Core Mechanics
At its heart, the GeneSix system consists of a few core mechanics that can feasibly be adapted to apply to nearly every situation that arises during the game. These rules are meant to be guidelines and certainly cannot simulate all situations that come up during play - individual groups will decide what does and does not work for them and effort has been made to keep these rules integrated but modular so they can be used or discarded as needed. This system places trust in the GM to make the right call for their game.
Normal Checks
When the outcome of a situation is uncertain, or failure would be interesting to the story, the GM will call for a check. The player rolls 2d6, unless the character has Advantage or Disadvantage, in which case the player rolls 3d6. The player will narrate what Approach they are using, then the GM will specify a Target Number with any appropriate Situational Modifiers, then the check proceeds with the results being modified by the Attribute and the Approach. If the result of the check with modifiers applied is equal to or greater than the Target Number, then check is successful, with the degree of success or failure noted as the difference from the Target Number - this is the Delta.
Opposed Checks
When there is a contest between characters that would be less interesting to solve via a Normal Check, an Opposed Check can be used instead. In this instance, the characters narrate their approach, then roll 2d6 (or 3d6 if they have Advantage or Disadvantage), add the Attribute and Approach modifiers, then compare results. The higher result wins the check, with the Delta informing the degree of success. In the event of a tie, each party rolls a d6, with the highest number winning the check. Repeat as necessary until a winner is established.
Group Checks
When expediency is the desired outcome of a check, a group of characters can opt for a Group Check in lieu of several checks.
To perform a group check, the group narrates what they’re attempting to do and decide upon an Attribute and an Approach, and use the highest of each from the group to make the check - the reasoning is that more skilled characters pick up the slack for those less skilled.
Chases
Chases are handled as opposed checks, with the Delta informing the relative distance between the involved parties. When the Delta reaches zero, the parties are considered within range to interact physically.
Challenges
Challenges are checks that count the accumulation of positive Delta, or both positive and negative Delta. These types of checks represent extended effort and can be performed by multiple characters to contribute or detract from the goal. These are usually paired with a time limit.
Single Metric Challenges
Single Metric Challenges track cumulative positive Delta against negative Delta. A GM establishes a numerical value as a threshold for success, and the player(s) make checks and either add positive Delta or subtract negative Delta to their total until the threshold is met or time runs out. This type of check pairs well with time limits.
Double Metric Challenges
Double Metric Challenges track both positive and negative Delta. The GM will establish a threshold for each, and the players try to accumulate enough positive Delta to succeed before enough negative Delta accumulates to fail. This type of check can be paired with time limits but operates well without.
Helping Another Character
When a character specifies that they want to assist another character with a check, the player making the check may roll with Advantage.
Variable Difficulty
The GM will specify a Target number for a check, which is informed by the difficulty of a check and any Conditional Modifiers that may apply.
| Difficulty | Target Number |
|---|---|
| Simple | 3 |
| Easy | 5 |
| Average | 7 |
| Hard | 9 |
| Formidable | 11 |
Difficulties are attributed to tasks based on how hard it would be for an average character to perform the task, regardless of approach. A task that would be easy for a skilled character has the same difficulty as it would for an unskilled character; the skilled character’s training and aptitudes serve to define the ease by which they make a check.
The Delta
The difference between the check result and the target number is the Delta. This is an indication of the measure of success or failure, since Delta can be positive or negative. A delta of zero means the check barely succeeded. A Delta of 4+ is wildly successful. Deltas are the tie-breaker in opposed checks.
Check Results
In addition to success or failure, additional interpretations of the check results apply to the outcome, regardless of success or failure.
| 2d6 Result | Additional Interpretation, despite success or failure |
|---|---|
| Both One | Critical Failure, Scene Altering Circumstances |
| Both Odd | Disadvantageous Circumstances |
| Both Even | Advantageous Circumstances |
| Doubles Odd | Significantly Disadvantageous Circumstances |
| Doubles Even | Significantly Advantageous Circumstances |
| Both Six | Critical Success, Scene Altering Circumstances |
What Are Advantageous/Disadvantageous Circumstances?
When a check yields advantageous or disadvantageous circumstances, the details are resolved in a conversation between the players and the GM. The GM is the final arbiter of the result, but working together with the players is the desired outcome. This occurs regardless of the success or failure of the check. It’s entirely possible to fail a check and have an advantageous outcome, or succeed on a check and have a disadvantageous outcome. These outcome circumstances never override the success or failure of a check - that happens as the results dictate.
Advantageous Circumstances
A check that yields advantageous circumstances is just that - something happens, despite the success or failure of the check, that benefits the character making the check. This is often a narrative advantage, but could yield mechanical effects like granting Advantage to the next allied player’s check.
Examples:
- While picking a lock, the player makes a check and yields a success with advantageous results. Perhaps the lock had an alarm attached to it, and this was incidentally disabled.
- While shooting at a white-armor-clad space fascist, the character fails the check and misses, but the check resulted in advantageous circumstances - perhaps the door controls were blasted and the enemy is now cut off from backup or escape.
Disadvantageous Circumstances
A check that yields disadvantageous circumstances means that despite the success or failure of a check, an additional disadvantageous circumstance occurs for the character making the check. This is often a narrative disadvantage, but could yield mechanical effects like imposing Disadvantage to the next allied player’s check.
