Combat Modifier EV Reference

Use this table when designing combat modifiers, class powers, equipment traits, and tactical exceptions.

This chapter is a design reference, not a player-facing rules chapter. It records the expected value of common combat modifiers and, more importantly, where each modifier sits in the combat pipeline.

The central rule is:

A modifier's value depends on where it enters the pipeline.

A fixed +1 before a comparison is not the same thing as +1 Strike Rating after an exchange is won. A reroll is not the same thing as a fixed bonus. +1 Protection Rating is not the same thing as +1 Strike Rating.

Baseline Action Die EV

A Narateer Action Die is a custom d8:

Expected dots from 1 Action Die:

EV = (2 x 1 + 1 x 3 + 0 x 4) / 8 = 5 / 8 = 0.625

Therefore:

The 1.6 AD equivalence is a raw dot-space comparison only. It does not mean that every fixed +1 should cost exactly 1.6 AD in game design terms.

The Advantage and Disadvantage values above assume the current Narateer Edge rule: Advantage rerolls Misses once; Disadvantage rerolls Hits and Critical Hits once; Advantage and Disadvantage cancel.

Combat Pipeline

Use this pipeline to classify any proposed modifier.

Formal Modifier Table

Explicit Reroll EV Table

Skill Level no longer grants default rerolls. This table is retained for class powers, equipment traits, conditions, or other explicit rules that grant miss-first rerolls.

Formula:

Reroll Gain = 0.625 x E[min(Misses, Reroll Limit)]

Where:

Misses ~ Binomial(committed dice, 0.5)

Total expected roll dots before target comparison:

Total Roll EV = 0.625 x committed dice + explicit Reroll Gain

Damage Score Breakpoints

Post-hit modifiers should be judged against the Wound conversion table, not only against raw dot EV.

Current Wound conversion:

Marginal value of +1 Damage Score:

Marginal value of +1 Protection Rating is the inverse at the same breakpoints: it prevents Wounds only when it pushes Damage Score below a threshold. This is why Strike Rating, Damage Score, Weapon Damage, Protection Rating, and protection reduction are all marked breakpoint-dependent rather than assigned a single AD equivalent.

Pipeline-Based Design Guidance

Important Non-Equivalences

+1 Strike Rating Is Not +1 Exchange Total

+1 exchange total can change who wins the exchange. If damage is allowed, it can also increase Hit Margin and therefore Damage Score.

+1 Strike Rating does nothing unless the exchange has already been won by a combatant who can deal damage. It only increases Damage Score after that point.

So:

These should not be costed or distributed as equivalent modifiers.

+1 Protection Rating Is Not +1 Exchange Total

+1 Protection Rating reduces Damage Score after an exchange has already been won against the protected target. It does not prevent the opponent from winning the exchange. It does not reduce Hit Margin. It does not stop riders that trigger simply on exchange dominance unless those riders require Wounds.

+1 exchange total may prevent the opponent from winning the exchange or may deepen your own winning margin.

Advantage Is Not A Flat +1

Advantage gains +0.3125 expected dots per rolled die. Its value scales with dice pool size and changes when explicit reroll rules are also available.

Advantage is usually better design than a flat +1 when the fiction is situational, unstable, or created through teamwork.

A Reroll Is Not A New Die

A raw extra AD adds 0.625 expected dots before explicit rerolls.

A reroll of a known Miss also adds 0.625 expected dots, but only because the Miss is already known. That makes it powerful as an after-seeing-the-roll effect.

Class Power Budgeting Recommendations

Recommended Defaults

• Use Advantage/Disadvantage for circumstances, visibility, position, pressure, and temporary fictional leverage.
• Use Strike Rating or Damage Score when a power should make won exchanges hurt more without increasing the chance to win the exchange.
• Treat free shield or weapon defence dice as archived design space, not current default rules.
• Use Boost cap and proactive Skill-use limit increases carefully. They alter how often a character can apply AD, not merely how well one roll performs.
• Use Protection Rating for passive durability after an exchange is won against the target, not for winning the exchange.
• Use Ready AD to Used for pressure, harassment, suppression, and flurry-style tactics.
• Use Wound reduction for tough, heroic, or survival-focused class powers.
• Avoid broad always-on fixed bonuses unless they define a major character identity and have been tested in the matrix.

Testing Requirement

Any modifier in the following categories should be matrix-tested before being treated as final:

• fixed +1 exchange total;
• fixed +1 target-number effects or broad free defence dice reintroduction;
• increased Boost caps;
• increased proactive Skill-use limits;
• reduced base exchange cost;
• free or discounted responses;
• extra exchanges;
• automatic Wounds;
• repeated Ready AD drain;
• any modifier that changes Wound conversion or bypasses Soak.

The EV table is a starting point. The duel matrix remains the proving ground.