Every contested action in Cybercore resolves the same way: roll d100, add your modifiers, beat the target number.
d100 + Modifiers vs Threat Level (TL)
The Threat Level (TL) is the universal difficulty number; every creature, hazard, trap, and challenge has one.
Your modifiers come from your attributes, skills, Rank, Boons, Boosts, and any gear bonuses. The GM sets the TL; you roll against it.
| Your Roll | Result |
|---|---|
| > TL | Success. You beat the target. The margin above TL may grant additional effects. |
| = TL | Sell It. Roll lands exactly on the number; the dice didn't decide, you do. Roleplay the moment and the table calls it. |
| < TL | Failure. You don't achieve what you attempted. The margin below TL determines how badly. |
| ≤ TL ÷ 2 | Tanked. Catastrophic failure; something actively goes wrong as a consequence. The GM determines what breaks, backfires, or escalates. |
| Natural 96-100 | Critical Success. Exceptional result regardless of modifiers. |
| Natural 1-5 | Critical Failure. Something goes wrong; a Calamity occurs. |
That's it. Skill checks, combat defense rolls, saving throws, social encounters; they all follow this pattern. The rest of this chapter explains the modifiers you stack on top of it.
Sell It is the knife-edge roll. The math came up dead even, so the fiction takes over: narrate what you're attempting, talk your way through the moment, and the rest of the table (GM included) calls success or failure by consensus. A thumbs-up round works; so does a quick voice vote. If the table splits, the GM breaks the tie. The mechanic isn't there to be gamed; it's there to push you to make the moment matter. The dice handed you a stage; whether you walk off it or get dragged depends on whether anyone at the table believes you.
Tanked is the non-combat equivalent of a Punishing hit. You didn't just fail, you made things worse. A Tanked hack triggers the alarm. A Tanked negotiation insults the diplomat's family. A Tanked Athletics check sends you off the ledge instead of over it. The GM decides the consequence, but it should always be active: something bad happens, not just "you don't succeed."
Everything stacks. In Cybercore, effects stack by default; Boons, Boosts, conditions, abilities, skill tricks, core abilities, equipment bonuses. If two sources grant the same benefit, you get both. The only exception is when a rule explicitly says "does not stack." When in doubt: it stacks.
TL Examples: TL 20-40 is routine. TL 50-70 is a real challenge. TL 80-100 is dangerous. TL 100+ is the kind of thing they name ships after you for surviving.
Each Corporation will grant the player's skill dice to use when performing specific skills in which the Corporation or Syndicate excels. The basic dice are the same regardless of the Techglomerate; however, there is one fundamental difference between Corporations and their more shady Syndicates counterparts.
You add Corporation dice to player rolls. You deduct Syndicate dice from a GM roll or TL number. This is not always the case, but it's a good general rule. Some higher-tier abilities allow you to make the roll after the initial dice roll but before the GM reveals the outcome.
| Rank Level | Core Dice | Or Break Dice | Or Break Dice | Or Break Dice | Or Break Dice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d4 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 | 1d6 | 2d4 | -- | -- | -- |
| 3 | 1d8 | 2d6 | 4d4 | -- | -- |
| 4 | 1d10 | 2d8 | 4d6 | 8d4 | -- |
| 5 | 1d12 | 2d10 | 4d8 | 8d6 | 16d4 |
| :----------: | :----: | :-------------: | :------------: | :------------: | :------------: |
| 6 | 2d12 | 4d10 | 8d8 | 16d6 | 32d4 |
| 7 | 3d12 | 6d10 | 12d8 | 24d6 | 48d4 |
| 8 | 4d12 | 8d10 | 16d8 | 32d6 | 64d4 |
| 9 | 5d12 | 10d10 | 20d8 | 40d6 | 80d4 |
| 10 | 6d12 | 12d10 | 24d8 | 48d6 | 96d4 |
Rank five shows you how the dice break down; the higher ranks indicate what you could do if you broke down all your dice.
You gain a 1d4 Boon to add to your roll, For instance your background will grant you a Boon in two skills.
Boons and Banes These Increment so if you have a Boon from multiple sources the Dice size increases by one for each additional source.
Boon(1) 1d4 => Boon(2) 1d6 => Boon(3) 1d8 => Boon(4) 1d10 => Boon(5) 1d12 => Boon(6) 1d20.
After 1d20, the chain wraps: Boon(7) = 1d20+1d4, Boon(8) = 1d20+1d6, and so on.
A Bane is the opposite of a Boon and they cancel each other out. If you have two Boons written as Boon(2) (so a 1d6) and one Bane(1), you would Roll a 1d4 and add that to your result.
Characters can gain a Boost+ from a variety of sources. Boosts are a flat +5 that you add to a roll, and they Stack. So if you have two Boosts (Boost(2)) you roll and add +10 to the roll. Your movement can also be Boosted; in this case the +5 applies to the number of squares you can move.
