Core Resolution

01The engine, in thirty seconds

Roll one die. Get 4 or more. That's a success.

Which die depends on how good you are: d4 poor, d6 competent adult, d12 world-class. The target is always 4 — it never scales. Difficulty comes from modifiers, not from a moving number.p87

Two twists:

Dice explode. Roll the maximum on a die and you roll it again and add, repeating as long as it keeps maxing. A d4 can produce a 19. This is an Ace, and it applies to damage rolls too.p88

You roll a bonus d6. Player characters are Wild Cards — you roll your skill die and a d6 and take whichever is higher. Both can explode. Most enemies don't get this, which is much of why you're the heroes.p87

So a d8 skill is: roll d8 and d6, take the better, 4+ succeeds.

02Unlearn these first

You've played other systems, so these are the instincts that will trip you:

• Attributes do not add to skill rolls. None of them, ever. Smarts d12 gives you nothing on a Hacking roll — you roll the Hacking die. Attributes make skills cheaper to buy, unlock Edges, and set your derived stats.p29
• No attack bonus, no proficiency. You roll your Fighting or Shooting die against a number. That's the whole calculation.
• No hit points. Damage is compared to Toughness in one shot. Beat it, you're rattled; beat it by 4, you take a Wound. Three Wounds is your budget. There's no pool to whittle down.p94
• Initiative is a card deck, redealt every round. Order changes constantly, and a Joker means you act whenever you like plus +2 to everything.p91
• Failure is normal. A d6 skill misses a flat TN 4 about a third of the time even with the Wild Die. The system expects you to fail and then spend something to fix it. A failed roll isn't evidence of a bad build.
• The metacurrency isn't optional flavour. You can play a whole D&D campaign never touching Inspiration. Here, a player who hoards Bennies is playing wrong and will probably die of it.

03Raises

Beat the target by 4 or more and you got a raise. Needed a 4, rolled an 8 — raise.p88

Raises matter everywhere. In combat, a raise on the attack adds +1d6 damage. Out of combat it's the difference between picking the lock and picking the lock without tripping the alarm, or between "he's lying" and "he's lying about the third question specifically."

04Bennies

You start each session with three. They're a currency for refusing bad luck, and the book explicitly tells the GM to be generous with them.p90

Spend one to:

• Reroll any Trait roll — you keep the best of all your rolls, so a reroll can never make things worse.
• Instantly clear Shaken — any time, even on someone else's turn.
• Soak damage. The best one. See below.
• Draw a new Action Card.
• Reroll damage.
• Nudge the story — one more clue, a mundane item you happen to have, a slightly more agreeable NPC. GM's call, but ask.

You earn them by roleplaying your Hindrances, being clever, or making the table laugh. When your character's flaw drags everyone into trouble, that's you playing correctly and you should get paid for it.p22

05A combat round

Cards

Everyone's dealt one card from a 54-card deck, both Jokers in. Count down Ace to Two; ties break by suit — Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. Extras usually share one card as a group. Reshuffle after any round in which a Joker appears.p91–92

Jokers act at any point in the round, can interrupt, and add +2 to all Trait and damage rolls.p92

Your turn

Your Pace in movement plus one action. Movement isn't an action — you get it free. Pace 6 is standard, and each tabletop inch is 2 yards. Running adds a d6 to your Pace at −2 to everything that turn. Climbing, swimming, and rough ground cost 2″ per inch.p92

Multi-Actions

Up to three actions, at −2 to all of them for each extra action. Two actions is −2 each; three is −4 each. Declare them all before rolling anything, and the penalty stands even if a later action never happens. Free actions are exempt both ways.p103

06Getting hurt

Roll damage, compare to Toughness:

A raise on the attack roll adds +1d6 damage on top.p94

Shaken — you can move and take free actions, nothing else. Free Spirit roll at the start of your turn to recover, or spend a Benny to clear it instantly. Getting Shaken while already Shaken becomes a Wound.p203

Wounds — each is −1 to every Trait roll and −1 Pace, capping at −3. You can carry three; a fourth Incapacitates you. Ordinary enemies drop on the first Wound, which is why fights against mooks are fast and fights against named villains aren't.p95

Incapacitated — immediate Vigor roll. Critical Failure kills you. Failure means a permanent Injury and Bleeding Out. Success or raise means a temporary one.p95

Healing takes 10 minutes per Wound, and there's a Golden Hour: one attempt per healer within the hour the injury was taken. Miss it and it's natural healing only. Don't let the medic burn their roll casually.p96

07Not being the fighter

You may end up in a fight your character isn't built for. Two options make any skill useful there:

Test — use any plausible skill to rattle an enemy. Grit in the eyes, an insult, a flashed badge, killing the lights. It's opposed by the attribute your chosen skill is linked to — trip someone with Athletics and they resist with Agility. Win and you choose: he's Distracted (−2 to everything) or Vulnerable (+2 for everyone to hit him). With a raise he's also Shaken. The person with the shotgun will love you.p108

Support — roll a relevant skill to hand an ally a bonus on what they're about to do.p106

Between them there's basically never a turn where you have nothing to offer.

Also worth knowing: The Drop is +4 to attack and damage when your target is bound or completely unaware.p100 Ambushes are devastating in this system — in both directions.

08The skill list

Every skill is tied to an attribute. That link matters when you build: a skill costs 1 point per step while at or below its linked attribute, and 2 points per step above it.p10 The attribute never adds to the roll — the link only affects what the skill costs.

Five start free at d4: Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Persuasion, Stealth. Everything else starts at nothing, and rolling a skill you don't have is d4−2.p89

09If you have powers

Only characters with an Arcane Background Edge have powers at all. If you don't have one, skip this section.p148

The Edge gives you three things: an arcane skill (which one depends on the Background — Psionics, Spellcasting, Faith, Focus or Weird Science), a number of starting powers, and a pool of Power Points.

Many powers are opposed rather than rolled against a flat 4 — you have to beat the target's Spirit or Smarts. Those punish a low arcane die much harder than TN 4 powers do. If your character leans on one, buy the die up.

10Advancement

Roughly one Advance per session. Each buys one of:

• A new Edge
• One skill raised, if it's at or above its linked attribute
• Two skills raised, if they're below their linked attributes — including buying a brand new one at d4
• One attribute raised — once per Rank only
• Removing a Hindrance

Ranks run Novice → Seasoned (4 Advances) → Veteran (8) → Heroic (12) → Legendary (16). Rank gates the better Edges and powers.p54