How does When to Roll work in CRAWL!?

Question

Complete rules for When to Roll in the CRAWL! tabletop RPG system, covering all mechanics and procedures.

Iron Brothers Games · Accepted Answer

Advantages (Roll Twice, Take Better): Grant Advantages for:  Superior equipment - Using the perfect tool  Excellent position - High ground, flanking  Help from allies - Someone assists meaningfully  Time and care - Taking twice as long  Law token - Player spends from Fate Pool Advantages and Disadvantages Cancel: If both would apply, they cancel out - just roll once normally. Always Roll When: Monsters auto-hit because they're dangerous! Play them as genuine threats making tactical decisions. Your players are desperate professionals, but make them earn survival by facing enemies who fight smart, not fair. This is not heroic fantasy. Combat should be messy, unfair, and desperate. When the goblins gleefully ignore the armored warrior to murder the wizard, when wolves surround and drag away the scout, when that table gets smashed to splinters… that's CRAWL! working as intended.  Outcome is uncertain AND failure is interesting  Combat actions (attacks, defense, spells)  Resource-intensive tasks (picking locks, healing)  Opposing forces clash (contests) Never Roll When  Task is trivial for someone skilled  No time pressure  Failure would stall the game  Success is eventually guaranteed  The character's approach makes success automatic Describing Advantages/Disadvantages: Always describe WHY:  "The rain makes the stones slick - roll with Disadvantage"  "She's studied his fighting style - you get Advantage"  "Chaos turns! The torch gutters out - Disadvantage on your shot" Disadvantages (Roll Twice, Take Worse): Apply Disadvantages for:  Poor conditions - Darkness, rain, chaos  Inferior tools - Improvised weapons, wrong equipment  Rushed action - Half the normal time  Injuries - Wounds, exhaustion  Chaos token - You spend from Fate Pool Let It Ride: One roll resolves a situation. No retries unless:  Circumstances significantly change  They try a completely different approach  Time passes (new scene)  They spend a Law token for another shot Setting Difficulty: Crawl! doesn't use target numbers. Instead:  Normal tasks: Roll under skill  Hard tasks: Apply Disadvantage  Easy tasks: Apply Advantage  Impossible tasks: Can't be done (or requires special approach)

Iron Brothers Games · Answer

Unlike the Advantage/Disadvantage system used in Dungeons and Dragons 5e or the variable saving throw tables in Old-School Essentials (OSE), the CRAWL! Unified d20 Roll simplifies resolution by immediately defining the roll as the Effort value. Advantages (Roll Twice, Take Better): Grant Advantages for:  Superior equipment - Using the perfect tool  Excellent position - High ground, flanking  Help from allies - Someone assists meaningfully  Time and care - Taking twice as long  Law token - Player spends from Fate Pool Advantages and Disadvantages Cancel: If both would apply, they cancel out - just roll once normally. Always Roll When: Monsters auto-hit because they're dangerous! Play them as genuine threats making tactical decisions. Your players are desperate professionals, but make them earn survival by facing enemies who fight smart, not fair. This is not heroic fantasy. Combat should be messy, unfair, and desperate. When the goblins gleefully ignore the armored warrior to murder the wizard, when wolves surround and drag away the scout, when that table gets smashed to splinters… that's CRAWL! working as intended.  Outcome is uncertain AND failure is interesting  Combat actions (attacks, defense, spells)  Resource-intensive tasks (picking locks, healing)  Opposing forces clash (contests) Never Roll When  Task is trivial for someone skilled  No time pressure  Failure would stall the game  Success is eventually guaranteed  The character's approach makes success automatic Describing Advantages/Disadvantages: Always describe WHY:  "The rain makes the stones slick - roll with Disadvantage"  "She's studied his fighting style - you get Advantage"  "Chaos turns! The torch gutters out - Disadvantage on your shot" Disadvantages (Roll Twice, Take Worse): Apply Disadvantages for:  Poor conditions - Darkness, rain, chaos  Inferior tools - Improvised weapons, wrong equipment  Rushed action - Half the normal time  Injuries - Wounds, exhaustion  Chaos token - You spend from Fate Pool Let It Ride: One roll resolves a situation. No retries unless:  Circumstances significantly change  They try a completely different approach  Time passes (new scene)  They spend a Law token for another shot Setting Difficulty: Crawl! doesn't use target numbers. Instead:  Normal tasks: Roll under skill  Hard tasks: Apply Disadvantage  Easy tasks: Apply Advantage  Impossible tasks: Can't be done (or requires special approach)

When to Roll

Advantages (Roll Twice, Take Better)

Advantages and Disadvantages Cancel

Always Roll When

Describing Advantages/Disadvantages

Disadvantages (Roll Twice, Take Worse)

Let It Ride

Setting Difficulty

Experience the Unified d20 Roll