F.A.Q

What bonus dice go where?

In ENIGMA there are two types of dice rolls and the distinction defines how you can apply bonus dice to the roll.

Gamble Rolls:

  • Threads
  • Insights
  • Equipment
  • Knacks

Blammo! Dice Rolls:

  • More Blammo! Dice

So to clarify, the only dice roll which you can’t apply bonus dice to is when you are rolling Blammo! Dice. However, when you generate your Blammo! Dice at the start of a Tumult, that is a Gamble, and all other bonus dice can be applied.

So weapons don’t do anything?

Mechanically, sort of. In a Tumult, a piece of relevant equipment grants a bonus dice to your Blammo! Dice generation, giving you more dice to use later on. Keep in mind that Blammo! Dice can be used for any sort of daring act, not just fighting.

Functionally this allows for more creativity in the chaos; for example, if a brawny fighter with lots of weapons generates 10 Blammo! Dice, he can in turn use those to aid in cracking a safe. He can still make attacks and do so with his weapon of choice, but the weapons help grant him those opportunistic dice, which can be used on anything he pleases.

Why use a d6 system?

The world of pulp adventure is ripe with gambles. Moreover, gambling with standard six sided dice was a common occurrence for the era, so it only made sense to lean into that thematic choice.

Rolling handfuls of six sided dice should invoke that feeling of wheeling and dealing at a table with your friends. And if the game gets dull, it never hurts to bust out a quick game of liar’s dice!

Why use Stress instead of HP?

Pulp adventure is about pursuing the impossible with characters who shouldn’t, and somehow barely escaping with a fiery explosion behind them. Using a health point system bogs down the flow of an adventure, constantly having the adventurers worry about their character dying (or worse). Using Stress allows us to still have a cause-effect relationship, while still keeping their character intact. Characters can still hurt and be wounded, but Stress prioritizes finishing the leg of an adventure.