Basic Rules

Core Mechanic

Any time an action’s outcome is in question, it is resolved by rolling a 20-sided die (d20). If you roll equal to or under a target number, you succeed. If you roll over, you fail. Anytime you see the term Roll Under, it means roll equal to or under.

Stats

Revolver characters have 4 ability stats. Brawn, Agility, Mind, and Grit.

Brawn: Your ability to perform feats of strength, take hits, and resist disease and poisons.

Agility: Your ability to be quick on your feet, nimble with your hands, and dodge threats.

Mind: Your ability to resist mental attacks, and react and reason quickly.

Grit: Your ability to tough it out in a bad situation, and avoid attacks by the skin of your teeth.

Checks

A check occurs when you attempt an action related to a stat where success is not guaranteed.

You succeed on a check by rolling under or equal to the relevant stat.

You should only roll if the outcome of an action is in question. If success or failure is near guaranteed, no need to roll.

The GM may add modifiers to rolls as needed. Generally, a meaningful impediment or difficult task will add a +3 to a roll. A major impediment or very difficult task will add a +6.

For example…
Dodging an Explosion. A character is standing at the edge of an explosion. They roll an Agility check to dive behind cover. The character’s Agility is 13, they roll an 8, so they successfully dive behind cover and avoid the explosion's damage.

Kicking open a door. A character wants to kick down a door in a hurry. They roll a Brawn Check. The character’s Brawn is 14, they roll a 15, so they fail to kick the door down. If the character were not in a hurry, a roll would not be necessary here, as there would be no consequence for trying again as many times as it takes.

Opposed Rolls

When two characters take the same action against each other, an opposed roll occurs. Both characters roll the relevant stat and whoever rolls under by more succeeds. Ties go to the character with the higher stat.

For example…

Grappling. A character wants to hold a Cambion in place. The character’s Brawn is 14, the Cambion’s is 12. The character rolls a 10 and the Cambion rolls a 9. The character has rolled 4 under their Brawn while the Cambion has rolled 3 under theirs. The character succeeds and is holding the Cambion in place.