As in many other tabletop miniature wargames, Jovian Wars uses dice to determine the success or failure of an attempted action on the table. Jovian Wars terms these attempts Tests or Rolls. For example, you might be asked to perform an "attack roll" or "skill test."
Jovian Wars uses a system of rolling a pool of six-sided dice to determine the Result of Test or Roll during gameplay. Generally, rolling a pool of X dice is represented as Xd6, i.e. rolling two dice would be represented by 2d6.
A successful Result in Jovian Wars involves having at least one set of matching die faces. For example, if you roll 2d6 and get the result 2, 2 that is a success as there are matching dice! A Result of 2,3 is considered a failure as no die faces match.
The more die faces that match, the higher the Magnitude of the Result. In other words, rolling three 3's is better than rolling two 3's. As a written shorthand for the Magnitude of a dice roll, we use the following notation where the result is enclosed in square brackets:
Adding a "+" to the notation is a way of denoting a minimum level or Magnitude of success. For example, a [T+] means that any result equal to or better than a Triple is successful. Quadruples are the highest level of success--getting five or more matching dice does not improve the level of success.
The actual die face rolled is often important also. If you roll two 2's, that is a double 2, and is denoted as [D2]. The Value of the Double result is 2.
You could also roll multiple matching sets! A result of [D2,D4] means you rolled two 2's, two 4's, and the rest of the dice have no matches.
Since an [N] Result has no matching faces, there is no Value associated with an [N] magnitude result.
Here are some examples:
| Roll | Die Faces | Result | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3d6 | 1,4,5 | [N] | Magnitude N, no Value |
| 3d6 | 2,2,4 | [D2] | Magnitude D, Value 2 |
| 5d6 | 1,1,3,3,3 | [D1,T3] | Two Successes! |
The last example has successes in its Result, one of Magnitude [D] and value 2, and one of Magnitude [T] and value 3. The Result could also be written as [D,T], [D1,T3], or even [D1,D3+].
In some cases, you will be asked to Escalate a successful Result, i.e. you will increase the Magnitude of the success.
Example: Dave fires a Nuke at a Capital Ship, and rolls a [D2]. The Nuke rules say to Escalate Attack Rolls, so Dave's [D2] result becomes a [T2] result.
In some cases, you will be asked to Diminish a successful Result, i.e. decrease the Magnitude of the success.
Example: Dave fires Swarm(/traits#swarm) missiles at a target. He rolls a [T4] result, but Swarm missiles require you to Diminish your results to a minimum of [D], so the final result is a [D4]. Swarm missiles are a special case in that they cannot diminish to worse than a [D] result.
The pool of dice used in a Test or Roll is defined by a model's attributes, its traits, or its weapons. For example, a larger gun will generally have a larger pool of dice during an attack.
Each dice pool is made up of some combination of the following three types of dice:
We'll sometimes refer to a "Base Pool," etc. All this is referring to is the number of Base Dice, for example, in the overall pool of dice. Regardless of how many Base, Flex, or Macro dice are in their respective pools, all dice are rolled together, even when re-rolling dice.
This pool of dice determined by a model or weapon's basic stats is called the Base Pool. The Base Pool can be modified to change the expected statistical outcome of the roll to model various in-game effects. For example, an area of effect attack may be less effective against secondary targets and so the Base Pool will degrade.
We add or subtract 1d6 from the base pool with the notation +1B to add +1d6 to the base pool and -1B to remove 1d6.
Base Pool of 1
In some cases, you might have a Base Pool of less than 2d6, either because the actual pool is less than 2d6 or it was modified to be less than 2d6, even negative!
In such a case, roll 2d6, regardless of the modified Base Pool size, but do not apply Flex Dice or Macro Dice. Both the Flex and Macro pool are considered to be 0, regardless of the effects of Armor, Attack Modifiers, etc.
Base Modifiers are the most impactful of the modifier types, as they increase not only the odds of rolling multiple of the same die face, but also the total possible number of matching dice in the set, i.e. you cannot roll a [T] with only a 2d6 Base Pool! Typically Base Modifiers represent large bonuses or penalties in combat, so they are the most impactful, increasing not only odds but also the magnitude of the success.
Example: A Base Pool of 3d6 is modified by +1B. When rolling the Base Pool, you will roll a total of 4 dice.
Flex Dice are a mechanic to increase the likelihood of success of a roll. Typically you will be asked to roll Xd6 Base Dice and Yd6 Flex Dice. Once you have rolled all X + Y dice, remove Y dice from the set of rolled dice before calculating the Result. It is your choice as to which dice to remove!
With Flex Dice, the total number of dice in the result is the same. Your odds of rolling matching die faces is higher, but you cannot exceed a maximum result with X matching dice in the set. Flex Dice represent marginal advantages in combat, increasing the odds of a successful Result but not the magnitude of the Result.
