These guidelines describe how to use the Story Engine scene resolution rules with Active Exploits Diceless Roleplaying characters. Six-sided dice are required. Building the Die Roll

1.	Each character gets one base die (1D) and adds an extra die for each +1 in an Ability. For example, a character with a fitness rating of +2 gets three dice for fitness-related scenes.

2.	Luck can add an extra die for each point expended. It can also be used to initiate Quick Takes when “mundane” tasks are concerned.

3.	Discipline can add an extra die for each point expended. It can also be used to initiate Quick Takes when “magical” or “supernatural” tasks are concerned.

4.	Experience can add an extra die for each point expended. It can also be used to initiate Quick Takes related to the skill being used.

5.	Players merge their dice in a common pool.

6.	A number of dice are removed from the common pool and made “automatic odds” based on skill ratings. Novice skills produce one odd, proficient skills produce two odds, and expert skills produce three odds.

7.	The total number of dice resulting in an odd number is added to the sum of automatic odds.

8.	Any die that results in a “one” not only counts as an odd, but an additional die is also rolled and added to the total. Any subsequent ones also permit an additional die to be rolled. Dice separated as automatic odds are also rolled, but only to check for ones and applied in this manner.

Resolving the Scene
There are five difficulty levels for uncontested (or unopposed) tasks, each requiring a specific number of odds in order for the side to succeed. The final number of a side’s odds must be greater than the difficulty rating or the opposing side’s number of odds in order to succeed. When the difficulty rating of a task is the same no matter how many people work towards its goal, the number of odds required is increased by one for every character involved.

	Difficulty			Odds Required
	trivial			1
	routine			2
	challenging			4
	improbable			6
	impossible			9

A scene can also be impacted with bonuses or penalties for a side due to some sort of advantage or disadvantage, respectively. If the bonus can be applied to all members of a side, every character can roll extra dice (from one to three dice). If only some members have an advantage, just these characters get the additional dice. If a penalty can be applied, it increases the side’s difficulty or number of odds required for success (from one to three odds). The margin of the task is equal to the number of total odds less the number of odds required (total odds– required odds). This is used to describe the outcome of the scene.

	Margin			Outcome
	-4 or less			complete failure
	-2 to -3			basic failure
	-1			partial failure
	0 to 1			partial success
	2 to 3			basic success
	4 or more			complete success

When appropriate, a partial success can call for another scene where the characters or their opponents try to push their advantage and earn a full success. The consequences of the partial success are assessed and a second “take” is played as a follow-up of the previous scene. In this follow-up, the outcome is handled differently.

	Second Outcome			Final Outcome
	complete failure			basic failure
	basic failure			partial failure
	partial failure			partial failure
	partial success			basic success
	basic success			complete success
	complete success			complete success

When a draw results from a contested task, both sides participate in a second round of bidding. This is not a new scene, however. It is simply a different resolution of the same scene. Quick Takes
A character can invoke a Quick Take by expending luck (for mundane tasks), discipline (for magical or supernatural tasks), or experience (for the relevant skill). Alternatively, for each +1 in an ability, a character can invoke one Quick Take per game session—for example, a fitness rating of +2 permits a character to invoke two fitness-related Quick Takes per episode. A character involved in a Quick Take does not fully contribute to the larger scene, although the result of his action can give bonus dice to the larger scene or suppress an advantage given to the opponents. The character’s base die and each extra die gained from expending luck, discipline, or experience can be used in the larger scene, but no other sources of dice can be applied (such as those from skills). The Outcome
The margin typically indicates how close a side is from the goal stated for the scene before the resolution. Other situations, like injury, require additional work. The margin indicates the number of grades of fatigue or injury inflicted on the other side. The winners decide how the damages are distributed among the members of the opposing side and the players can volunteer for any number of health grades. Armor can negate damage, provided that it is effective against the type inflicted—a number of dice equal to the armor rating are rolled. Each odd rolled negates one grade of damage. For more precise outcomes, a positive margin can be expended in order to define certain effects. This repartition must not change the nature of the overall margin of the scene—for example, a partial success cannot become a basic or complete success as a result of the effects. These same effects can be used with vehicles.

•	One point can be assigned to a successful action (a hit in a fight, for example).

•	Two points can be assigned to a triumph (one hit with +2 or double damage, for example).

•	Three points can be assigned to a successful called shot.

•	Four points can be assigned to a triumph and a called shot.

If both sides have a positive margin, each assigns these points to a single action in turn until no more points are available (the winner does so first). The winner of the scene is still the side that achieves the greater number of odds. The opposition can use its points to cancel the action of the other side. If an action is cancelled, the countered side can assign the next action. The players are encouraged to assign actions to the characters that have contributed to the success of the scene. If the success is only partial, the characters may not be allowed to use their single most-powerful weapon unless the character wielding the weapon expends a point of luck. For example: The winning side decides that one of its members, equipped with a laser gun (5inj), applies one of the successes to hit an opposing character who is wearing synthetic armor (protection of 1 against F2-class weapons). The target receives 4inj. The rest of the margin can then be applied to other effects. Written by Jean-François Cabirol and Brett M. Bernstein from original material created by Christian Aldridge. ©2008 Precis Intermedia. Story Engine and Active Exploits Diceless are trademarks of Precis Intermedia. All rights reserved.