Dice Pools

Core Mechanic

The core resolution mechanic of the game is a dice pool based attribute check. Actions, including attacks, are performed by making attribute checks.  To make an attribute check, form a dice pool and attempt to beat a difficulty benchmark set by the GM.

Maximum Dice Pool

The maximum dice pool that a character can form is based on their grade.  A starting character can form a dice pool of up to 5d6. Additional grades add to this maximum pool size.

Attribute Checks

Dice pools are formed using attributes, skills, and equipment. You can only use one attribute pool, one skill pool, and one equipment pool.

Add the dice pool from an attribute plus any skill to form an attribute check.

For example, to climb a wall you might add 3d6 from AGILITY and 2d6 from climbing to form a 5d6 dice pool.

Equipment

Equipment quality contributes to the dice pool as follows. 

Standard equipment simply allows you to perform an action normally.  If basic equipment is not available, improvised equipment inflicts a -2d6 penalty.

The number of dice that equipment contributes to a dice pool can never exceed the number of dice tha skills contribute to it; you need a certain degree of expertise to fully benefit from higher quality equipment. If the equipment dice exceed the skill dice, reduce the equipment dice to equal the skill dice.

This includes armor (skill in light, medium, heavy, or powered), weapons (skills in swords, bows, rifles, staves, pistols, etc.), and general equipment for which an associated skill might be relevant (skill in meteorology when using ship's sensors to analyse an atmospheric fluctuation, for example).

Group Checks

When a group check is called for, every PC makes a check and the check succeeds if more PCs succeed than fail (i.e. half or more of the PCs succeed). It is assumed that stronger PCs are helping weaker ones, and weaker PCs are hindering stronger ones in a group check.

Aiding

When characters aid one another, add together their base attributes and determine the resultant dice pool of the total. The GM will decide if, and how many characters can contribute - for example, only two people at a time might be able to break down a door.

For example, a character with STR 6 (3d6) aided by another character with STR 6 (3d6) combine to form an attribute of 12 (4d6). 

Optional Rule: Gearmasters

To make the game more equipment focused rather than attribute and skill focused, in Cinematic Mode the dice pool maximum can optionally be applied only to attributes + skills. Gear quality may be added on top after capping, in the same way that exploits can. This changes the flavor of the game and makes the acquisition of high quality equipment a more central part. This will also increase dice pool sizes, and make characters generally more powerful.