Dice Overview

The Archive Dice System is built for gritty, story driven survival roleplay.

Common Terms

Advantage	Roll twice, pick the higher number.
Disadvantage	Roll twice, pick the lower number.
Action	Anything performed on your turn.
Reaction	Anything performed on someone else's turn.

Abilities and Skills

Abilities represent your fundamental strengths as a survivor. They define how you endure danger, solve problems, and influence the world.

Each Ability governs a set of Skills. Skills are specialised and are always rolled with their parent Ability.

When you attempt an action using a Skill, roll:

d20 + its associated Ability + the Skill level

Compare the total to a Difficulty Class (DC) set by the narrator or the rules.

Skills cannot be combined with different Abilities.

Physique

Physique reflects raw physical capability.

Skills

Athletics	Climbing, jumping, swimming, lifting, and other feats of physical exertion.
Melee	Fighting with close combat weapons or unarmed strikes.
Resilience	Enduring pain, resisting poison or illness, and withstanding physical trauma.

Agility

Agility reflects speed, coordination, and control.

Skills

Aiming	Using ranged weapons accurately under stress.
Stealth	Moving quietly, hiding, and avoiding detection.
Reflex	Reacting quickly to danger, avoiding hazards, and resisting sudden effects.
Finesse	Precise manual control, delicate manipulation, or careful physical actions.

Reason

Reason reflects perception, logic, and applied knowledge.

Skills

Awareness	Noticing threats, spotting details, and sensing changes in the environment.
Medicine	Treating wounds, stabilising injuries, and managing illness.
Technology	Using, repairing, or understanding machines and electronic systems.
Academia	General knowledge, research, and recalling learned information.

Presence

Presence reflects emotional strength and force of personality. It governs morale, persuasion, intimidation, and self control.

Skills

Morale	Resisting fear, maintaining composure, and enduring psychological strain.
Intimidation	Coercing or frightening others into compliance.
Persuasion	Convincing others through reason, trust, or emotional appeal.
Deception	Lying convincingly, misleading others, or concealing the truth.

Difficulty Class and Outcomes

The Difficulty Class (DC) represents how difficult a task is. It ranges between 5 and 30, with the difficulty of the task determining the DC. A Narrator will tell you if the task you're trying to roll for is possible. If so, they'll give you your DC.

After rolling, compare your total to the DC. See the LINK for more info.

Your Roll	Outcome
5 or More Above DC	Strong Success
Equal to or 4 Above DC	Success
4 or Less Below DC	Failure
5 or More Below DC	Strong Failure

Action Economy

• Each character by default has 4 max Action Points (AP).
• You begin combat with your action points at their max.
• You spend AP to take actions on your turn and to take reactions outside your turn.
• At the end of your turn, your AP is restored to its max.
• If you have spent AP on reactions before your turn begins, you start your turn with whatever AP you have remaining. For example, if you have 4 AP and make 4 reactions before your turn, you have no AP to use on your turn and may be forced to skip.
• If a character’s AP maximum is reduced to 0, they immediately fall unconscious.

Basic Melee Attack, 2 AP

• Usable with unarmed strikes or melee weapons.
• Choose a target body area (Head, Torso, Arms, or Legs) and roll the following.
• Compare the result to the target’s appropriate Defense DC (Dodge, Parry, or Base)

d20 + Physique + Melee

Outcome	Effect
Strong Success	Apply the effect from the table corresponding to the weapon’s damage type.
Success	Deal the weapon’s listed damage. If none is listed, it deals 1 damage.
Failure	The attack misses.
Strong Failure	The attack misses and you gain 1 Stress.

Basic Ranged Attack, 2 AP

• Usable with thrown weapons or bows.
• Choose a target body area (Head, Torso, Arms, or Legs) and roll the following.
• Compare the result to the target’s appropriate Defense DC (Dodge or Base)

d20 + Agility + Aiming

Outcome	Effect
Strong Success	Apply the effect from the table corresponding to the weapon’s damage type.
Success	Deal the weapon’s listed damage. If none is listed, it deals 1 damage.
Failure	The attack misses.
Strong Failure	The attack misses and you gain 1 Stress.

Move, 1 AP

• Move up to your Movement.
• Movement may be interrupted by other actions during your turn.

Stand up, 1 AP

Remove the Prone condition, unless it is being actively forced by another effect.

Apply Pressure, 1 AP

d20 + Reason + Medicine against a DC of 10

• If using a bandage, roll with Advantage.

Outcome	Effect
Strong Success	The Bleeding condition does not deal damage at the end of your turn, and the remaining duration of the Bleeding condition is reduced by 1 round.
Success	The Bleeding condition does not deal damage at the end of your turn.
Failure	No effect.
Strong Failure	You gain 1 Stress.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I run out of AP before my next turn?

If you run out of AP before your turn starts, you'll have no choice but to skip your turn. Remember to budget your reactions accordingly!

Do we have bonus actions?

You can have as many actions as you'd like as long as you have the AP for it.

How do I know my overall level?

There are no overall levels. We encourage you to focus more on optimizing your character how you want them to be instead of leveling them up!