Dice pool

Encyclopedia : D : DI : DIC : Dice pool

In some role-playing game systems, the dice pool is the number of dice that a player is allowed to roll when attempting to perform a certain action.

In most RPG systems, most non-trivial actions require dice rolls. Most RPGs roll a fixed number of dice, add a number to the die roll based on the character's attributes and skills, and compare the resulting number with a difficulty rating. However, in some systems the character's attributes and skills determine the number of dice to be rolled. In some systems (such as the Storyteller System) the number on each die is compared with the difficulty rating, and the number of dice whose number exceeds the difficulty gives the degree of success. In others (such as Over the Edge) the dice are totalled and compared with the difficulty rating.

Penalties may temporarily reduce the dice pool for one or more skills (for example, a leg wound may reduce the dice pool for actions such as running, climbing, and jumping). Occasionally the dice pool can be increased (for example, a character may focus her attention and temporarily gain dice for observation-related skills).

The first game to feature dice pools was Shadowrun (1989). This was followed by Over the Edge (1992) and [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] (1992), both of which were based upon a project between Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein-Hagen which followed their development of Ars Magica for Lion Rampant.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.