Rolling Dice
Empire is based on Cortex Prime.
There are five types of dice, between four and twelve-sided: D4, D6, D8, D10 and D12. Dice may sometimes change size, called stepping up or stepping down in this guide. For example, stepping up a D6 would turn it into a D8.
Characters have traits, which you can read more about on Your Character's Sheet, rated at between D4 and D12. When you roll dice, you select one trait from each of Distinctions, Attributes and Skills to roll, plus, if applicable, a Resource or Signature Asset.
Plot points are a metacurrency - something you as a player can activate which has an effect on your character, but which is not itself an in-character concept - which are gained primarily through rolling hitches or using a character's distinction trait as a hindrance, and which can be used to gain various benefits.
Tests
Tests are dice rolls made against a set difficulty number. You roll your dice and the system automatically picks two dice which will beat that difficulty number, then looks for the largest unneeded dice as an "effect die". Effect dice determine the magnitude of a success. If you roll a D8, a D6 and a D10, and get a 2, a 6 and a 9, you would need to use your 6 and 9 to pass the test, so the effect would be D8. If you those same dice and got a 7, 2 and 9, you would need to use the D8 and D10 to pass the test, so the effect would be D6.
If you roll a 1, that is a hitch - see below - which doesn't count towards your total and cannot be used as your effect die. If you have no available dice to be effect dice, your effect die defaults to D4.
Baseline difficulty ratings are as follows:
Very Easy: 3
Easy: 7
Challenging: 11
Hard: 15
Very Hard: 19
Contests
Contests are, in the context of this game, much rarer. Characters roll dice to oppose other - typically non-player - characters. The character initiating it rolls their dice and picks two, which then set the difficulty. The opposition rolls their dice and picks two. If they do not beat the difficulty, the initiator wins the contest. Otherwise, the initiator can choose to give in, and receive a plot point for doing so, or escalate, with the difficulty being set by their opponent's last roll. This back-and-forth continues until one side either fails to beat the set difficulty or gives in.
Contests are dealt with manually rather than automatically. Tests are generally the standard way of rolling dice rather than contests.
Heroic Successes
If you pass a test or contest by beating the required number by 5 or more, that is a heroic success. Step up the effect die for every 5 points by which you beat the required number.
In GMed scenes, you may also be allocated a hero die. Hero dice can be used by spending a plot point after any roll. You can either roll the hero die and add it to your total, or you can use the hero die as your effect die. Hero dice can result in any hitches, as with any dice.
Hitches, Botches and Complications
If you roll a 1, that is a hitch. You can't use that die towards your total or as your effect die. If all your dice come up with 1s, that is a botch. That's a sure sign that something has gone really rather wrong. You and the GM can react accordingly.
At the GM's discretion, they may give you a plot point when you roll a hitch and assign a complication. Complications typically start at D6, but for each additional or subsequent hitch you roll, they might be stepped up. For example, a series of gaffes at a social event might cause "Disgruntled Company (D6)" which escalates. For example, if the first roll has a 1, that might result in a D6 complication. If the next roll has two 1s, it might increase the complication to D10.
A complication increases the difficulty of your dice rolls by half the complication value - between +2 and +6 - to static difficulty tests, if the complication is likely to be a hindrance. In contests, your opponent can add the complication to their dice pool if they exploit it. For example, a complication of "Broken Leg (D8)" might add +4 to all tests involving moving around, but wouldn't affect tests about speaking to people.
Complications may be reduced during a scene by your character or another taking time to focus on addressing it. The difficulty is equal to the complication divided by 2, plus 8. So "Broken Leg (D8)" would by 4+8, for a difficulty of 12. If that leg was really in a bad way, it could be D12, so the difficulty would be 6+8, for a total of 14. Someone might make a roll of a distinction, plus mind, plus medicine, to try to deal with it. The outcomes can be as follows: if you beat the difficulty and your effect die is greater than the complication, the complication is eliminated. If you beat the difficulty and the effect die is equal to or smaller than the complication, the complication is stepped down by one, and you can’t try to recover that complication again until time passes. If you fail to beat the difficulty and roll a hitch, the complication is stepped up by one for every hitch rolled.
Being Taken Out
If a complication increases past a D12, a character is "taken out" and will struggle to have a substantial impact on a scene from there on unless others intervene to mitigate the complication. A character can avoid being taken out by spending a plot point, but immediately receives another D6 complication as well as any existing complications. What being taken out represents varies depending on context. In a scene involving a fight, a taken out character might be injured, unconscious, or even, at the player's discretion, just running away. In a scene involving exploration, the character might be lost or worn out with the search. In a social scene, a character's non-player character peers might be conducting business without them or ignoring them at negotiations.
Assets
Signature assets are a permanent feature of a character's sheet. However, temporary assets can be created scene-by-scene by spending a plot point. Assets do not have to be physical objects. For example, someone sneaking into a hostile camp might arrange for a few local drunks to cause a distraction at the far side, and so create an asset of "Distraction (D6)", which they can add to their dice pools. Assets created using a plot point start at a rating of D6. A character with appropriate special effects might be able to increase the asset to a D8. For example, if the character who wants the distraction has a distinction of "Scout with a Plan" and an associated special effect of "Spend a plot point to create a D8 asset when you are scouting and have had time to make preparations in advance." Assets vanish after the scene in which they are used.
Special Effects
Special effects are rules specific to each individual character, which modify their distinctions. There is no set list of special effects. They are done on a per character basis. They have a cost and a benefit. Costs might include: spending a plot point, stepping down a beneficial die, stepping up a non-beneficial die, choosing to do or introduce something risky, ill-advised or complicated, or creating a D8 complication. Benefits might include: earning a plot point, adding a D6 to a dice pool, stepping up a beneficial die, doubling a beneficial die, stepping down a non-beneficial die, rerolling a single die, or creating a D8 asset rather than a standard D6. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Special effects usually require appropriate narrative conditions to be present. For example, a character might have a special effect associated with their warfare skill, stating, "When leading soldiers in a forest, spend a plot point to step up warfare if you intend to exploit the terrain." That might be quite useful in the forests of Hana, but quite useless on the plains of Hadash.
Rerolling a die means picking a single die to reroll and using its result for the test or contest instead of the previous one. Doubling a die means rolling two dice of that size for a test or contest instead of one.
Every distinction has a single special effect by default: "Hinder: step die down to D4 and gain a plot point." This is where you as a player decide that some facet of your character is working against them in a situation and choose to take a disadvantage on a roll in exchange for a plot point from the GM. For example, a character with a distinction of "Dignified Diplomat" might always roll it at the standard D8 while their work proceeds normally, but if a negotiation deteriorates into a brawl, they might take it to be a hindrance and roll a D4 instead.
Resources
Resources represent major leverage of wealth, military or political capital. While they are still only one die which is spent once in a scene, their presence alone marks a shift in the narrative. Purchasing a set of fine dwarvish armaments would be quite impossible without using wealth. A group of characters who know about raiders from the Plains Kingdoms might only be able to observe or harry them if they go alone, but if one of their number is a commander from House Anadun and they avail of "Anadun Infantry (D8)", the scene might then turn into a skirmish. Characters trying to negotiate would be well-served by having political capital - certainly the most abstract resource - to hand.