4 - Fortune and Folly
So why 2, twelve sided dice?
Well that's because Nether uses a special mechanic for narrative tension: Fortune and Folly. One of your dice will represent Fortune, and the other, Folly. Whenever you make an action roll, you announce your total and say which dice was higher. For this reason, it's recommended that you have some way of distinguishing your D12's.
What is Fortune?
Fortune isn't just a pretty term, it's a resource for the player. Everytime you roll and your Fortune dice is higher, it means you “Rolled with Fortune” and gain a Fortune Point. These are used as fuel for the stuff your character can do. It will always be clearly written when you need to spend a Fortune to do something. So don't worry too hard about keeping track of when you can use it. There is one exception to this rule, which is Helping. It's a special ability every character and NPC can do, expending a Fortune Point to give someone Advantage on their roll (See Rolling and Dice). Your Game Master may ask you to explain how your character is able to provide assistance - if you don't have a way of helping, your Advantage might be denied.
There is a maximum amount of Fortune you can hold on to at any given time, shown clearly in your sheet, below your Health.
What is Folly?
Folly is a resource for your Game Master, and is used as a means for them to add tension to any given scene. Everytime you roll an Action Roll and your Folly dice is higher, you “Roll with Folly”, and the Game Master gains a Folly Point. There's a plethora of things your Game Master can use Folly for, which will be detailed in A Game Master's Guide to Nether.
For player’s however, some abilities or features may trigger when you Roll with Folly - so be on the lookout! There's no limit to how many Folly Points a Game Master can hold onto any given time.
Examples
Below are some small explanations for what you'll encounter, and how it might play out in your games.
Succeeding with Fortune - If you make an Action Roll that meets your Game Master's Difficulty and your Fortune dice happens to be higher, you Succeed with Fortune. This means your action succeeds without issue, and your Game Master may even include a pleasant surprise if the situation calls for it. On top of this, you gain a Fortune Point.
Succeeding With Folly - If you make an Action Roll that meets your Game Master's Difficulty but your Folly dice happens to be higher, You Succeed with Folly. This means your action still works out, but may come with some sort of complication for you now, or somewhere down the road. What happens exactly is up to your Game Master, who also gains a Folly Point from your roll.
Failing with Fortune - Failing with grace is absolutely possible in Nether. When you make an Action Roll that doesn't meet the Game Master's difficulty but your Fortune dice is higher, it means you've “Failed with Fortune”. This usually means your action doesn't work out, but doesn't go as poorly as it could have. You still gain a Fortune, success or not.
Failing with Folly - When you make an Action Roll that doesn't meet the Game Master's difficulty and your Folly dice is higher, it means you've “Failed with Folly”; The worst possible outcome for a player. Your Game Master gains a Folly Point, the action fails, and something will likely go terribly wrong.
