The Game Runner will always walk you through building the dice pools, by first deciding what Trait and Skill fits the situation best. You can then ask if a particular Item you have can add to the dice pool (you can argue the case, if the group is open to that). Items may not come into play for a lot of situations. Then if the situation triggers any of your custom Tags, dice can be added depending on what your Tag says. You then roll and find out what happens! (all of these rules also apply to the Combat section below) Since every situation will fit into one of the three Traits (Physical / Mental / Social), think of Traits as qualities all characters have to some degree. They are the inherent capabilities your character is naturally strong/weak at - the "DNA" or genetic makeup of your character. If they're older or have more experience, think of them as what your character would have naturally grown into. EXAMPLE: 2d6 is the "average person" in your world for each Trait. If your character is naturally gifted in Mental capabilities, they could have 3d6 (a prodigy can have 5d6). If they're not that physically gifted or generally socially unaware, they could have 1d6. Since these are important numbers as they form the foundation of your character's natural abilities, they will always have at least 1d6 as a base, and they will never (or very rarely) permanently increase/decrease. The rare cases they do will be determined by the Game Runner and should be a very big moment or a long time has passed (like getting older). Think of Skills as qualities that anyone can learn and increase/improve over time. These are the "building blocks" of your character - a mechanical way of showing growth and getting better at something. You could start out at 0d6 for a Skill, and over time it can increase drastically if you focus on it. The set of Skills you can improve will always be pre-determined by the Game Runner before the campaign starts, which will be specific to the world you're playing in. In other words, all characters will have the same list of Skills they can choose from and improve over time. Therefore, the list of Skills never change, and your character's proficiency in them can increase if you choose. (You can have 0d6 in a Skill, which just means you don't add any dice to the pool if that Skill is called - your character hasn't trained it.) Items are any objects you can acquire and utilize. They're usually disposable, can have a limited number of use and/or break, and always have a default dice bonus specific for its primary use (determined by the Game Runner). Whenever you're building your dice pool and a particular Item's primary use comes into play, you can add that Item's bonus to the dice pool. If you're using that Item in a different way other than its primary use, ask the Game Runner if that Item could be added to your pool and if the bonus needs to be modified according to the situation. Be prepared to roleplay how your character uses it! EXAMPLE: A flashlight has a default +4d6 in dark environments (its primary use). A character wants to use it in a melee combat situation, in which case the Game Runner determines it's a +1d6 bonus. See the Combat section below for more information on using Items as weapons/armor. Think of Tags as the biggest way to add custom "flavor" to your character - what really makes your character unique and special that no other character has. You and the Game Runner will work together to create these Tags, specific to your character concept. The bonus for Tags will always be +2d6 and will usually come with narrative "abilities" - things you can do that others can't. Because of this, Tags should always be conditional and very specific to the situation, meaning they should only come into play if it meets certain criteria. EXAMPLE: Tracker - When attempting to follow someone or predict where they went, gain +2d6 bonus to roll. EXAMPLE: Super Strength - You can attempt to succeed at challenges related to lifting, pushing, or breaking things with your hands up to a 12d6 Dice Threshold (also gain +2d6 bonus to roll). Lastly, you can try to aid another character by rolling your own pool. You build the dice pool following all the rules above, and any 1s that are rolled are added to the dice pool of the character you're aiding. However, if you fail the roll, that character subtracts -1d6 from their pool. Any number of characters can aid at the same time (if it makes sense). Aiding in this way is different than aiding with Boost Points (see Boost Points section below). In the GAME RUNNER SECTION, you can see templates and tables on how certain amounts of dice translate to "power," effectiveness, or helpfulness.