This is a place for asking questions about the ICON system rules.

I'm new to the system.  If I need to roll dice, please tell me what I need to do! If you need to roll dice, I'll state it in the turn message. You'd use the Dice Roller link at the top left of the page. A dice roll would be the number of dice in the controlling attribute +/- applicable edges, and add the value of the skill. Thus a Strength based roll on Athletics (Lifting) would be: roll against Fitness + Strength edge and add the value of your Lifting specialisation. If you don't have Lifting, you'd only add your base Athletics skill.If you have no Athletics skill, you add nothing to the die roll. Note that some skills may not be used untrained...

The Dice Roller should look like this:

If you click on Record Each Die (definitely highly recommended), you can see the actual raw die results. The Dice Roller seems to have been programmed with a misconception: The Dice Roller's interpretation of the rolls is a little wonky. A 1 on the Drama Die is not necessarily a dramatic failure. It's only a dramatic failure if the roll itself fails, otherwise its at worst a "you succeed but something is amiss". With a roll of {1}, 5, 6, 3 +1, the result is a 7, or a success on a Routine task. 6 on the Drama Die may be a dramatic success, as it adds that 6 to the highest other die roll, so a {6}, 5, 6, 3 +1 would result in a 13, and as target numbers range from 3 to 15, it would be a dramatic success only if the target number was 6 points less than the result. Players will not generally know the target number, but often will know whether the task is easy, routine, difficult or whatever.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:10, Mon 11 July 2016.

So if Fitness + Strength is 2 (5), I'd roll 7 dice, but only use the highest result?

I'm still not sure I'm reading the Attributes correctly.

In reply to Argent Merawdr (msg # 2):

Fitness 5, Strength +2 would indeed roll 7 dice, but that's an unusually high Attribute.

Attributes range from 1 to 6 with 2 being the Human average (only Psi may be a 0), with Edges being a value from -2 to +2, with 0 being average.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 3):

Species Maximums and the Drama Die.

One die of any roll is a Drama Die, even if you only roll 1 die.

Just for clarification, the [number] after the Attribute in the Species Templates is the species maximum, and doesn't affect your character. Fitness 2 [5] means that the Attribute is 2, meaning you roll 2 dice (+_/- and Edges) - the maximum level to which you may raise your fitness is 5. So, if you have Fitness 2, Strength +2, you'd roll 4 dice, but if it was Fitness 2, Strength -1, you'd only roll 1 die.

The only Attribute that can be 0 is Psi, in which case you may not attempt any Psionic tasks. If any Edge knocks an Attribute below 0, though, you still get a roll. Let's use the example of Fitness 1:
If You have Fitness 1, Strength 0, you roll 1 die. Since this is also your Drama Die, if you roll 6, you get to roll again and add it to the 6. 1 is a critical failure.
If you have Fitness 1, Strength +1, you roll 2 dice. If the Drama Die is 6, add the other die. If the Drama Die is 1 and the roll with the other die is a failure, the roll is a critical failure.
If you have Fitness 1, Strength -1, you roll the Drama Die, and if it is 6, you roll another die and use that value. If the Drama Die was below 6, you ignore it. 1 is still a critical failure.
If you have Fitness 1, Strength -2, Roll the Drama Die. If it is 6, roll two dice and subtract the smaller from the higher. Say you roll a 2 and a 5; 5-2 is 3, giving you a roll of 3. 1 is still a critical failure.
Of course, you add your skill level to the roll, unless it is a critical failure. If you do not have the skill and an Unskilled roll is permitted, you simply add 0.

Occasionally, I will ask for a roll against an Attribute. In that case you will roll against the Attribute +/- applicable Edges, as modified by appropriate Advantages/Disadvantages and add a value equal to half the number of dice rolled (rounding down) in place of a skill.
Using a Willpower roll as an example, let's say you have Presence 2, Willpower +1. You roll 3 dice (one of which is of course, the Drama Die) and add half of 3 (1 1/2, rounded down to 1). The Strong Will advantage adds 2 dice +1, while the Weak Will disadvantage subtracts 2 dice.