Resolution Mechanic

Whenever you make a roll, you form a dice pool between 2 and 10 d6. You select the Attribute, Standing or Power that makes the most sense given the action you are trying to perform and add that many dice to the pool.Then you (or the GM) can declare any traits (yours or your opponent’s) that affect your roll. Add one die to your pool for each trait that supports the action and subtract one die for each trait that is detrimental. If you have a tool that helps you (but is not necessary), you may add one more die to the pool and if you’re lacking an important tool or are using a necessary tool that is damaged or broken, you may have your pool shrink by one die.

Of course, circumstances may also improve your conditions. Generally, if you can name two or more favorable conditions, your pool goes up one die, if you have two or more adverse conditions, it shrinks. This may sound like a lot, but it usually goes quite quickly at the table.

Once you have your pool of dice, you decide how many to roll. When you have no need to defend yourself, the answer is usually “all of them,” but if you may need to defend against an attacker (physical or verbal) you may want to withhold some dice for your defense. Results can range from 1-5. When you roll, you find the highest double and that is your result. 6s, however, are special. They’re called “nudges” and can be used to make a success better or a failure less horrible.

For example, if I roll 6 dice on an attack and get 3s and a nudge against my opponent’s 2s, I could use my nudge to deal an extra damage or refund one of my dice for use in defense. There are all sorts of other uses for nudges. For example, if you want to make a called shot, say to knock an item off your opponent’s belt or inflict a particular wound, you simply make the same roll, but if you don’t get at least two nudges, the attack fails completely. This rule can be used for trip or push attacks too

Attributes

Each character is created using 3 sets of 3 scores (9 total). You have 3 attributes: Physique, Charm, and Wits, 3 Standings: Resources, Influence, and Spirit, and 3 Resiliences: Health, Reputation, and Willpower. Each Attribute and Standing represents the dice you roll when you take an action that is uncertain where the outcome is dramatic. Your Resiliences are created by adding an attribute and standing together: Physique+Resources=Health, Charm+Wits=Reputation, and Wits+Spirit=Willpower. Each is a separate pool of “health.” Usually, your Health is targeted during combat, your Reputation during public debate, and your Willpower during negotiation or other tests of the mind.

Skills

Each character gets traits that make their character unique. These can be skills, such as metalworking, personality quirks, or physical traits. Traits are relatively neutral things that can be used both in your favor and against you. However, your traits should support your character concept and so will most often be used in your favor.

Abilities/Power/Feats

Additionally, each character may have special powers. These powers may allow them to draw from a limited pool of extra dice when they make a roll or it may be a unique ability a normal human can’t perform, in which case you might roll the power instead of an attribute or standing.

Equipment / Gear

You have a number of "props" or important equipment equal to your Resources. Props can be shared between players, so rich characters with poor attributes can equip powerful, but poorer characters if they wish. Additionally, you can attempt to purchase items during a session by rolling Resources against that item's difficulty.

Advancement

The game encourages you to make a thieving crew that are all working together on a goal, and ties advancements to your personal or crew goals. The game is pretty freeform and allows you to spend some number of advancements to do anything from gaining a trait or improving a stat to gaining new powers.