At certain moments of conflict or stress in the game, Conflict Resolution becomes a necessary aspect of play. It may be in an indirect form against the Environment such as unlocking a door while a ravening ghoul races toward you. Or it may be a direct depiction of conflict such as attempting to kill a ravening ghoul or attempting to persuade a recalcitrant bureaucrat to take an action they do not want to do.

The GM will determine when Conflict Resolution is needed, but generally, no roll is necessary for things a character can do during low stress routine.

Conflict Versus The Environment

When a character engages in a Conflict that is not directly opposed by an Adversary, they are considered to be rolling against the Environment. This includes tasks such as trying to pick a lock, climb over a wall, investigating the scene of a crime, etc.

When rolling against the Environment, follow these steps:

1: The player declares an Action.

2: The GM rolls a dice pool equal to the Tension Pool to contest it.

3: The GM selects two dice and combines their value to create the Environment's total. The GM may spend 1 Tension Point to increase the Environment total by the amount of remaining Tension or pay any number of Tension Points to keep that many additional dice. Either of these actions may be done once per roll but not both.

4: The player selects one Attribute and one Skill for their action and then rolls a dice pool equal to the combined value.

5. The player selects two dice and combines their value to create the character's total. They may spend any number of Adventure Points to keep that many additional dice.

6. Compare the two values: if the character's value is higher, they succeed; if the Environment's value is higher, they don't succeed and the Tension Pool increases by 1. Multiple attempts may be possible if allowed by the narrative, with an additional point added to Tension in order to try the Action again. However, not all Actions permit multiple attempts; an incorrectly deactivated trap is likely to spring on the initial failed attempt.

Conflict Versus An Adversary

When a player is taking an Action to engage in a Conflict with an Adversary, the same general guidelines apply. In this case, any time that a character is directly confronting another human, beast, or monster, then the player rolls against that being rather than the Environment.

When rolling against an Adversary, follow these steps:

1: Determine the initiator, who is the one beginning the Conflict. This may be a player character or an adversary depending on the context.

2: The initiator declares Action.

3: The initiator builds their die pool, either with Attribute plus Skill if it is a character or using the appropriate Power or Dread Trait if it is an Adversary.

4: The initiator rolls, then selects two dice and combines their value to create their total. If the initiator is a character, the player may spend Adventure Points to keep an additional die for each Adventure Point they spend. If the initiator is an Adversary, the GM may spend Tension Points to keep additional dice or spend one Tension to increase their total by the total amount of the Tension Pool. As in Environment Conflicts, the GM may only choose one of these two options.

5: The defender builds their die pool, either with Attribute plus Skill if it is a character or using the appropriate Power or Dread Trait if it is an Adversary.

6: The defender rolls, then selects two dice and combines their value to create their total. If the initiator is a character, the player may spend Adventure Points to keep additional dice as per #5 above. If the initiator is an Adversary, the GM may spend Tension Points to keep additional dice or increase their total as per #3 above.

If multiple initiators target a defender with the same Action, the defender rolls once and applies the total to all. If different Actions are used, each initiator must be rolled against separately.

7: Compare the totals of the initiator and defender. Whichever side rolled the highest is considered to have succeeded at the Action, even if success on the side of the defender is simply avoiding an Action.

In combat, if the initiator rolls higher than the defender, the difference in value between the two scores is dealt as damage to the defender. If the defender rolls higher, no damage occurs.