The "Keep on Rolling" Engine

Recently I had an interesting conversation with Cubelith and Izzy, in which I learned about the One Roll Engine. Interesting how they were able to fit both efficiency and speed into one roll. We came up with an alternative, and while they didn't agree to this name, I had to name the article somehow. This is the Keep on Rolling Engine, or KoRE.

Keep on Rolling Engine

Start with stats that have dice assigned to them. Whenever you do something, start by being told which stat you use. Then, you get to decide how many dice you roll. After rolling them, you sum them up to see how effective you are.

If someone wants to counter your action by being faster, they must roll fewer dice than you (or equal if you rolled just one die), and roll a higher sum than yours.

If you are in an intense action sequence, such as a combat or a chase, you might be limited to only having some amount of dice per round. This could pair pretty well with the Opposed Roll Combat System.

Outside of intense action scenes, the players might be able to keep on adding the dice to their rolls until they roll over some difficulty set by the GM. If we want this to matter, there could also be some kind of time limit - the GM could be counting how many dice have been used, and that way keep track of what time it is right now.

What mechanics could we use to make it more than just a dice resolution? Picture the ones listed below being incorporated into various abilities and traits in the game itself.

• Some players could have features that set a minimum rolled value to something (2, 3, or 4, since those are on all standard dice).
• Adding different dice types into the pool.
• Replacing dice with other dice in the pool.
• Static bonuses to a roll (pretty powerful stuff at lower rolls).
• Multiplying select dice rolls? (How could you tell I played Balatro recently?)
• Forgoing a die with a set minimum roll for some specific additional effect.
• Assigning the dice values after the rest of the pool is rolled (Wiggle Dice in O.R.E.).

I'm pretty sure I could keep going, but this is just to record the idea on my blog. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day!