Plaintext
Destiny Dice
By Ewen Cluney
Destiny Dice are a set of custom dice for use in role-playing games. It’s a rather baroque way to handle die
rolls, with six types of color-coded dice, but once you learn how to use it, it becomes quick and, more
importantly, adds an extra dimension of narrative variation to die rolls. This document includes rules for
using Destiny Dice with Fate Accelerated Edition (available as a free/pay what you want download from
www.faterpg.com), but with a little tinkering it should be easy to adapt Destiny Dice to Fate Core or any
number of similar systems.
This is something of an experiment, an attempt to make an open and generic version of the special dice
used in some of Fantasy Flight Games’ RPGs. You are more than welcome to use these in your own projects
however you wish. The Destiny Dice pack I’ve made available through The Game Crafter is my “official”
version, but I’ve made the files used available for download so that you can take what I’ve made and adapt
it to your own needs.
Types of Dice
Die Type Color Description
Skill Green Skill dice represent a character’s own talents, abilities, and training, and form
the core of their die pool for any given action.
Expertise Blue Expertise dice are an upgraded version of Skill dice, representing exceptional
skill in a particular area.
Aid White Aid dice represent external factors that help a character along.
Difficulty Purple Difficulty dice are a mirror image of Skill dice, representing either the difficulty
of the situation or the skill of one’s opponent.
Challenge Red Challenge dice are the opposite of Expertise dice, representing an exceptionally
skilled opponent.
Hindrance Black Opposite Aid dice are Hindrance dice, which represent external factors that
make things more difficult for them.
Die Symbols
Symbol Name Description
In order to succeed an action needs to have at least one Success symbol
+ Plus Success
showing.
- Minus Failure Failure symbols cancel out Success symbols.
Advantage symbols represent some bit of extra luck or a useful side effect,
○ Circle Advantage
even if the action otherwise fails.
× X
○ Disadvantage Disadvantage symbols are bad luck, and cancel out Advantage symbols.
Hope symbols count as Success, plus you can use them for a particularly
★ Star Hope powerful helpful event. Unlike with Advantage and Disadvantage, Hope and
Despair do not cancel each other out
Despair symbols count as Failures (and thus cancel out Success, but not
A Skull Despair
Hope), plus they cause a powerful negative event.
1
Destiny Dice in Fate Accelerated
Characters
Approaches
Players assign Approaches like in the standard FAE rules, except that these in turn convert into a certain
number of Skill Dice (and possibly an Expertise Die as well).
Description (Fate #) Base Die Pool
Great (+4) 1 Skill Die, 2 Expertise Dice
Good (+3) 2 Skill Dice, 1 Expertise Die
Fair (+2) 3 Skill Dice
Average (+1) 2 Skill Dice
Mediocre (+0) 1 Skill Die
Stunts
Stunts that add a +2 in FAE instead add an Aid die () to your die pool when applicable.
Action Resolution
Building Your Die Pool
Rather than picking up four Fate Dice, you will build a die pool out of Destiny Dice. Start with the Skill
() and Expertise dice () from the relevant Approach. Invoking aspects, using stunts, and getting outside
assistance may also add one or more Aid dice ().
You will also add negative dice to represent either the inherent difficulty of the task, or the opposition you
are facing. If you have an opponent, add whatever Skill, Expertise, and Aid dice they would have if they
were rolling to your pool in the form of Difficulty (), Challenge (), and Hindrance dice ().
For example, if you are using an Approach rated and get added to your pool from aspects, and
are acting against an opponent who would normally be rolling , you would instead add
to your pool, making your overall pool consist of .
If you do not have an opponent, the GM will assign a difficulty, and if appropriate assign a number of
Difficulty dice for you to add to your pool as follows:
Fate Difficulty Difficulty Dice
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Fantastic (+6)
2
Roll and Interpret
From there, take your entire die pool and roll it. Count up the number of Success symbols (+) on the dice,
then subtract the number of Failure symbols (-). You also count any Hope (★) symbols toward your
Successes and any Despair (A) symbols towards your Failures. That is your final number of successes,
which you will then treat as your margin of success. If you have more Failures than Successes you have
failed, if you have an equal number of each (including zero) you tie, and if you have more Successes than
Failures you succeed. If you have fewer Successes than Failures and you have an opponent, treat your
Failures as the opponent’s Successes.
Using Special Symbols
If the roll came up with any of the other symbols, you will also need to count them up and put them to use.
Advantage (○) and Disadvantage (○ × ) cancel each other out, and if there are any points of one or the other
left either the player who rolled (for Advantage) or the GM (for Disadvantage) gets to spend them as per the
table below.
Expertise and Challenge dice also have Hope (★) and Despair (A) symbols. These do not cancel each
other out for the purposes of their own unique effects, they count as Successes and Failures, and they have
other, more potent effects.
No one is required to spend symbols, but it’s pretty much always in your best interest to spend as many as
you can find ways to use. Unspent symbols are lost.