- While picking a lock, the player makes a check and yields a success with disadvantageous results. Perhaps the lock was picked, but in doing so, an unnoticed alarm might have been tripped.
- While shooting at a white-armor-clad space fascist, the character fails the check and misses, but the check resulted in disadvantageous circumstances - perhaps the wild shot hits a previously restrained foe and frees them from their bonds to rejoin the melee.
Advantageous / Disadvantageous circumstances are not constrained by the bounds of the check being made - in fact, interesting and creative narrations unrelated to the check at hand are highly encouraged. While applying Advantage/Disadvantage to the next ally’s check is certainly a safe fallback, it’s not always the most interesting outcome for the story.
Significant Advantageous/Disadvantageous Circumstances
Like Advantageous and Disadvantageous circumstances, a significant circumstance means that the result is amplified. No longer is the result a small boon or bane, it is considerably greater, nearly scene altering.
- While picking a lock, the player makes a check and yields a success with significant advantageous circumstances. In addition to the lock being successfully defeated, a trap that would have fired to impale interlopers was also defeated.
- While picking a lock, the player makes a check and yields a success with significant disadvantageous circumstances. While the lock was defeated, perhaps an alarm was tripped and guards were monitoring the door nearby and are ready for action.
- While shooting at a white-armor-clad space fascist, the player makes a check that yields success with significant advantageous circumstances. Perhaps the shot landed but the flailing enemy falls over a control panel and triggers an alert for another section of the base, temporarily redirecting the impending summoned backup.
- While shooting at a white-armor-clad space fascist, the player’s check yields success with significant disadvantageous circumstances. Perhaps the shot landed but nothing could prevent the backup squad from arriving and laying down fire to harry the character making the check.
As a quick guideline, mechanical effects for advantageous/disadvantageous circumstances can be applied as follows:
- Advantageous circumstances - player can grant Advantage to the check for the ally acting next, impose Disadvantage to the check for the opponent acting next, or recover one point of Stress
- Disadvantageous circumstances - players can impose Disadvantage to the check for the ally acting next, apply Advantage to the check for the opponent acting next, or suffer one point of Stress
- Significant advantageous circumstances - player can grant Advantage to the next check for any ally, impose Disadvantage to the next check for any opponent, or recover two points of Stress
- Significant disadvantageous circumstances - player can impose Disadvantage to the next check for any ally, apply Advantage to the next check for any opponent, or suffer two points of Stress
Scene Altering Circumstances
When a check results in double ones or doubles sixes, the results are scene altering - the tides have significantly shifted in favor of or against the character making the check. This result ignores the Advantageous/Disadvantageous Circumstances result, significant or not, as it is far greater in scope. The narrative should reflect the change in a very dire or helpful way.
- While picking a lock, the player’s check yields a critical success and yields a success with scene altering circumstances. Perhaps in the course of picking the lock, the character notices a hidden maintenance shaft that will grant easy access inside without having to carefully pick their way through lock after lock.
- While shooting at a white-armor-clad space fascist, the player’s check yields a critical failure. Not only does the character miss their shot, but perhaps it goes wild, hits a control panel, and triggers lockdown on the facility with alarms blaring and backup arriving in mere moments
When a scene altering circumstance emerges, it is perfectly acceptable to grant Advantage or Disadvantage to checks for the rest of the encounter - common sense should be the guide, but hand in hand with fun and a good story.
Check Modifiers
Checks can be modified under certain circumstances, resulting in the check having either Advantage or Disadvantage, or by changing the Target Number.
Advantage
Roll 3d6, discard the lowest die result. If the check already has Advantage, no further dice are added to the pool. If the check already has Disadvantage, Advantage cancels the Disadvantage and vice versa. This affect is cumulative; e.g. if the check has Disadvantage applied twice, two applications of Advantage would result in a check without either Advantage or Disadvantage
Disadvantage
Roll 3d6, discard the highest die result. Much like Advantage, Disadvantage stacks but never adds more than one die to the pool. Similarly, the effects of Disadvantage apply cumulatively exactly the same as Advantage, and the two modifiers work to cancel each other out
Circumstantial Modifiers
- Increase the target number by one for each negatively impacting circumstance.
- e.g It’s raining. It’s dark. Wolves are chasing the PCs.
- Decrease the target number by one for each positively impacting circumstance.
- e.g. The character has the right tool for the job. The lighting is perfect. A cool breeze helps calm shaky nerves.
Luck
Luck is the ability for characters to defy the odds periodically as the story dictates. It is a pool of tokens that is intended to flow freely between GM and players to make changes to the circumstances of a scene. Spending a luck point enables a player to:
- establish a truth about the story (e.g. “there is a haunted forest nearby”)
- change a circumstance of the current scene (e.g. “there is a loose manhole cover by which we can escape”)
- grant Advantage on a check
- impose Disadvantage on an opponent’s check
At the beginning of each session, each player, including the GM, has one token to represent a Luck point. The GM has a pool and the players have a pool - or, if the tokens are double-sided, one side can represent either the GM or the players. By spending a Luck point, a token moves from one pool to the other to be spent by the recipient as necessary.
Luck is spent before a check is made. It is important to note that a Luck token may not be spent to change the outcome of a check. The GM is still the final arbiter of what is possible with a Luck token.