Group Rolls- A Helpful House Rule For Helpful People

During my most recent Victoriana Campaign, I thought up another quick house rule worth sharing on the blog. Everyone needs help sometimes, and this rule helps helpers dramatically helping.

In most cases, characters in Victoriana attempt tasks on their own, or everyone attempts similar tasks at the same time. For example, a dwarf, an elf, and an ogre suspect the library hides a secret passage. All three search for the entrance at the same time, probably at different heights. All three make a Perception + Wits test. Those that succeed, find the book that opens the secret door. Those that fail, look at their successful peers with admiration. Everyone had a chance, but nobody helped each other. They simply all tried the same task at the same time.

Sometimes a task depends on the effort of one person, but others can assist through Group Rolls. The same dwarf, elf, and ogre discover the secret passage leads down to a large sewer canal. A rowboat bobs in the murky sludge. They climb in. As the strongest member of the party, the ogre takes the oars. The elf holds up a lantern and points out obstacles as the dwarf stirs up the water in front of the boat with a stick to ease its passage through the sludge. In this case, the ogre is trying to perform a task, while the elf and dwarf assist.

Page 163 of the Victoriana 3^rd Edition rulebook explains how Group Rolls work. The primary (in this case the ogre) rolls the test as normal, while the assistants (the elf and dwarf) roll the test with only dice from skills in their pool (no attributes). Their net successes count as automatic successes in the primary’s test.

That’s fine, but this is Victoriana. Let’s roll lots of dice and embrace dramatic tension! Here is how Group Rolls work at my table: First the assistants test whatever Skill + Attribute is pertinent to the task just like a regular test. For every success rolled, the primary removes a black die from the dice pool for their test. Then the primary rolls their test with a normal pool and the reduced black dice. If the assistant’s dice pools had black dice, they may roll a foul failure. In which case, they add black dice equal to their test result to the primary’s dice pool.

In this case, the ogre is the primary and the other two adventurers assist them. The ogre is about to roll a Might+ Strength test with six black dice to row the boat through the canal. The elf snagged three successes, directing the ogre to duck their head at low ceilings and avoid rushing water, but the dwarf’s frantic stirrings netted one black die success. Together their efforts reduced the six black dice in the Ogre’s pool down to four. If the ogre succeeds in their test, the party navigates through the secret canal to the cabal’s lair. If not, they wind deeper into the sewer at a pace slow enough for something awful to catch up to them.

This house rule is really a matter of taste. In Victoriana, I prefer more dice and less automatic successes. The rule in the book is fine. It works, but I wholeheartedly prefer this method.