Maximum Dice

Rules & Game Mechanics
#1

So RPGSessions just increased their maximum dice from 20 to 30, which seems insane, but got me thinking: What is the theoretical maximum number of dice you can roll?

For a character with:

  • Up to 3 specialisations
  • Up to 2 signature abilities
  • The GM adding up to 4 Boost or Setback dice
  • Carrying equipment 4 points over their encumbrance limit, adding 4 Setback dice to Agility and Brawn checks
  • An arbitrary number of buffs and debuffs from allied & enemy talents and abilities, but each only applied once

I’m thinking an Athletics check boosted by Enhance or an attack might be optimal.

  • Maximum difficulty is 6
  • Maximum characteristics are 10:
    • 6 base
    • +1 cybernetics, extra +1 from Overcharge on the cybernetics
    • +1 Stim application
    • +1 Strength-enhancing system armour mod (2HP)
  • Maximum skills are 9:
    • 5 base
    • +1 cybernetics, extra +1 from Overcharge
    • +2 from Strength-enhancing system armour mod upgrades

Add force powers and talents:

  • Enhance adds FR in Force dice to Athletics checks
  • If the Athletics check is to run in a chase, then Shortcut can add a Boost.
    • Sentinel: Racer adds 3 Boost, +1 Force Rating (+1 if taken as first class)
  • Warrior: Starfighter Ace - Touch of Fate adds 2 Boost once/session, +1 Force Rating
  • Multiple specialisations each add either 2 ranks of Shortcut or +2 Force Rating

Then, there’s the supporting party to think about:

  • Improved Inspiring Rhetoric adds +1 Boost to allies’ checks
  • Thorough Assessment adds +1 Boost to allies’ checks
  • Improved Speak Binary lets assisting droids add 2 Boost

So if the GM adds 4 Setback we’ve got at least 9 Proficiency, 1 Ability, 3 Force dice and 9 Boosts, plus another 2 Force/Boosts against 6 Difficulty, 8 Setback for 38 dice.

There’s still a bunch of extra space to go though. I’m thinking of ignoring the potential Boosts/Setbacks generated from Advantage and Threat on allied checks as that just doesn’t cap- an arbitrarily large number of allies can hand out an arbitrarily large number of Boosts. We still don’t have much equipment on this character, though, and there’s going to be a bunch of extra armour HP!

So can anyone think of any more improvements to this?

3 Likes
#2

I recall a check a while back… I can’t remember the circumstances around it, but the player and GM went back and forth adding boost and setback dice for ever increasingly bizarre reasons! The pool was still under RPG Sessions’ old limit, but it was still pretty funny!

3 Likes
#3

I’d just like to clarify, that maximum refers to how many dice RPG Sessions will display before resorting to the message

​(Too many dice to display)

The actual maximum dice it will roll is 1000, as of version 1.0.16.2

1 Like
#4

Also…Overcharge specifies it increases a Characteristic to a max of 7 and Skills to a max of 6. Stim Application also has a limit of 6 on Characteristics

#5

Yes. You can’t increase a Characteristic above 7 or a skill above 6, those are the caps.

#6

That means you can have a max of 6 yellows + 1 green in your dice pool ! Even against 5 red, odds are in your favour.

#7

You can actually exceed that with upgrades.

#8

Yes, such as Intense Focus, Frenzied Attack, True Aim other talents, and tools that give upgrades.