Fate is a flexible, story-first RPG built on the older Fudge system, and both share the same distinctive dice. Where most games measure a wide swing of outcomes, Fudge dice quietly nudge you around your baseline — the drama comes from your character’s aspects, not from wild swings of fortune.
What dice Fate uses
The tool of the trade is the Fudge die (dF): a six-sided die whose faces show two plus signs (+), two minus signs (−) and two blanks. You roll four of them — 4dF — for every action.
No Fudge dice on hand? Standard d6 substitute cleanly: treat 5–6 as +, 3–4 as blank and 1–2 as −. Either way, four dice give the same spread.
How a roll resolves
Each + is worth +1, each − is worth −1, and blanks are 0. Sum the four dice for a result between −4 and +4, with 0 by far the most common outcome. Then add your skill rating (also called an approach in Fate Accelerated) and compare the total to a difficulty.
Results are described on the ladder, a shared vocabulary of adjectives tied to numbers — for example Average (+1), Fair (+2), Good (+3), Great (+4), and downward through Mediocre (0) and Poor (−1). To succeed you meet or beat the difficulty; beat it by 3 or more and you succeed with style, which usually grants an extra benefit such as a free boost.
| Margin | Result |
|---|---|
| Below the difficulty | Failure (or success at a cost). |
| Exactly the difficulty | A tie — a minor success or a success with complication. |
| 1–2 over | Success. |
| 3+ over | Success with style. |
Because 4dF clusters so tightly around zero, your skill is usually the deciding factor — the dice mostly ask whether today is a slightly good or slightly bad day.
Effective strategy
Aspects are the real dice. Aspects are short descriptive phrases — a character trait, a piece of the scene, a relationship. When one is true and helpful, you spend a Fate point to invoke it for a +2 (or to re-roll all four dice). A +2 on a bell curve centred on zero is enormous; knowing which aspects apply is the core skill of Fate play.
Earn Fate points through compels. You refill your pool when an aspect compels you — when it complicates your life or drives you into trouble. Accepting a compel earns a Fate point (you can pay one to refuse). Good Fate players actively look for compels to keep their economy flowing.
Create advantages before the big roll. The create an advantage action lets you establish a new aspect on the scene or an enemy (“Sand in his eyes”, “Higher ground”) and place free invokes on it. Setting these up first means the crucial roll comes pre-loaded with +2s.
Invoke for effect, not habit. Fate points are limited. Save invokes for rolls where a +2 or a re-roll actually changes the outcome, and spend compels freely to top the pool back up.
You can roll 4dF in your browser and read the −4 to +4 total instantly, which saves squinting at plus and minus faces.
Beginner tips & common mistakes
- Blanks are zero, not re-rolls. A blank face simply contributes nothing. Two + and two − nets out to 0.
- Lead with your skill. The dice rarely move you more than a point or two from your skill rating — expect competent characters to succeed at competent tasks most of the time.
- Don’t forget you have aspects. The number-one beginner error is rolling badly and shrugging, when an invoke would have turned the roll. Read your sheet and the scene.
- Embrace compels. Refusing every complication starves your Fate economy. Say yes to trouble and bank the points.
- Success with style needs +3, not just a win. Track your margin; the bonus for beating the difficulty by three is easy to overlook.
No dice at the table? Dice Drop rolls real physics dice in your browser — pools, exploding dice and modifiers built in.
🎲 Roll dice freeWant another game where a resource, not the dice, wins the day? See our Savage Worlds dice & strategy guide.