Countdown Dice
A Doomsday Clock
Using Countdown Dice for Risky Scenes
Countdown Dice can be used by the GM to represent environmental events, or scenes that tip on the balance between victory and catastrophe. In a typical countdown, there are two counters corresponding to a victorious outcome and a catastrophic outcome: Hope and Dread, respectively. Each of the two dice starts at its maximum value. Successes on the party's side and failures on the adversary's side can cause the Hope counter to spin down, whereas failures on the party's side and successes on the adversary's side can cause the Dread counter to spin down. If Hope reaches 1 first, the party is victorious, but if the Dread counter reaches 1 first, then they face catastrophe.
The die type of a Countdown Scene is determined by the scenario's riskiness, a judgement call made by the GM. This can range from a D4 to a D12. Whichever die is chosen, this is the die type of the Countdown Scene, and therefore is the die used for both Hope and Dread.
| Test Result | Effect on Countdown |
|---|---|
| Crit | Increase Hope by 1 AND decrease Dread by 1 |
| Success | Increase Hope by 1 OR decrease Dread by 1 |
| Mixed Success | Increase both by 1 OR decrease both by 1 |
| Failure | Decrease Hope by 1 OR increase Dread by 1 |
| Miff | Decrease Hope by 1 AND increase Dread by 1 |
Countdown Dice can also be used to represent the party's progress towards a compound goal. This can be represented by just one Die, its die type again chosen based on the difficulty of the goal or time necessary to complete it.
Sequence Abilities
Some abilities, once activated, are able to be used several times before their effect ends. These call for another type of Countdown Die, which starts at 1 and ends at its maximum value. After each use of the ability, the counter increases by 1. If the ability calls for the current value on the die, it refers to the value it had before it increased from the current usage. So, if a character activates an ability that allows them to reduce the amount of Stress of incoming effects targeting their Nerve Potential, the ability is activated with the Sequence die value at 1. The first reaction they take to reduce the amount of Stress they take in Nerve, if specified in the ability, allows the character to reduce the amount of Stress by 1, then the Sequence die is increased to 2. After a Sequence die increases while it is on its max value, the ability has expired and no longer has any uses left.
If a Sequence Ability is part of an Action Card, when a player activates that side of the Action Card, the Flipside cannot be used until the Sequence Ability finishes or its effect is permanently halted in some manner.
