Dice Game

## Overview

The dice game of HIRE is used to determine the progress toward success in a chosen action. Your success is only in question when the task has notable opposition. You don’t have to roll dice to cross the street. In the dice game, opposition is represented by a set of values called a Rival pool. The values in this pool are called dice, but they can be predetermined (i.e.: [2,3,5] or [3,4,5]) or rolled on the spot (i.e. [2d8]).

To test themselves against Rival Pools, players make a “check” where they roll two dice, determined by whichever Score they are relying on for this check. Score selection is sometimes obvious, but can be determined via negotiation with the DM. A value is eliminated from the Rival Pool each time one in the check meets or exceeds it. The number of dice eliminated from the pool represents increasing advancement towards the goal. You fully succeed when all the dice are eliminated from the Rival Pool.

For example, consider our earlier example of crossing the street. There is no opposing Rival Pool barring your success unless...

* A car is speeding towards you, *Rival Pool:* [Car *SPD*, 4]. Could be overcome by making a *SPD* check.
* Someone is holding you back, *Rival Pool:* [POW, POW]*.* Could be overcome by making a *POW* check.
* You need to find a path through the traffic, *Rival Pool:* [4, 5]. Could be overcome by making a *SEN check.*

## Types of Rival Pools

There are four types of Rival Pools in total:

### Standard Rival Pools

The most common type of Rival Pool. Varies in size between 1 and 2 dice, with only heroically difficult tasks at 3 or 4 dice in size. A Standard Rival Pool is only used when there is no stakes to failure, but the action is opposed or difficult.

### Dicey Rival Pools

Risky situations call for dicey pools. Hanging a dicey Rival Pool causes a player to suffer a personal complication or trigger a complication from the security table.

### Extended Rival Pools

These pools are for more drawn out tests involving multiple players over an extended period of time.  Participants must eliminate all numbers in a range (ex. 1-10) in as few checks as possible. The number of individual checks attempted determines the rate of success.

### Combat Rival Pools:

This dice pool determines your order in combat, and protects your health pool. Dice in the combat Rival Pool can not be used to roll checks. If a Score instructs you to use a dice which is currently occupied by the Rival Pool you take a drain penalty called *exhaustion*. Dice can be moved in and out of the Rival Pool as actions on your turn.

## Dice Checks

The goal of a check is to eliminate all the dice from a previously specified Rival Pool.  A check is always made against a Rival Pool by rolling dice of a specified Score. Matching a number from the pool on a check eliminates all dice of that value in the pool, while a higher number can discard any single die lower than it. Only when the pool is completely empty have you succeeded in that check. During the check, you can ask the DM if one of your trained skills is applicable. If the DM agrees, you may re-roll a die a number of times up to your training in that skill.

 HIRE is played with two complete sets of polyhedral dice, but any individual die you roll can be changed based on a variety of circumstances. There are 4 modifiers to a dice, and each can be applied more than once: Drop, Drain, Boost, and Bonus. Beginning with the worst penalty: when instructed to Drop from your roll you must remove the lowest result in the pool after rolling. When instructed to Drain from the check before rolling, move one of your dice down to the next lowest sided die and roll as normal. When the situation is instead advantageous to you: you may be instructed by the DM to Boost a check. Boosting a check is the opposite of draining: move a single die in the pool up to the next highest sided die and roll as normal. The final modifier, Bonus, is reserved for only the privileged scenarios. When applying a bonus, after rolling, roll a D6 and add it to your final sum. On the rare occasion that you are unable to Drain or Boost, because you are already at the dice floor or ceiling, apply a Drop or Bonus instead as appropriate.

## Complications

Things will go wrong in all sorts of ways in HIRE. Complications are built into the mechanics of making checks against Rival Pools. Leaving a Rival Pool hanging does not fail the check immediately, but instead triggers complications from a table of your choosing: the security table or your character’s personal complications table.

The security table is unique to each holistic “security system” you encounter, and represents consequences from the world. All complications tables stack up, with more threatening complications coming after softer ones, but different buildings or organizations each have their own tables. A simple security table for a local bar may look something like the following:

 1
 2
 3
 4

But a complications table for a multi-level corporate depot would be more numerous and complex.

## Mitigations

The effects of complications are removed before the effect is revealed by consuming a mitigation. This removes the complication from the board as if it never happened, delaying the stacking of further consequences. Mitigations can be awarded to players by the DM before the job for good player scouting. Mitigations can also be earned using job abilities.

## Battle

Sometimes conflict comes to blows. When engaging in combat, the inciting incident is resolved and all parties involved roll a personal Rival Pool as indicated on their CV.

A crucial note is that each player still only has access to two dice of each face. Dice currently in your Rival Pool remain there until removed, and can not be rolled as part of a check. If you need to make a check using 2 dice indicated by a score, but one of them is in your pool, you must drain this check in order to make it; however, the exhaustion penalty can be avoided by obtaining a boost on that check, as you will be rolling two different dice faces.