Narrative dice reference for Edge of the Empire.
The Seven Dice
| Die | Color | Sides | Tag | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boost | Light Blue | d6 | #StarWarsBoost | Situational advantage — good gear, an ally's help, favorable terrain |
| Setback | Black | d6 | #StarWarsSetback | Minor obstacles — poor lighting, awkward footing, distraction |
| Ability | Green | d8 | #StarWarsAbility | Raw characteristic/skill capability |
| Difficulty | Purple | d8 | #StarWarsDifficulty | Base opposition of the task |
| Proficiency | Yellow | d12 | #StarWarsProficiency | Trained skill — upgraded Ability |
| Challenge | Red | d12 | #StarWarsChallenge | Serious/skilled opposition — upgraded Difficulty |
| Force | White | d12 | #StarWarsForce | Destiny Pool and Force powers |
Positive dice (roll for the character): Negative dice (roll against the character):
The Eight Symbols
| Symbol | Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Success | #StarWarsSuccess | The task succeeds if these outnumber Failures |
| Failure | #StarWarsFailure | Cancels Success |
| Advantage | #StarWarsAdvantage | A positive side effect, regardless of success or failure |
| Threat | #StarWarsThreat | A negative side effect, regardless of success or failure |
| Triumph | #StarWarsTriumph | Counts as one Success plus a dramatic benefit |
| Despair | #StarWarsDespair | Counts as one Failure plus a dramatic setback |
| Light Side | #StarWarsLightSide | Force die pip — Light Side Destiny Point |
| Dark Side | #StarWarsDarkSide | Force die pip — Dark Side Destiny Point |
Building a Dice Pool
- Ability vs. skill. Roll a number of dice equal to the higher of the governing characteristic and the skill ranks. Then upgrade a number of to equal to the lower of the two.
- Brawn 3, Athletics 1 →
- Brawn 3, Athletics 3 →
- Brawn 3, Athletics 0 → (untrained)
- Set difficulty. Add dice per the ladder below, or roll the opponent's characteristic + skill as the difficulty in an opposed check.
- Apply upgrades. Adversary talents, high-quality opposition, and some abilities upgrade into .
- Add situational dice. for favorable circumstances, for unfavorable ones. These stack freely.
- Roll everything at once and read the net result.
Difficulty Ladder
| Difficulty | Dice |
|---|---|
| Simple | (no roll — just succeed) |
| Easy | |
| Average | |
| Hard | |
| Daunting | |
| Formidable |
Upgrade vs. Add
Upgrading swaps a die for its larger cousin — becomes , becomes . If there is no eligible die left to upgrade, add a new basic die of that type instead. Upgrading is what introduces and into a pool.
Adding or changes the odds without changing the stakes.
Downgrading reverses the process: back to , back to .
GM shorthand: if a moment should be able to go spectacularly right or wrong, upgrade. If it should just be a bit harder or easier, add or .
Reading the Results
Cancel symbols one-for-one, then read what's left:
- cancels
- cancels
Success/failure and advantage/threat are resolved independently. A check can fail with net Advantage, or succeed with net Threat — those are the most interesting outcomes at the table.
| Net Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1+ | Task succeeds. Extra Successes increase magnitude (e.g. +1 damage per net Success on an attack). |
| 0 net | Task fails. Failures beyond the first do not stack in magnitude. |
| Net | Positive side effects, spent from the list below. Does not change success or failure. |
| Net | Negative side effects, spent by the GM. Does not change success or failure. |
| Counts as a and survives cancellation. The Triumph effect always triggers. | |
| Counts as a and survives cancellation. The Despair effect always triggers. |
A single roll can contain both and — resolve both.
Spending Advantage and Triumph
Common options (the core rulebook's tables are the authority; these are the ones that come up most):
| Cost | Effect |
|---|---|
| Recover 1 strain | |
| Add to the next allied character's check | |
| Perform an immediate free maneuver (does not exceed the 2-maneuver limit) | |
| Add to the next opponent's check | |
| Notice a critical detail, or spot a useful piece of terrain | |
| On a successful attack, activate a weapon quality or inflict a Critical Injury | |
| Any Advantage effect, or trigger a Critical Injury on a successful attack | |
| Destroy or disable an opponent's weapon or gear |
Spending Threat and Despair
| Cost | Effect |
|---|---|
| Suffer 1 strain | |
| Lose the benefit of a prior maneuver (e.g. drop out of cover) | |
| The next allied character suffers on their check | |
| An opponent acts immediately out of turn | |
| The character's weapon jams, or they drop something important | |
| Any Threat effect, or the weapon is damaged/out of ammo | |
| An unlooked-for complication with lasting consequences |
Unspent and are lost at the end of the check. Spend them or lose them — this is the main engine of "out of the frying pan, into the fire."
The Destiny Pool
At the start of each session, every player and the GM rolls one die. The pips become the Destiny Pool: points for players, points for the GM.
- Players spend a Light Side point to upgrade one to on a check, or to introduce a minor story fact.
- The GM spends a Dark Side point to upgrade one to , or to introduce a complication.
- Spending flips the point to the opposite side rather than removing it, so the pool shifts back and forth all session.
Only one Destiny Point may be spent to affect a given check.
Uncertainty flag: die face distributions and the difficulty ladder are reproduced from the Edge of the Empire core rulebook and are reliable. The Advantage/Threat spend tables above are the frequently-used subset, not the complete printed tables — check Chapter I and the combat chapter for the full lists, including the ones specific to starship combat.
Source Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook, Chapter I - Playing the Game