Infinite Horizons Mechanics
Resolving actions, handling combat, and tracking damage
Story Play & Dice Rolls
In Infinite Horizons, when your character wants to accomplish something challenging or risky, the first step isn't to grab dice; it's to describe what your character is trying to do and how they are attempting it. This "how" is crucial, as it determines which Trait and Skill will be used for your roll.
Describing Your Intent
What do you want to accomplish?
Clearly state your character's goal. For example, "I want to open that locked door," "I want to convince the guard to let us pass," or "I want to swing across the chasm."
How do you accomplish it?
Describe your character's method or approach. This is where your Traits and Skills come into play.
- Are you using brute force, stealth, cunning, charm, or something else?
- Are you relying on a learned ability, raw talent, or both?
Your Game Master (GM) will then identify the most appropriate Trait and Skill combination based on your description.
The Core Roll: Building Your Dice Pool
Once the Trait and Skill are determined, you'll build your dice pool to see if your character succeeds.
The Core Mechanic
You start with a base of 1 die. You then add your relevant Trait score and your relevant Skill score to determine the total number of dice in your dice pool.
You then roll this number of dice. Each die that rolls a 7 or better counts as a Success.
Exploding Dice for Critical Success!
Whenever you roll a 10 on any die in your dice pool, it counts as a Success, and then you get to roll that die again! This new roll can also generate successes and potentially explode again if you roll another 10.
There's no limit to how many times a die can explode, allowing for truly exceptional outcomes. The GM will tell you how many Successes are needed for the task. If you roll enough Successes, you succeed! More Successes often mean a better outcome, faster completion, or additional benefits.
Example 1: Lock Picking
Situation: You want to pick a lock on a heavy vault door.
You say: "I carefully examine the tumblers and use my lock-picking tools."
- Trait: Finesse (for dexterity)
- Skill: Thievery (for lock-picking)
- Stats: Finesse 3 + Thievery 2
- Dice Pool: 1 + 3 + 2 = 6 dice
- Needed: 3 successes to open the vault
Example 2: Crossing a River
Situation: You need to cross a roaring river.
You say: "I'll try to leap across the narrowest point with all my might."
- Trait: Body (for raw strength)
- Skill: Athletics (for jumping)
- Stats: Body 4 + Athletics 1
- Dice Pool: 1 + 4 + 1 = 6 dice
- Needed: 2 successes to safely clear the river
Example 3: Multiple Trait Approaches
When trying to Intimidate someone, the Trait you use depends on your approach:
- Using Presence: For sheer force of personality or a menacing aura
- Using Body: For overt physical threat, a display of brute strength, or a menacing posture
- Using Wits: For subtle psychological pressure, revealing compromising information, or making a chillingly precise threat
Combat, Damage, and Opposed Rolls
In Infinite Horizons combat, actions unfold simultaneously, and the number of successes you achieve, or those your opponent achieves, directly tells the story of who gains the upper hand. There are no separate "damage rolls""”all outcomes are resolved directly through the exchange of successes.
NOTE: All of the following are optional. Infinite Horizons can be played with or without wounds, stability, and mitigation"”all depending on your story setting and table.
Opposed Rolls: Successes in Direct Conflict
When two characters are directly opposing each other in combat (e.g., an attack and a parry, or two characters grappling), you both roll your respective dice pools.
Net Successes = Your Successes - Their Successes
Compare the total number of successes each participant achieved. The character with more successes wins the exchange, and their net successes are the difference between their successes and their opponent's.
Example 1: You roll 4 successes on your attack. Opponent rolls 2 successes on their defense. You have 2 net successes (4 - 2 = 2). Your attack has significant impact.
Example 2: You roll 3 successes on your attack. Opponent rolls 5 successes on their defense. They have 2 net successes (5 - 3 = 2). They've successfully negated your attack and gained an advantage.
Damage Mitigation: Shrugging Off Injury
Instead of making an extra roll to defend, a character's natural resilience and armor provide a static Damage Mitigation value. This value is subtracted from the successes of an incoming attack, absorbing a certain amount of punishment.
Damage Tracking: The Wound Track
Instead of a numerical Health Pool, your character tracks damage using a visual Wound Track, divided into three escalating tiers: Minor, Major, and Critical.
Minor Wound Track
Determined by: 4 + your Body Trait score + your Resolve Trait score (maximum 10 boxes)
Major and Critical Tracks
Each has a fixed 4 boxes
Wound Spillover
When your character takes damage, you mark off boxes in the appropriate tier. Once all boxes in a tier fill up, further damage spills over into the next higher tier.
Stability: Tracking Your Mental Fortitude
While the Wound Track handles physical damage, Stability is a measure of your character's mental and emotional resilience. This is particularly relevant in horror, mystery, or cosmic genres where characters face shocking, surreal, or psychologically damaging events.
When your Stability track is completely filled, your character suffers a mental breakdown. They are effectively incapacitated or insane and may gain a temporary or permanent mental condition (e.g., a phobia, a new personality quirk, a period of catatonia).
They can still take actions, but will likely begin working to actively hinder the rest of the group.