The opposite of Boosts. Bothers+ are a Stacking -5 to a roll. If you have a Condition or effect that grants you one or more Bothers (Or a Double Bother), you deduct them from your Roll. Your movement can also be Bothered; in this case the -5 applies to the number of squares you can move.
Thus Boosts and Bothers cancel each other out.
A Helping Hand.
The most common boost players will get is from their squad mates providing a Helping Hand action. This is a Boost (+5) to the roll, which stacks with other boosts and other people helping.
Certain Effects in Cybercore apply Stacking Modifiers, These are normally depicted with a + symbol following it's name. Eg Boon+. This means every application of the Stacking Modifier stacks with any previous application of the Stacking Modifier and any success roll to remove a Stacking Modifier removes only a single instance from that Stack.
When a roll is used to determine the application of a Stacking Modifier an Extra Stack is applied for every 5 points by which the roll exceeds the TL.
If you have Advantage, your roll twice and take the better result. with Disadvantage you roll twice and take the Lower result.
In cybercore Advangate and Disadvantage stack. For each additional Advantage or Disadvantage you have in a given situation you roll one more die. Rolling 3 die is called Advantage-3, Advantage caps out at a maximum of 4 dice (Advantage-4). .
Advantage and Disadvantage apply to any roll; d100 skill checks, saves, attack rolls. Roll the extra dice and take the highest or lowest total result.
When a Creature (Player or NPC) rolls one or more d100s and the highest roll is a Natural 01-05, it is considered a Critical Failure. When there is a Critical Failure, a Calamity occurs.
A Calamity Anything that can go wrong will go wrong in the worst possible way. A Calamity is an Opptunity. Use it to spice up your game sessions.
Think of a Calamity as the ultimate curveball, the cherry on top of a series of unfortunate events that turns the game on its head in unexpected ways. Here's how you can make the most of these moments without turning the tide against the fun:
This is a great opportunity for the GM to add some dramatic tension to the game. A Calamity shouldn't outright TPK the party unless it's simply the last roll on a string of very bad rolls that got them into the situation in the first place. The Idea is for everyone to have fun at the table, the GM is not the adversary of the party, but if the dice cause a characters death so be it, as the Players roll most of the dice in Cybercore, it's difficult for the GM to fudge any rolls to prevent it. In the end sometimes all they can hope for is a Heroic death.
Certain Tricks, Talents, and Feats may grant you a wild Die of a certain size. When they do, add a different color dice of that size to your dice pool for the affected skill or weapon. When you roll, add that dice to your roll total, if that die rolls the highest number (i.e a 6 on a 1d6), it "explodes", then you roll the wild die again and add that, you continue to do this until it doesn't explode.
When something stacks in Cybercore, you simply add them together this can be a fixed number or another dice. You simply add or deduct it from the result.
For instance Boosts (+5%) stack, so if you have two Boosts (Boost(2)) they add together to grant +10% to your roll.
Certain dice or conditions Increment the size of the dice you roll. For instance, if you have a Boon from a single source, you roll a d4. If you have two Boons, you roll a d6, and so on.
So a Boon from multiple sources increases Dice size by one for each additional source.
1d4 => 1d6 => 1d8 => 1d10 => 1d12 => 1d20.
After 1d20, the chain wraps: 1d20+1d4, 1d20+1d6, and so on.
This is a great mechanic for GMs to use when they want to give the players a bonus from outside help; say they've incited an angry mob as a distraction while they sneak into a secured area. It doesn't have to Increment on a single person; for every 5 people it could increment the dice size by 1, so a Mob of 20 grants +1d10. It's up to the GM to pick a number that makes sense for the situation.
This allows for what might seem like a high TL challenge to become a little more manageable, while still keeping the risk of failure high.
Mob Of 20 Angry People = Inc 4 Scouting the Complex = Inc 3 Complex Blueprints = Inc 4 Bribing the Guard = Inc 5 Looping the 3 Security Cameras = Inc 3 Injecting a mild sedative into the drinking fountain = Inc 2
Total Inc = 4+3+4+5+3+2 = 21 21 / 6 (1d4 => 1d20) = 3.5 => 3d20 + 1d8
( Why /6 ? There are 6 dice in the chain: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 )
So 1d100 + 3d20 + 1d8 will average a TL of ~85 even before you account for the squad's Stealth
For inter-squad assistance, especially when timing is tight as in combat, use a Helping Hand.
The most common boost players will get is from their squad mates providing a Helping Hand action. This is a Boost (+5) to the roll, which stacks with other boosts and other people helping. Each helper spends 2 Actions. However, if the squad is large, feel free to step a Helping Hand down to a stacking Boon.
When players roll Social dice, they can roll them hidden and at their choice may lie about the result.
The GM can call them out on it...
If the GM calls the player out and they're wrong, the player gets one better success. If the GM was right and the player was fudging their roll, a Calamity occurs.
Fun times.