Reality checks - Measuring success in Beyond the Veil

To adequately represent the range of competencies an Investigator needs during their career we opted for dice pools that start with one of each polyhedral dice used in a standard TTRPG set. This intentionally grants each Investigator an inherent strength and weakness across the six abilities:

• Physical – Strength, agility, stamina, stealth. Moving heavy objects or scaling walls.

• Mental – Intelligence, memory, reasoning, and general knowledge.

• Technical – Operating machinery, fixing tech, and upgrading specialist equipment.

• Social – Charm, persuasion, deception, and diplomacy. All the tools you need to talk your way into or out of trouble.

• Psychic – From empathy to full-on mind-bending powers. Includes feeling vibes and moving stuff with your brain.

• Senses – Seeing, hearing, and even smelling. Useful for spotting hidden things or hearing things you wish you hadn’t.

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Each Ability governs a group of related Skills used for breaking down this aggregated ability into more nuanced use cases. However, as part of our flexible ‘build anyone’ Investigator creation system, the pool doesn’t stop with just the base dice assigned at creation. We wanted to allow for growth during a career as well as the fact that expertise can be training beyond the norm. For this reason a dice pool can extend as far as 2d20, making the near impossible suddenly achievable!

Meet Amaya Berghartt. She’s a powerhouse in Physical (d20) but struggles with Psychic (d4). She can sprint, climb, and throw hands with the best of them, but communing with spirits is not her strong suit:

Over time, and with suitable training opportunities, there is no reason she couldn’t become a world-class athlete. She might choose to spread out any future ability increases too, staying strong as an ox but increasing her mental faculties to genius level, becoming more comfortable in social situations or even working on her ability to tune into the hidden world of psychic energy.

Using Skills for Narrative Flexibility

In Beyond the Veil, Reality Checks aren’t just rolled because the Overseer tells you to, they’re a discussion and a justification made. Players can choose which Skill (and therefore which governing Ability) they want to use for a check, and as long as it fits the narrative the Overseer is likely to agree, maybe even reward your ingenuity.

Want to force open a stuck door? You could shoulder-barge it with Physical, or you might justify a Technical fix if you’re trying to override an old lock. As long as your reasoning holds up and doesn’t stretch credibility too far, it’s fair game.

Try to Intimidate the door open with Social? The Overseer might just shake their head and skip the roll. You’ll get your turn again soon, hopefully with a better idea.

Risk versus reward

Not many Investigators are proficient in everything but this shouldn’t dissuade a Player from even attempting a check. They can either justify helping a friend out to pool resources as previously highlighted in our ‘Lend a Hand’ blog or, if their justification for a skill is good enough… or maybe just exciting and interesting enough… they might be granted an upgrade for that roll. Turning a d4 into a d6 is not to be sniffed at and upgrades can stack if multiple factors can come into play. Even the most technically inept can sometimes blunder their way to success!

Of course the adverse is also true, if your Investigator is under pressure, injured, or otherwise distracted from a course of action the roll may have a downgrade imposed upon it. The lowest pool available is always the d4 but for truly impossible tasks the Overseer may simply declare the attempt a failure without the need for a roll.

Fortune favours the brave…

Even when upgrades aren’t on the cards, an Investigator can still benefit from the Wrenegade System’s ‘crit’ mechanic, Fortune. Roll the highest possible number on a die (for example, a 4 on a d4 or a 12 on a d12) and you’ve triggered Fortune. In this eventuality you are granted the opportunity to roll the next die up in size and take the new result if it’s better. Keep rolling up as long as you keep hitting maximums. That d4 roll might snowball into a d6, then a d8, and eventually a triumphant success against the odds.

Even a roll on your lowest Ability can go the distance with a lucky streak.

And if you hit a natural 20 on a d20? You roll a bonus d4 and add the result. Max that d4? Keep climbing. In theory, this could go on forever. In practice? It’s rare. But when it happens, it’s unforgettable.

Misfortune, hubris at work…

Of course, with every chance of Fortune there comes the possibility of monumental failure in the form of Misfortune. Roll a 1 on your first attempt? That’s a reroll. Roll another 1? That’s Misfortune and the Overseer may introduce a narrative complication, unexpected consequence, or flat-out problem.

It might not end your career. But it could make the next few moments very awkward… or at the very least narratively interesting!

Narrative freedom

The way in which Investigators choose to use their Abilities and Skills is more than just a mechanic. It’s a very deliberate storytelling device, allowing them to craft their own sense of tension, excitement, team-work and ultimately those deliciously dramatic swings of fate that shapes every investigation.

You’ll celebrate when a d4 snowballs into a miraculous success. You’ll wince when a d20 lands a 1 and triggers a full-blown disaster. But you’ll remember every roll because every roll matters.

So choose your die. Justify your method. Embrace the chaos.

And always respect the dice.