Interpreting the Pool
After a dice pool is rolled, the players evaluate the
Hresults to resolve the outcome. The first outcome to
resolve is determining the success or failure of the skill
check. Then, the players can determine if any signifi-
cant side effects-good, bad, or both-are triggered.
SUCCESSES & FAILURES
If a skill check results in both Success symbols & and
Failure symbols T, the total numbers of each type of
symbol are compared. Each Failure symbol T cancels
one Success symbol After all Failure symbols T
have canceled Success symbols a pool will either
have one or more Success symbols one or more
Failure symbols T, or everything evenly canceled out.
During this step, it is important to note that a Tri-
umph symbol <$ contributes one Success & to the
pool, in addition to any special effects it may trigger.
Likewise, a Despair symbol ^ contributes one Failure
Y to the pool, in addition to its special effects.If all Successes # and Failures T in the pool are
canceled out, or if there are any net Failures T re-
maining, the skill check fails. If at least one Success &
remains, the skill check succeeds. Remember, a dice
pool must hove at least one Success symbol ~& re-
maining for a skill check to succeed.ADVANTAGES & THREATS
It is also likely that a skill check results in either Ad-
vantage symbols O. Threat symbols <§>, or both. The
player adds up the total number of Threat symbols <§>
and compares them to the total number of Advantage
symbols O Each Threat symbol <§) cancels one Ad-
vantage symbol O After all Threat symbols <§) have
canceled Advantage symbols O. a pool will have one
or more Advantage symbols O. one or more Threat
symbols <§), or have everything evenly canceled out.
Having one or more net Advantage symbols O in-
dicates a positive side effect or benefit. Having one
or more net Threat symbols <§> indicates a negative
side effect or complication with the check. If all the
Advantages O or Threats <§) cancel each other out,
there are no additional effects. This possibility for a
positive or negative side effect can occur regardless
of whether the task succeeds or fails.
Advantage and Threat can be used to fuel a wide va-
riety of side effects. The player rolling the skill check
generally chooses how to spend Advantage, such as
triggering a weapon's special ability, performing an
additional maneuver, or possibly recovering some
strain. Different weapons, talents, or equipment may
have special uses for Advantage.Threat is generally spent by the CM to impose some
sort of complication, with more severe complications
requiring more Threat. Threat can result in a number
of side effects such as a task taking longer to complete
than expected, suffering strain, providing an opportu-
nity to an opponent, falling prone, or being subjected
to an environmental effect. Different talents, environ-
ments, or opponents may have special uses for Threat.
For more about taking Advantage or suffering from
Threat, see page 205.TRIUMPH & DESPAIR
Two symbols represent far more potent effects than
the others. Triumph and Despair ^ are special
cases and operate slightly differently than the other
symbols. Unlike Success and Failure and T) or Ad-
vantage and Threat (O and <§)), Triumph and Despair
(($) and ^) do not completely cancel each other out.
Rather, they indicate an especially positive or unfor-
tunately dire side effect.Remember that it is possible for a skill check to re-
sult in both ($) and ^ symbols. In this case, both re-
sults are interpreted separately. Just like Threat, it is
possible for a skill check to succeed but still impose a
Despair effect, or a skill check may fail but still trigger
a Triumph effect. For more about the specific applica-
tions of Triumph and Despair, see page 205.TRIUMPH ($)
A Triumph symbol has two effects. First, each Tri-
umph symbol counts as one Success symbol &.
Second, a Triumph result indicates an unexpected
boon or significantly beneficial effect related to the
task. Many weapons and talents have side effects
that can be triggered using a Triumph result. Oth-
erwise, the scenario or GM may have other options
for using Triumph. It is important to keep in mind
that while a Triumph symbol ($) does add a Success
symbol & to the pool, the presence of one or more
Triumph symbols ($) does not automatically mean a
successful skill check.
Triumph can be thought of as an enhanced, more
powerful version of Advantage. For example, a single
Triumph symbol (£) can trigger any weapon's special
quality or inflict a critical injury, rather than requiring a
certain number of Advantage symbols O Or, while Ad-
vantage may allow a character to recover strain, in the
right situation a Triumph may allow recovery of a wound.ft.
PLAYING THE GAME
OF THE EMPIRE