Identity

Decisions under pressure

Making an Identity Test

A player or the GM may request an Identity test when a meaningful decision puts a relevant tendency under pressure. The player always makes the rolls, including when testing their House or Faction. Identify the relevant opposed pair and the decision at stake before rolling.

1. Test the stronger Trait first. Roll 1d20 against the higher rating in the relevant pair. Equal to or under the rating succeeds; an exact match is a critical success unless a die shows its highest face. For a tied pair, the player chooses which side to test first.
2. If it succeeds, follow that Trait. The decision must express it. Stop: no opposing roll is needed.
3. If it fails normally, test the opposing Trait. A success means the decision must express that opposing Trait. A critical failure instead commits the decision to the opposite of the tested Trait immediately, without another roll.
4. If both tests fail normally, the player decides freely.

A player trying to act out of character may hope the stronger Trait fails. They cannot choose to test the weaker side first. The result establishes the tendency that must be followed; the player decides how to express it in the situation.

Which Identity Applies?

Personality · Characters

Use the character's own Traits for their behavior and decisions.

Ethos · Factions

Test a Faction's Ethos only for a Deed or Endeavour undertaken on behalf of that Faction.

Traditions · Houses

Test a House's Traditions only for a Deed or Endeavour undertaken on behalf of, or concerning, that House.

Membership alone does not make Ethos or Traditions available for an unrelated personal action. For a House or Faction test, the result governs the collective decision being resolved; individual members can disagree or dissent. Collective Identity does not replace their Personality.

Conviction and reversal

Critical Identity Results

Critical results apply to direct tests of Personality, Ethos, and Traditions. Rolling exactly the tested rating is a critical success. Rolling the highest face on any die rolled for the test is a critical failure (20 on a d20 or 4 on a d4).

Critical success · Exactly the tested rating

The decision must strongly express the tested Trait. The player decides how that conviction becomes visible in the action. Stop rolling. The test is a success for drawing on Identity or inspiring another.

Critical failure · Highest face rolled

The decision must strongly express the opposite of the tested Trait. Stop immediately: do not make an opposing test. This failed test grants no action Advantage Die or inspiration die.

A highest-face result takes precedence: if a roll both matches the tested rating and shows a die’s highest face, it is a critical failure. These rules apply to whichever side is currently being tested, including the second test after an ordinary failure.

A critical Personality success can earn a development mark in the tested Trait; a critical Personality failure can earn one in its opposite. Award a mark for consequential behavior, subject to the existing limit of one mark per pair per real-world week. Critical results do not bypass opposing-mark cancellation or the seasonal advancement limit. For Ethos and Traditions, consequential critical results can earn marks in the same way, subject to one mark per pair per Spindrift season and the yearly development rules.

Conviction in action

Draw on Identity

A player may invoke an eligible Identity pair to support a Deed or Endeavour. Explain how the Trait helps the action and what real risk, cost, obligation, or competing alternative makes the choice meaningful.

Use the stronger-first Identity test, including its critical results. If a Trait succeeds and the action expresses that Trait, gain one Advantage Die on one directly relevant action roll within that Deed or Endeavour. If the opposing Trait succeeds, the decision must express that opposing Trait; it can support an action that follows it. If both fail normally, the player chooses freely but gains no Identity Advantage Die. A critical failure instead commits the decision to the opposite Trait and grants no die.

For example, Bold can support committing to a dangerous confrontation, while Cautious can support careful preparation. Either side can help when the approach actually expresses it.

One invocation per Deed or Endeavour: use it to draw on Identity or to inspire another. Do not stack benefits from Character, House, and Faction Identity on the same roll. The eligibility restrictions above apply to both uses.

A relevant Bond can shape the same action's effect and stakes. Identity may grant an Advantage Die; the Bond changes potency, commitment, or relationship consequences rather than adding another die. Test the Bond separately only if the commitment is uncertain.

Consequential behavior can earn a development mark even when the action fails. Making an Identity test does not automatically earn a mark. Personality uses seasonal development; Ethos and Traditions use yearly development, with their respective marking limits.

Shared conviction

Inspire Another Character, House, or Faction

A Character, House, or Faction may use its Identity invocation to inspire another Character, House, or Faction. Name the recipient, the conviction being expressed, and the relevant Deed or Endeavour. Explain how the inspiring words or example connect to a matching or closely aligned Trait in the recipient's Identity.

The inspiring side's player makes the relevant Identity test, stronger Trait first. If a Trait succeeds and the inspiration expresses it, the recipient gains one Advantage Die on the matching Trait test for that Deed or Endeavour. If both sides fail normally, or either test critically fails, no inspiration die is granted.

The recipient does not need to succeed to receive the die: the die makes their own test easier to pass. The recipient's player still tests their stronger Trait first. Apply the inspiration die only to the matching or aligned side. If that is the weaker side, the stronger side must first fail normally without that inspiration die. Resolve the recipient's result using the critical rules as well: a successful Trait guides the decision; two ordinary failures leave the choice free; a critical failure immediately commits the decision to the opposite of the tested Trait.

Ethos can inspire or receive inspiration only when the relevant Deed or Endeavour is on behalf of that Faction. Traditions can do so only when it is on behalf of, or concerns, that House. A similar outlook alone does not make an otherwise ineligible Identity available. Inspiration grants a die for the specified test, not a lasting change to the recipient's rating, and Identity benefits do not stack on that roll.