Chapter 00

Start Here

Learn the single roll that drives play, the dice notation, and what the Gamemaster decides before anyone reaches for dice.

Fantasy Crux 2.0 is a gritty percentile game about capable adventurers. Violence is dangerous, preparation matters, and Hero Points leave room for epic reversals.

Scene. A scene is one continuous episode within a shared immediate situation: a negotiation, search, chase, or fight. The Gamemaster announces when a meaningful break or change begins a new scene.

D100 Percentile

State the intended outcome and roll two ten-sided dice for D100 only when failure matters and succeed on any result at or below the skill.

Dice notation

A small lived-in medieval village gathers around a well beside a winding lane and modest watchtower.

D4, D6, D8, D10, and D12 name a die by its number of sides. A number before the D is how many to roll: 2D6 means roll two six-sided dice and add them. A flat modifier follows the dice, such as 1D6+2.

For D100, roll two ten-sided dice: one gives tens and one gives units. Read 00 and 0 as 100; otherwise a zero on the tens die is a single-digit result. A tens die of 5 and units die of 9 is 59.

+1B means one Bonus die; -1P means one Penalty die. These replace the tens die of a D100 test, not the skill value. Bonus dice always keep the better result; Penalty dice always keep the worse. See Bonus and Penalty Dice for the full procedure.

Make a test

State the approach and intended outcome. The Gamemaster clarifies what success achieves and what failure risks.
Set modifiers. Apply Bonus or Penalty dice for circumstances, then cancel opposites and cap the net at +3B or -3P.
Roll D100. A result at or below the skill succeeds. Read the dice as rolled: do not add modifiers to the percentage.
Resolve the result. Apply the established outcome. If two characters compete directly, use an Opposed Test.

Do not roll for routine actions, impossible actions, or actions whose failure has no meaningful consequence. The Gamemaster simply states the outcome.

Result grades

Roll	Grade
From `01` through the skill’s tens digit	Critical
At or below the skill	Success
Above the skill	Failure
`99–00` below 100% skill; only `00` at 100%	Fumble

The critical ceiling is the integer tens digit, minimum 01 for any skill above 0%: a 5% skill critically succeeds only on 01, 59% on 01–05, and 60% on 01–06.

Let the fiction lead

A crouching scout warns a warrior approaching a closed ruined gate and points out a concealed tripwire while a mage lights the path.

Rules settle uncertain moments; they do not replace physical sense. The Gamemaster may grant dice for a strong advantage, rule that scale or anatomy makes an action impossible, or decide that an obvious approach succeeds without a test. State such rulings before the roll whenever possible.

Measures and rounding

Distances are in metres and durations use ordinary seconds, minutes, and hours. On a grid, the group may treat each square as 2 metres.

Round to the nearest whole number; round exact halves up. Minimum damage after all reductions is 0.