Adding Flex Dice to a roll is typically denoted with +YF, i.e. adding one Flex Die would be +1F.
Example: Dave's Pathfinder Squadron is attacking a capital ship. After calculating range, arc, and armor Attack Modifiers, we discover that Dave has a Base Pool of 3d6 and a Flex Pool of 1d6.
To resolve this Attack Roll, Dave rolls 3d6 base and 1d6 flex dice. This means he will roll a total of 4 dice and remove 1. He rolls a 4, 4, 5, 6.
He chooses the 6 to remove, leaving him with a [D4] result! He could have removed a 4, but that would have resulted in a [N], which is decidedly worse than a [D4] result. Good job, Dave!
If Dave had rolled 4, 4, 6, 6, he would have to choose between either a [D4] or a [D6] result. Poor Dave!
Jovian Wars is a game of spaceships firing giant weapons at one another. To represent the magnitude of these guns, we make use of the Macro mechanic. The impact and force of these massive cannons or missiles is just greater, when they hit.
We model the increased impact with a separate pool of dice, termed the Macro Pool. The number of dice in the Macro Pool is typically defined by the "Macro" trait of a weapon, so a weapon with Macro: 2 would generate a Macro Pool of 2d6, or +2M.
You may want to have two different colors of d6's to allow you to simultaneously roll the Base Pool and Macro Pool simultaneously, removing the Flex Dice from the Base Pool as normal.
The Macro Pool may not generate a success in a result, but may increase the degree of the result. For example, let's say the Base Pool was 3d6, and the Macro Pool was 2d6. The Base Pool rolled 4, 4, 6, resulting in a [D4]. The Macro Pool rolled 4, 6. Since the double 4's of the base pool was a success, i.e. a matching set, you may increase the [D4] to a [T4] with the Macro die that rolled a 4. However, even though you rolled two 6's overall, the 6 rolled in the Base Pool was not a success, so you may not increase its degree.
Multiple degree improvements are possible. For example, if the Base Pool rolled a 4, 4, 6, and the Macro Pool rolled 4, 4, this would take the overall roll to a [Q4]!
There are effects that negatively affect the Macro Pool, such as various types of armor. In this case, you subtract the armor rating from the macro pool. This results in 3 possible outcomes:
For example, let's assume we have a Base Pool of 3d6 and a Negative Macro Pool of -2d6 or -2M. The Base Pool rolls 4, 4, 6 and the Macro Pool rolls 4, 6. In this case, the [D4] result would be downgraded to an [N]! This is unfortunately slightly non-symmetric to the Positive Macro mechanic, but does provide another option in the design space to apply a penalty to a roll besides just removing die from the base pool.
There are several key types of rolls in Jovian Wars, which we'll discuss here so we can reference them later in the rules.
An Unopposed Roll is by far the most common type of roll you'll be asked to perform in Jovian Wars. To perform an Unopposed Roll, follow these steps:
In some cases, the Value of the Result isn't relevant, just the Magnitude.
Skill Tests are a special case of Unopposed Rolls and are used to represent the training and experience of a Model's pilot or crew. To perform a Skill Test, make an Unopposed Roll using the model's Skill as the Base Pool.
If there are any modifiers, the effect requiring a Skill Test will specify. Typically there will be none.
The Result determines if the Skill Test was successful. An [N] is considered a failed test and a [D+] is successful, although the effect requiring the test may specify different outcomes for the actual Result.
Example: A Jovian Alexander has been damaged to the point that its Thrusters Rating is 0. It is attempting to make a Turn, so it must make a Skill Test. An Alexander is Skill 2, so it rolls 2d6, resulting in 1,4. That is a [N] result, which is a failed Skill Test. Thus, the Alexander cannot make its desired turn!
An Opposed Roll represents the clash between two forces trying to accomplish competing goals. In general, one player will be attempting to do some action while the other player is trying to prevent the action from occurring. For clarity, we'll refer to them as:
When performing an Opposed Roll, both players calculate the number of dice rolled and the results of their rolls as if they were each making independent Unopposed Rolls. The Secondary Player may now Diminish the Primary Player's [Results] in the following ways:
The Secondary Player chooses which result to negate. For example, if the Primary Player rolled [D2,D3] and the Secondary Player rolled [D], the Secondary Player may choose either of the two results to Diminish. This would result in either [D2] or [D3].
A Re-Roll in Jovian Wars consists of performing a roll from the beginning of the procedure in its entirety. This means calculating the Base Pool, Flex Dice, and Macro Pool again, and re-rolling all of the dice together.
In practice, this is as simple as picking up all the dice again and re-rolling them, being sure to add back any Flex Dice that were removed.
You may only re-roll once, even if multiple effects would generate multiple re-rolls.