v1.2.

Bright Dice
Narrative D10 Dice

A dice mechanic with degrees of success, adding a layer of narrative nuance to

resolution rolls. It is well suited to freeform, GM-less, or solo play.

The Dice Mechanic

This system uses three ten sided dice and a target difficulty number.

There are six possible results (in order from worst to best):

● Strong Failure - critical failure resulting in an additional disadvantage

● Failure - simple failure
● Weak Failure (or "Near Miss") - failure, but with some advantage gained
● Weak Success (or "Close Call") - partial success or success with disadvantage
● Success - simple success, the expected outcome only
● Strong Success - critical success, with an unexpected advantage

For a Yes/No oracle, these results can also be interpreted as:

● No, and...
● No
● No, but..
● Yes, and...
● Yes
● Yes, but...

In a combat situation, one might refer to a Strong "Hit" or "Miss", rather than Success or
Failure.
How to Roll
This roll requires three d10s - one "Bright" die, and two "Dim" dice. The bright die
should be a different color from the other two.

In play, you will be rolling against a target number, where each whole number
represents an additional 10% chance of success.

To succeed, roll equal to or below the target number.

Example: with a target of 5 (50% chance), you would roll 5 or below to gain a success.

Example 2: with a target of 8 (80% chance), you would roll 8 or below to gain a
success.

The Bright die is the most important die, and determines if the check is a success or
failure. Rolling equal to or below the target number indicates a success.

Additional successes or failures on the Dim dice determine your degree of success or
failure.

Possible Outcomes

● Bright Failure + two Dim Failures = Strong Failure

● Bright Failure + one Dim Failure = Failure
● Bright Failure + zero Dim Failures = Weak Failure
● Bright Success + zero Dim Successes = Weak Success
● Bright Success + one Dim Success = Success
● Bright Success + two Dim Successes = Strong Success
Bonus Mechanics
For even more narrative prompts, it is possible to add meaning to other aspects of the
roll. I have not assigned interpretations to these here, but there are quite a few available,
and each could be given unique meanings for a given game or setting:

Doubles
● If both dim dice are doubles...
● If one of the dim dice matches the bright die...

Triples
● If all three dice match...

Using Colored Dim dice:

If the two dim dice are different colors, we can use them to signify two different kinds of
influence or domain. Successes on one or the other of these dice would indicate that this
domain should be considered "dominant", or "rising in influence" in this situation.

For example, physical vs psychological elements in the situation.

Ones and Tens

Rolling a 1 or a 10:

● On the bright die...

● On a dim die...
● On both dim dice…
Probability Analysis
The probabilities in this system are quite interesting and, I think, quite satisfying. The
chance of strong and weak vary a lot depending on the target number, so if you attempt
something with a high chance of success you have a much higher chance of also getting a
strong success. Likewise, if the overall chance of success is low, the chances of a strong
failure are greatly enhanced. This makes you a lot more wary of taking high risks, and
rewards you for doing things the character is proficient at.

Monte-carlo Approximation:

The following is a brute force / monte-carlo approximation of the probabilities of each

result:

