A metallic 20-sided die (d20) with black numbers resting on a plain surface with a neutral background.

The Core Mechanic

Nearly every action in the game is resolved using a single "Golden Rule":

Roll a 20-sided die (d20) + your relevant Modifiers vs. a Target Number

Success: If your total meets or exceeds the target number, you succeed.

Failure: If your total is lower than the target number, you fail.

Target Numbers:

  • 10: Routine (Driving in rain, climbing a ladder)

  • 15: Challenging (Picking a lock, shooting a moving target)

  • 20: Hard (Hacking a mainframe, persuading a hostile guard)

  • 25: Heroic (Lifting a car, surviving a lethal fall)

  • 30: Legendary (Bending reality, surviving a nuke)

Critical Success, Failure, and the Harmony

  • Natural 20 (The Zenith): Rolling a 20 is a “Critical Success”. This is Absolute Resonance, treated as the best possible outcome for any check. In combat, this is an automatic hit and usually deals extra damage.

  • Natural 12 (The Harmony):The number 12 is special in Wayspace RPG. Even if the total doesn't meet the TN, a rolling 12 is a Success with Cost. You resonate with reality, but the energy is "wild” and reality will alter slightly somewhere in a radius around you, in a way that reflects your House Affiliation. It will not create a favourable condition for you, but simply be a something different.

  • Natural 1 (The Void): Absolute Discord. Rolling a 1 is a "Critical Failure" or "Fumble." This is an automatic miss in combat and often results in an embarrassing or complicated failure elsewhere.

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The Advantage / Disadvantage die

Two twenty-sided dice with metallic and textured surfaces, showing numbers 11 and 20 on top, placed on a flat surface with neutral background lighting.

It is a bonus or penalty to the Core Mechanic

When instructed by the gamemaster, or informed by your Talent or Edge:- instead of rolling a single d20 and adding modifiers:

  • Advantage: You roll two dice and take the higher result.

  • Disadvantage: You roll two dice and take the lower result.

  • Cancellation: If you have both Advantage and Disadvantage on the same roll, they cancel each other out, and you roll a single die normally. However, multiple Advantages are not cancelled by a single Disadvantage.

Relevant Modifiers

Every check or die roll by a player can be modified by:

  • Attribute

  • Skill

  • Power

  • Talent

  • Tarot card effect

Miscellaneous other things specific to the game at that moment

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Levelling Up

To make WaySpace feel rewarding over a long campaign, we use a 10-Level Progression System. In this system, players earn Progression Points (PP). These points are the currency used to buy both Talents (passive/specialized) and Powers (active/stress-costing) to improve their characters between game sessions.

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