Rolling Dice

Source: Necromunda Core Rulebook (2023)

A game of Necromunda uses dice rolls a great deal. The roll of a dice determines everything, be it a fighter’s ability to keep their cool in the heat of battle, or the effectiveness of a shot fired from a lasgun. Throughout the rules, players will encounter certain terms that relate to the rolling of dice.

Single Dice Rolls

The rules will often require a player to roll a single dice, in which case the rules will state quite simply ‘roll a D6’. Sometimes the rules might require several single dice to be rolled at once, for example, ‘roll three D6’ means three dice are rolled together, but the result of each dice is considered separately.

Multiple Dice Rolls

Often the rules will require a player to roll multiple D6s and add the results together. For example, the rules might instruct a player to ‘roll 2D6’. In such cases, two D6 are rolled and the results added together to give a total between 2 and 12. This is a multiple dice roll.

Dice Pools

Sometimes the game may require two or more dice be rolled and a single result selected – for example, a player might roll two or three Location dice and select one result to apply. In this case a ‘pool’ of dice has been rolled.

Target Number Rolls

Usually, when making a single dice roll or a multiple dice roll, the rules will require a player to roll a specific number followed by a ‘+’. This indicates that the roll is a ‘target number roll’. Making a target number roll is simple. If a player is required to roll a 4+ on a single D6, for example, a roll of 4, 5 or 6 would be a success, but a roll of 1, 2 or 3 would not be.

Modifying Dice Rolls

The rules will often call for a dice roll to be modified, particularly when making a target number roll. To do this, simply roll the dice and then add or subtract the modifier(s) shown, effectively changing the outcome of the dice roll. If the rules ever require a player to divide a dice roll in any way, any fractions should be rounded up, unless the rules state otherwise.

Rolling Off

The rules may call for both players to roll a dice (usually either a D6 or a D3). Often a characteristic of some sort will be added to the result. This is called ‘rolling off’ and the highest score always wins a roll-off. In the case of a tie, roll again unless otherwise instructed.

Natural Rolls

A ‘natural’ roll is the actual number rolled on a dice, regardless of modifiers (including the halving of the result rolled on a D6 when rolling it as a D3). It is not uncommon for a natural roll to grant a bonus or a penalty, or to grant an automatic success or cause an automatic failure, regardless of any modifiers that might apply to the dice roll.

Re-rolls

When rolling dice, it is common for things to go wrong! Fortunately, there are many special rules that allow for certain dice rolls to be re-rolled:

• The second result must always be accepted, even if it is worse than the original result.
• A dice can never be re-rolled more than once, regardless of the source of the re-roll.