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>STRONG YES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If <strong>RISK<\/strong> is <strong><em>greater than<\/em><\/strong> one <strong>CHALLENGE<\/strong> die <strong>BUT<\/strong> <strong><em>equal to or less than<\/em><\/strong> the other, it is a<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WEAK YES<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If <strong>RISK<\/strong> is <strong><em>equal to or <\/em>less than<\/strong> both <strong>CHALLENGE<\/strong> dice, it is a<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NO<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stats<\/strong> are much more important in SF than attribute scores are in D&amp;D.&nbsp; In that system, you are rolling against a table of static values, modified only when your character has exceptionally high or exceptionally low attribute scores.&nbsp; And because those scores are generated on a bell curve, most scores cluster toward the center, where there are no modifiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In SF, the most appropriate Stat is <strong><em>always<\/em><\/strong> added to the Risk roll.  This is critical for character survivability.&nbsp; The Stat is often given in a Move description, which is another reason <strong>Moves<\/strong> are important to the flow of play.&nbsp; This is the base description for the <strong>Move<\/strong> <strong>\u201cCompel\u201d<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>When you try to persuade someone or make them an offer,<\/strong> envision your approach. If you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Charm, pacify, encourage, or barter: Roll +<strong>heart<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Threaten or incite: Roll +<strong>iron<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lie or swindle: Roll +<strong>shadow<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also make <strong>Stat<\/strong> checks without <strong>Moves<\/strong>.&nbsp; There is, for instance, no <strong>Carry Burden<\/strong> <strong>Move<\/strong>, so I\u2019d just make a check against <strong>IRON<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stats<\/strong> in SF are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>EDGE<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>HEART<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IRON<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SHADOW<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>WITS<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>HEALTH<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SPIRIT<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SUPPLY<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stats<\/strong> top out at 5, except in VERY unusual circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the percentage results of 500 checks each, adding 0, 1, 2 and 3 to the Risk roll:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/analysis.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"588\" height=\"212\" src=\"https:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/analysis.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-836\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>SF is regarded among contemporary players as quite lethal and unforgiving to characters.&nbsp; These folks haven\u2019t played enough OG D&amp;D, in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, an unmodified <strong>RISK<\/strong> roll results in a range heavily weighted toward <strong><em>No<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then, look at the massive shift when adding only 1.&nbsp; And the ratio of&nbsp; <strong>No<\/strong> to <strong>Yes<\/strong> completely inverts at 2, and ends up weighed toward <strong>Yes<\/strong> at 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On an unmodded roll, you can&#8217;t roll less than 1 or greater than 6, against a range of 1-10.  But when you add +3, you can&#8217;t roll <strong>less than <\/strong>4, and your highest is 9, drastically increasing your chances of at least a <strong>Weak Yes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike some RPG systems, SF considers a 1 to be an average <strong>Stat<\/strong>, so a 3 is exceptional, and a 5 is Jedi Ninja territory.&nbsp; But that\u2019s kind of what I want in my heroes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My character has a <strong>WITS<\/strong> of 4, and <strong>WITS<\/strong> is the <strong>Stat<\/strong> for <strong>Gather Information<\/strong>, hence the large number of Strong Yeses.&nbsp; That and a little luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"matches\"><strong>Matches:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the Challenge dice match each other, this generates a random event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In SF, we roll a random Action and a random Theme, and we then interpret them to advance the story.  On a Yes, the interpretation should favor the protag, and on a No, the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, an Action roll of 72 and a Theme roll of 52 give us Raid and Law.  This could be interpreted, perhaps, as a police raid that in some way either benefits or hinders the protag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The default formula for StarForged Move checks is: Stats are much more important in SF than attribute scores are in D&amp;D.&nbsp; In that system, you are rolling against a table of static values, modified only when your character has exceptionally high or exceptionally low attribute scores.&nbsp; And because those scores are generated on a bell [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forge-of-destiny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=835"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868,"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions\/868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csnorris.com\/magus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}