Narateer

Narateer Dice

Same shape. Different voice. Every roll speaks.

Each Narateer die is a vessel of fate—an eight-sided interpreter of story, action, and consequence. The dice do not simply generate numbers. They translate intent into impact.

In Narateer, Action Dice are the heart of active play. When you act, push, defend, or risk yourself, you spend Action Dice. Your Vitals shape how far you can push. Your Skills shape how well you control the result.

Through dice cast, your voice enters the world.

What Are Narateer Dice?

Your hands roll numbers—your choices roll fate.

Narateer Dice are custom eight-sided dice (D8s) used to resolve action, challenge, risk, and magic. All Narateer dice share the same faces, but their purpose depends on how they enter the story.

The main dice types are:

  • Action Dice (AD) — Your effort, stamina, agency, and risk in the moment.
  • Magic Dice (MD) — Channelled magical force used by spellcasters and supernatural effects.

Ask yourself:

  • How much effort am I willing to spend?
  • How hard can my character safely push this kind of action?
  • What narrative weight does this roll carry?

Understanding Dice Faces

All Narateer dice follow the same face layout:

Symbol Per Die Outcome Value Meaning
⚫⚫ x1 Critical Hit 2 Great Success
⚫ x3 Hit 1 Success
⚪ x4 Miss 0 Failure

Tip: Count the dots to determine the outcome and narrative impact value of each roll.

DIY Tip: To make your own Narateer Dice, there is a print-and-play template and instructions at the back of this manual. You may use a distinct colour for each dice type to easily identify them at the table.

Action Dice (AD)

Action Dice (AD) represent your effort, focus, stamina, and ability to shape the scene. They are tied directly to Vitality.

Max AD = Your Maximum Vitality.

Your Action Dice are both a resource and a risk. The more you spend, the more you can attempt. The more you hold back, the more you can react. When you are harmed, your Action Dice are wounded, reducing your ability to act.

Using Action Dice:

  • Spend AD to perform meaningful actions.
  • Spend AD to make Skill Checks.
  • Spend extra AD to boost a Skill Check, up to the Skill Level.
  • During your activation, proactive uses of a Skill are limited by Skill Level + 1.
  • Hold AD back to defend, react, or respond later.
  • Move AD to Wounded when you lose Vitality. Wounds strip Ready AD first; only if no Ready AD remain do they move Used AD to Wounded.
  • Move Used AD back to Ready at the start of your turn, unless your refresh is impaired.

Action Dice show what you are willing to spend in the moment.

Vitals and Action Dice

Vitals define your character’s natural capacity. They do not give you automatic success. Instead, they determine how far you can train, how hard you can push, and how naturally prepared you are when pressure rises.

A linked Vital determines:

  • the maximum Skill Level of Skills linked to that Vital;
  • your Readiness Score when combined with a linked Skill;
  • your total Vitality when added with your other Vitals;
  • derived traits such as movement, damage, defence, recovery, or resistance where relevant.

Your Vital shows what you can sustain. Your Skill shows what you have mastered. Your Action Dice show what you dare spend.

Skill Checks at a Glance

When making a Skill Check:

  1. Declare what your character attempts.
  2. The Guide confirms the Skill, linked Vital, and Difficulty Rating (DR).
  3. Spend the required Action Dice.
  4. Decide whether to boost by spending extra Action Dice, up to the Skill Level.
  5. Roll the committed Action Dice.
  6. Apply Advantage or Disadvantage if relevant.
  7. Count dots.
  8. Compare the result to the DR.

Success = total dots exceed the DR.

Failure = total dots equal to or less than the DR.

Magic Dice (MD)

Magic Dice (MD) represent your ability to channel arcane force, divine will, primal resonance, or other supernatural power.

Magic Dice are not used for ordinary Skill Checks. They enter play when casting spells, invoking relics, entering Trance, or resolving magical effects.

Using Magic Dice:

  • Spend MD when casting spells, invoking relics, or resolving magical effects.
  • Add MD to magical rolls when a spell or effect allows it.
  • Roll that many dice and count all ⚫⚫ and ⚫ results.
  • Add total dots to the magical outcome score.

Note: Magic Dice rules are explained fully in the Magic chapter.

Dice States

Action Dice and Magic Dice cycle through different statuses depending on how and when they are being used.

  1. Ready — Available to spend now.
  2. Used — Spent or exhausted. Used Action Dice normally return to Ready at the start of your next turn.
  3. Wounded (AD only) — Lost due to harm. Unusable until healed. Combat Wounds move Ready AD to Wounded first, then Used AD only if no Ready AD remain.

Dice may be picked up and rolled during an action, but they do not need a separate tracked state while the roll is being resolved. Once the action resolves, spent Action Dice move to Used unless a rule says otherwise.

Refreshing Action Dice

Action Dice represent effort, agency, timing, breath, and focus. When you spend them, that effort is committed. When they refresh, you recover enough presence to act again.

At the start of your turn, move all Used Action Dice back to Ready.

This represents catching your breath, resetting your stance, reclaiming your focus, finding your timing, or seeing the next opening.

Wounded Action Dice do not refresh this way. They remain Wounded until healed.

Impaired Refresh

Do not roll to refresh unless the fiction is actively resisting recovery.

Some conditions, hazards, injuries, magical effects, or environmental pressures may impair your refresh. When your refresh is impaired, roll your Used Action Dice instead of returning them automatically.

  • Each ⚫⚫ or ⚫ returns 1 Used AD to Ready.
  • Each ⚪ remains Used.
  • Wounded AD are not rolled.

The fiction should always explain why your refresh is impaired: choking smoke, panic, stunning force, dragging magic, poison, exhaustion, crushing restraint, unstable footing, or another active pressure.

If nothing is actively interfering with recovery, do not roll. Refresh automatically.

The Core Rhythm

Narateer’s dice rhythm is simple:

  1. Spend Action Dice.
  2. Roll them.
  3. Apply Edge or other explicit reroll rules.
  4. Count dots.
  5. Face the consequence.

The fiction decides when a roll matters. The dice decide how the moment turns.

Summary

  • All Narateer dice are D8s with fixed faces: 1x ⚫⚫, 3x ⚫, and 4x ⚪.
  • Action Dice (AD) are the main active dice of play.
  • Action Dice represent effort, stamina, agency, risk, defence, and wounds.
  • Vitals define Skill caps, Readiness Scores, Vitality, and derived traits.
  • Skill Level (SL) determines Boost limit and how many proactive uses of that Skill you may initiate during your activation.
  • Magic Dice (MD) are used for spells, relics, Trance, and magical effects.
  • Dice tracking uses three main states: Ready, Used, and Wounded.
  • Used Action Dice normally return to Ready at the start of your turn.
  • If your refresh is impaired, roll Used AD: Hits and Criticals return to Ready; Misses remain Used.
  • Wounded Action Dice do not refresh this way; they remain Wounded until healed.
  • Combat Wounds move Ready AD to Wounded first; only if no Ready AD remain do they move Used AD to Wounded.
  • The core rhythm is simple: spend Action Dice, roll them, apply Edge or explicit reroll rules, count dots, and face the consequence.