We are back with another update. In the last Poll, you all voted for what you wanted to learn more about, and “Game Mechanics” won by a close shave over Character Options! As a result, this update is all about explaining ENCORE’s easy-to-learn Diceplay. Let’s get to it!
E.N.C.O.R.E.’s Diceplay
At its core, ENCORE is a simple d6 dice pool system. This means you’re rolling a handful of dice instead of just one.
The core mechanics are that, for all challenges, you pick a few dice (from 2 up to 5), and you roll to beat a number set by the Game Master (GM) by choosing 2 dice from your rolls and summing them up! The more skilled in the challenge you are, the more dice you roll.
The ENCORE spin to this mechanic is that, before you roll, you may have to change two of your base dice in your pool to two unique dice: the Wrinkle die andthe Flair die. If your Old Timer (Player Character) has a ‘wrinkle’ that could complicate things, like a bad hip or bad breath, you change a base die to the Wrinkle die (with a distinct color); and if your Old Timer was spectacularly skilled in this challenge in their pre-retirement life, you change one of the base dice to another (uniquely colored) Flair die.
If your end result ends up using one of those two die, extra shenanigans happen! You can succeed with a Wrinkle, fail with Flair, and so on!
That’s it! This is ENCORE!
Here’s the detailed explanation:
Your Base Dice = These are always there to roll even when you aren’t super good at a Skill. We recommend you have a few of these.
Your Flair Die = This represents your expertise before retirement (sniper, demolitions, seduction, etc.). You should have 1 Flair Die.
Your Wrinkle Die = This represents your age: achy knees, shaky memory, and so on. You should have 1 Wrinkle Die.
When your Old Timer is doing something that is difficult or would lead to weighty consequences in the game, your GM can ask for a Skill Roll. They decide on the Difficulty Rating (DR), which equals the # you have to meet or beat with your dice total. Then, here’s what you do:
Grab your base dice for that Skill (minimum of 2). The # of base dice you roll is determined by your ability in that Skill.
If the Roll involves a Skill you are especially good at, you can replace one Base die with your Flair Die and add it to the dice pool.
If the Roll involves a Skill affected by your age (Wrinkles), you replace one Base die with your Wrinkle die.
Roll the collected dice pool, and choose 2 of the dice to make your total. A 6 result on the Flair Die is a Complete Success, while a 1 on the Wrinkle Die is a Complete Failure, no matter what. Normally, you would want to pick the two highest results to succeed, but you can also choose your Flair Die to use your background talents even if it means getting a lower total score, or even failing the Roll! Alternatively, you might have to choose the Wrinkle Die result in order to succeed (see the example below).
An Example Roll
My Old Timer character Jasper Nielsen is trying to drive a golf cart off a dock and onto a moving boat. Why? That’s a tale for another day. What’s important now is the GM calls for a ‘Take the Wheel’ Roll. Luckily, Jasper’s got a gift for driving: his Skill is 5 here, and he’s got Flair in this skill from his background as an exfiltration expert. Unfortunately, Jasper’s Wrinkle is that he’s got Shaky Hands; that definitely comes into play when trying to launch a souped-up golf cart onto a Bayliner. He grabs 5 base dice, then replaces 2 of them with the Flair and Wrinkle Dice (Normally, having this Flair would grant Jasper other abilities based on his Character build, but we're keeping the example simple for now).
The GM decides this buckwild maneuver is a DR 9, which means it’s very hard, even if Jasper weren’t a geriatric. Jasper has 5 base dice for the ‘Take the Wheel’ Skill, so I replace 2 of those with his Flair and Wrinkle dice, and then I roll: 5, 3, 2, 2 [Flair], and 4 [Wrinkle].
I pick two results from the pool, and luckily, I have 5 and a 4, which does add up to 9! Success! But I had to use the Wrinkle to get the success… this means Jasper succeeded in jumping the cart onto the boat, but there’ll be a funny hitch. I’ll work with my GM and the other players at the table to figure out what that might be.Maybe he landed the jump successfully…but onto the wrong boat! Maybe he hit the gas too hard, and his pills (uh, definitely not spiked with experimental mutagens) spilled out of his pocket and into the lake! Maybe the stunt was caught on the local news, meaning the Old Timers are attracting way too much attention! These moments of goofy escalation can be some of the most exciting at the table.
Final Thoughts
So that is our basic Diceplay in a nutshell! There are other factors that can come into play in the rolls, from contests or combat, to other Old Timers helping (or hindering) a Roll, and so on. Your Character details will give you fun talents and quirks to affect the gameplay as well. What do you think? What part of the diceplay do you want to learn more about? Let us know in the comments!
For those of you who followed this campaign, you’ll be able to download the free Quickstart PDF very soon! And if you haven’t followed us yet, whaddya waiting for? Shake a leg!
If you’re still in the ‘wait and see’ category, that’s fine; the Quickstart will be available for everyone when the ENCORE campaign launches!
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