Chrysalis Dice System: Player Guide

How rolls work ↑

Every roll is one twenty-sided die (d20) plus your modifier.

• Your modifier = the points in the stat that governs the roll + any bonus from your role.
• Natural 20 (the die shows 20) always succeeds. Natural 1 always fails. Nothing is immune, not even The Doctor's records.
• Ties go to the person acting. The one exception is deception, where ties go to the target.
• Halves round down wherever a result is divided.

When a roll has a difficulty, you need to meet or beat its number:

GMs can set the difficulty of any check, and can overrule a result when a scene needs it. That is rare outside events.

Your character ↑

You spread 6 points across six stats when you register on the intranet, with no limit per stat. Each point adds +1 to rolls that use that stat. Skills use the corresponding stat to determine their roll.

Magical persuasion or influence uses Essence, not Charm.

Some roles also give bonuses to particular stats or skills; your sheet shows yours.

Health and Composure each start at 10, and every Endurance point adds 2 to both. A character with 2 Endurance has 14 Health and 14 Composure.

• Health is physical. At 0 you are Incapacitated.
• Composure is mental. At 0 you are in Conscious surrender: awake, but no longer resisting.

Your sheet on the intranet (My character) shows every bonus and both pools. On Discord, /sheet shows the same, only to you.

Getting started on Discord ↑

1. Register your approved character on the intranet first (up to 3 per Discord account).
2. In Discord, type /character, choose Character, then pick the name from the list. Leave the name empty to see your list.
3. Use any dice command. The bot remembers your choice; run /character again to switch.

When you target someone in a command (for example /attack), start typing their name and pick it from the suggestions.

If a new or changed command doesn't appear, press Ctrl+R to refresh Discord.

Command reference ↑

Administrators see every roll in the roll log, including hidden ones.

Checks ↑

A check is an open roll against a difficulty: meet or beat it to succeed.

• Example: /roll stealth difficulty:Moderate. You roll 11; Stealth is Agility, and you have 2 Agility, so your total is 13 against 15. You fail.
• No difficulty: /roll perception just reports the total, and the scene decides what it means.
• Plain d20: /roll with no skill.

Charm against an NPC is an open roll in the channel, at a difficulty the GM sets. Honest persuasion between player characters isn't rolled: the target's player decides in roleplay.

Opposed rolls (attacks and deception) pit your total against the other side's. A natural 20 wins and a natural 1 loses for either side. If both sides roll the same natural, the totals are compared as normal.

Combat ↑

An attack hits when the attacker's total meets or beats the defender's, and deals half the difference (rounded down, at least 1).

Example: /attack type:Melee target:Mara. You roll 14 + 3 Strength = 17. Mara rolls 9 + 1 Agility = 10. The difference is 7, so Mara loses 3 Health.

• A tie hits for 1.
• Natural 20 to attack always hits, for at least 1. Natural 20 to defend always evades. Natural 1 to attack always misses.
• Magic and Discipline have no spell list: describe the effect in roleplay and name the pool, for example /attack type:Magic target:Mara pool:Composure.
• Defenders against Magic and Discipline automatically use whichever of the two gives them the higher bonus.

Turn order: /initiative with everyone taking part gives a random order.

Damage outside attacks (falls, fear, exhaustion) has no roll: lower your own pool with /damage health 3.

Healing: /heal health 4, or add a target to heal someone else. It's an honor system: don't heal during combat or straight after it. Every heal is logged.

Deception ↑

Use /deceive only when your character is knowingly lying to another player's character. It's a hidden roll: Deception (Charm) against the target's Perception (Knowledge), and ties go to the target.

• No roll when your character is honest, or repeats something false they genuinely believe.
• You only ever see "Attempt recorded", whatever happened. Nobody else in the channel sees anything.
• If the lie works, nobody is told. The deception simply holds.
• If it fails, only the target is told, by direct message: "You feel name is being deceptive." If their direct messages are off, it waits as a notice on the intranet and in /notices.
• Start the roll in good faith, at the moment of the lie, and play the result honestly.

Deception does not guarantee the person you're lying to believes you. If they have proof that you are lying, or already know the answer, a successful deception roll does not change this.

Hacking records ↑

Any character can try to hack a record they can't read on the intranet: d20 + Hacking (Knowledge plus role bonuses) against the record's difficulty. Records you can't read show as a Secure Record with an Attempt bypass button.

• One attempt per record per day. A copy lasts until midnight in Eileithya (Central time).
• Only you see your roll. Failed attempts notify the record's author, or whoever restricted it, at their next login.
• Using someone else's stolen credentials needs GM approval; the GM unlocks the record for you.

Conditions and notices ↑

Health and Composure are shared between Discord and the intranet: a hit on Discord shows on your intranet sheet.

• 0 Health: Incapacitated. 0 Composure: Conscious surrender.
• Notices: anything the bot couldn't send you by direct message, and security notices about failed hacks on your records, wait on the intranet at your next login and in /notices until you acknowledge them.

Quick answers ↑

• "This command needs a character." Run /character first.
• Can I raise my stats later? Not yet. Stats are set at registration; temporary benefits and equipment are still being designed.
• Can I deceive an NPC? Yes, but it's an open Charm roll with a difficulty the GM sets, not /deceive.
• A command is missing. Press Ctrl+R in Discord to refresh its command list.