Iterations: 10000000
Target: 1
Overall Hit Result: 9.99098%
StrongMiss: 72.89791%
Miss: 16.21207%
WeakMiss: 0.8990400000000001%
WeakHit: 8.09882%
Hit: 1.79384%
StrongHit: 0.09832%
Target: 2
Overall Hit Result: 19.98937%
StrongMiss: 51.19399%
Miss: 25.62491%
WeakMiss: 3.19173%
WeakHit: 12.79196%
Hit: 6.396159999999999%
StrongHit: 0.80125%
Target: 3
Overall Hit Result: 29.990270000000002%
StrongMiss: 34.31243%
Miss: 29.39519%
WeakMiss: 6.30211%
WeakHit: 14.69646%
Hit: 12.589500000000001%
StrongHit: 2.70431%
Target: 4
Overall Hit Result: 39.98353%
StrongMiss: 21.63101%
Miss: 28.780630000000002%
WeakMiss: 9.60483%
 WeakHit: 14.3789%
Hit: 19.20839%
StrongHit: 6.396240000000001%
Target: 5
Overall Hit Result: 50.013490000000004%
StrongMiss: 12.4842%
Miss: 24.99195%
WeakMiss: 12.51036%
WeakHit: 12.49941%
Hit: 24.99444%
StrongHit: 12.51964%
Target: 6
Overall Hit Result: 59.99383%
StrongMiss: 6.406879999999999%
Miss: 19.19484%
WeakMiss: 14.404449999999999%
WeakHit: 9.59111%
Hit: 28.805609999999998%
StrongHit: 21.59711%
Target: 7
Overall Hit Result: 69.99081000000001%
StrongMiss: 2.69661%
Miss: 12.619869999999999%
WeakMiss: 14.69271%
WeakHit: 6.306430000000001%
Hit: 29.3848%
StrongHit: 34.29958%
Target: 8
Overall Hit Result: 80.00659%
StrongMiss: 0.7976199999999999%
Miss: 6.40422%
WeakMiss: 12.79157%
WeakHit: 3.2056899999999997%
Hit: 25.61144%
StrongHit: 51.18946%
Target: 9
Overall Hit Result: 89.99831%
StrongMiss: 0.10085999999999999%
Miss: 1.80571%
WeakMiss: 8.09512%
WeakHit: 0.9042%
Hit: 16.195619999999998%
StrongHit: 72.89849000000001%
Target: 10
Overall Hit Result: 100%
StrongMiss: 0%
Miss: 0%
WeakMiss: 0%
WeakHit: 0%
 Hit: 0%
StrongHit: 100%

Anydice.com Script:

The following is an anydice.com script for outputting the probabilities (thank you to itch.io user
“emarsk” for posting this!):

output d{4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1}+2d{1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0} named "Target 1"

output d{4,4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1}+2d{1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0} named "Target 2"
output d{4,4,4,1,1,1,1,1,1,1}+2d{1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0} named "Target 3"
output d{4,4,4,4,1,1,1,1,1,1}+2d{1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0} named "Target 4"
output d{4,4,4,4,4,1,1,1,1,1}+2d{1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0} named "Target 5"
output d{4,4,4,4,4,4,1,1,1,1}+2d{1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0} named "Target 6"
output d{4,4,4,4,4,4,4,1,1,1}+2d{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0} named "Target 7"
output d{4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,1,1}+2d{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0} named "Target 8"
output d{4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,1}+2d{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0} named "Target 9"
output d{4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4}+2d{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1} named "Target 10"

Where:

● 1 = Strong Failure
● 2 = Failure
● 3 = Weak Failure
● 4 = Weak Success
● 5 = Success
● 6 = Strong Success

Output:

"Target 1",1.5,0.99498743710662,1,6
#,%
1,72.9
2,16.2
3,0.9
4,8.1
5,1.8
6,0.1

"Target 2",2,1.3266499161421599,1,6
#,%
1,51.2
2,25.6
3,3.2
4,12.8
5,6.4
6,0.8

"Target 3",2.5,1.5198684153570663,1,6
#,%
1,34.3
2,29.4
3,6.3
4,14.7
5,12.6
6,2.7

"Target 4",3.0000000000000004,1.624807680927192,1,6
#,%
1,21.6
2,28.8
3,9.6
4,14.4
5,19.2
6,6.4

"Target 5",3.5,1.6583123951777,1,6
#,%
1,12.5
2,25
3,12.5
4,12.5
5,25
6,12.5

"Target 6",3.9999999999999996,1.624807680927192,1,6
#,%
1,6.4
2,19.2
3,14.4
4,9.6
5,28.8
6,21.6

"Target 7",4.499999999999999,1.5198684153570663,1,6
#,%
1,2.7
2,12.6
3,14.7
4,6.3
5,29.4
6,34.3

"Target 8",5.000000000000001,1.3266499161421599,1,6
#,%
1,0.8
2,6.4
3,12.8
4,3.2
5,25.6
6,51.2

"Target 9",5.500000000000001,0.99498743710662,1,6
#,%
1,0.1
2,1.8
3,8.1
4,0.9
5,16.2
6,72.9

"Target 10",6,0,6,6
#,%
6,100

This document was written by Lee Grey, in Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Text licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0