The God Roll - An Optional Rule for Marshals
by Robert Miller, Jr.
What is a God Roll? Well, "God Roll" is a term adopted within our own group of Deadlands players when someone rolls a number over 30. Perhaps when Shane and the gang designed the game they did not foresee such numbers coming up all that much. However, as many Deadlands players can attest to, some folks seem to have the innate ability to make the dice sing. It sure happens in my group quite a bit.
So what, if anything, should be done about it? Rolls such as these consist of multiple raises, representing a feat of titanic success on the character's part. In viewing such a feat, someone or something should take notice. Below are some suggestions on how to possibly address the God Roll. It should be noted that, while fate chips can be used to generate high numbers, the God Roll refers to naturally occurring results.
25-29
Definitely quite a feat, but numbers such as these can be arrived at pretty regularly by a character with 5d12 in a relative stat (something that really isn't all that uncommon). A roll isn't considered a God Roll until you get a bit higher.
30-39
The character has had an amazing success. If it was something involving a corporeal skill (ie. Something that could be visually discerned by others), the character has accomplished something that would be worthy of special mention by a tale-teller...something only heroic figures are supposed to be capable of doing. This would, of course, eventually get people talking, and at the Marshal's discretion (again, this would depend largely on the nature of the action...getting a 38 in knot tying to secure your gear to your horse isn't really worth singing about), the character may receive Renown.
40-49
The character has had an unbelievable success...the stuff that legends are made of. Again, if it was something that could be seen (and the Marshal deems it appropriate), folks are going to talk about it. Not only might the character gain Renown as a result, but possibly Grit as well.
50+
Now you've done it. A result such as this is down-right unnatural. Again (with the Marshal's discretion), the character will probably gain Renown and Grit, but will also definitely get noticed...and not just by townsfolk. Generating a success this high goes beyond heroic, and will undoubtably gain the attention of the Reckoners. The evil powers that be are going to send something to "chat" with the character as a form of test to see how tough they are. How scary might this thing be? Well, it could probably generate a 50+ roll as well.