Symbols Effect
○/★ Character can clear their lowest Stress box.
○○ Give an ally an Aid die () in their next roll.
○○ Gain a Fate point, up to your Refresh value.
○/A
× Character checks off their lowest Stress box.
○×○× Give an ally a Hindrance die () on their next roll.
★ Accomplish something useful that significantly affects the situation in your favor.
A A piece of equipment runs out of ammo/power or otherwise malfunctions.
○
×○× /A Character or an ally takes a Hindrance die () on their next roll, or an enemy gets an Aid
die () on their next roll.
○
×○ × /A
×○ Character takes a Consequence to their lowest open consequence box.
Aspects
Invoking an aspect adds an Aid die () to the pool instead of +2, or lets you upgrade a Skill die () to an
Expertise die (). In this variant you cannot reroll.
If the opposing side in a contested action invokes an Aspect, they may add a Hindrance die () to your die
pool, or upgrade a Difficulty die () to a Challenge die ().
Bad Guys
In FAE mooks are Skilled (+2) at some things and Bad (-2) at others. When using Destiny Dice, mooks roll
for the things they are Skilled at and for the things they are Bad at. Thus when a PC acts
against a mook who is doing something they’re Bad at, the player adds to their own die pool.
3
The Dice
The tables below give a list of what is on the six faces of each type of Destiny Dice, both as a reference and
so that you can create your own dice.
# Skill () # Expertise () # Aid ()
1 (blank) 1 ○ 1 (blank)
2 ○ 2 + 2 ○
3 ○ 3 + 3 ○○
4 + 4 +○ 4 +
5 +○ 5 ++ 5 +
6 ++ 6 ★ 6 +○
# Difficulty () # Challenge () # Hindrance ()
1 (blank) 1 ○
× 1 (blank)
2 ○× 2 - 2 ○×
3 ○× 3 - 3 ○×○×
4 - 4 -○× 4 -
5 -○
× 5 -- 5 -
6 -- 6 A 6 -○
×
Credits
Created by Ewen Cluney
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
This work is based on Fate Core System and Fate Accelerated Edition (found at http://www.faterpg.com/),
products of Evil Hat Productions, LLC, developed, authored, and edited by Leonard Balsera, Brian Engard,
Jeremy Keller, Ryan Macklin, Mike Olson, Clark Valentine, Amanda Valentine, Fred Hicks, and Rob
Donoghue, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
The Fate Core font is © Evil Hat Productions, LLC and is used with permission. The Four Actions icons
were designed by Jeremy Keller.
4
Destiny Dice Quick Reference
Types of Dice
Die Type Color Description
Skill Green Skill dice represent a character’s own talents, abilities, and training, and form the core of their
die pool for any given action.
Expertise Blue Expertise dice are an upgraded version of Skill dice, representing exceptional skill in a
particular area.
Aid White Aid dice represent external factors that help a character along.
Difficulty Purple Difficulty dice are a mirror image of Skill dice, representing either the difficulty of the
situation or the skill of one’s opponent.
Challenge Red Challenge dice are the opposite of Expertise dice, representing an exceptionally skilled
opponent.
Hindrance Black Opposite Aid dice are Hindrance dice, which represent external factors that make things more
difficult for them.
Die Symbols
Symbol Name Description
+ Plus Success In order to succeed an action needs to have at least one Success symbol showing.
- Minus Failure Failure symbols cancel out Success symbols.
Advantage symbols represent some bit of extra luck or a useful side effect, even if the action
○ Circle Advantage
otherwise fails.
× X
○ Disadvantage Disadvantage symbols are bad luck, and cancel out Advantage symbols.
Hope symbols count as Success, plus you can use them for a particularly powerful helpful
★ Star Hope event. Unlike with Advantage and Disadvantage, Hope and Despair do not cancel each
other out
Despair symbols count as Failures (and thus cancel out Success, but not Hope), plus they
A Skull Despair
cause a powerful negative event.
Using Special Symbols
Symbols Effect
○/★ Character can clear their lowest Stress box.
○○ Give an ally an Aid die () in their next roll.
○○ Gain a Fate point, up to your Refresh value.
× /A
○ Character checks off their lowest Stress box.
○×○× Give an ally a Hindrance die () on their next roll.
★ Accomplish something useful that significantly affects the situation in your favor.
A A piece of equipment runs out of ammo/power or otherwise malfunctions.
○
×○× /A Character or an ally takes a Hindrance die () on their next roll, or an enemy gets an Aid die () on their
next roll.
○
×○ × /A
×○ Character takes a Consequence to their lowest open consequence box.
Description (Fate #) Base Die Pool Fate Difficulty Difficulty Dice
Great (+4) 1 Skill Die, 2 Expertise Dice Fair (+2)
Good (+3) 2 Skill Dice, 1 Expertise Die Good (+3)
Fair (+2) 3 Skill Dice Great (+4)
Average (+1) 2 Skill Dice Superb (+5)
Mediocre (+0) 1 Skill Die Fantastic (+6)
5