Mage M20 Roll resolution cheat sheet
A 1-page summary of how to resolve rolls. At-the-table reference for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary.
Mage M20 uses d10 dice pools against a difficulty number. Roll Attribute + Ability, each die meeting the difficulty is a success.
Core mechanic
- Pool
- Attribute + Ability (in d10s)
- Difficulty
- Target number per die (default 6, range 3-9)
- Success
- Each die ≥ difficulty
- Botch
- Zero successes + any 1s
Magic (Arete)
- Roll Arete vs a difficulty of highest Sphere used + 3 (coincidental) or + 4 (vulgar).
- Sphere level gates what is even possible.
- Coincidental = no Paradox. Vulgar = Paradox risk.
Common mistakes
- Difficulty is per-die, not total successes needed.
- 1s cancel successes; a botch is 0 net successes with 1s remaining.