Determination is a special, scarce resource which you can spend on Skill Tests which align with your character’s Drives. It is earned when a character’s Drives impede or hinder their actions. You can spend Determination before rolling to set a die so that it counts as having rolled a 1, or after rolling to re-roll an entire dice pool, or to create, destroy, or change a trait, or to take extra actions in a conflict.

A character’s Drives are a vital part of their successes and their failures. Conviction and clarity of purpose, and a potent sense of self, are key parts of why a character takes the actions they do. To this end, all player Characters, and many non-player Characters, have Drive Statements which reflect the character’s personal values and guiding principles. When a character’s actions align with these principles, they can be spurred on to greater heights of success, but when a character attempts actions which clash with their values, it can cause them considerable problems.

At the start of each adventure, you have a single point of Determination for your character, but you may gain more during play. You may never have more than three Determination at once.

When you attempt a skill test, and the drive you are using has a drive statement, both you and the gamemaster should consider whether the statement and the action you’re attempting align. If the statement supports the action—that is, if the statement would be an advantage to the action being attempted—then you can use that drive freely for that action, and you may spend a point of Determination to gain one of the following benefits. Some Talents or other character abilities may grant them additional ways to use Determination.

• Automatic 1: Before rolling, choose one of the d20s in your dice pool: that die is considered to have rolled a 1, and does not need to be rolled. It thus scores a critical success automatically.
• Re-roll: After rolling, re-roll any number of d20s in your dice pool.
• Declaration: Before or after rolling, create a new trait, or change or remove an existing one; this must relate to your character, but it may represent something which was always true, but which has only now been revealed or become important. You may retroactively describe how this trait came to be.
• Extra Action: In a conflict, immediately take an additional action after this one, even if you have already kept the initiative.

However, if the statement would conflict with the action—it may impair your character’s judgment, make them biased, blind them to possibilities, or it may be that the action goes against your character’s morals, spiritual Drives, or sense of honor—then the gamemaster can offer you a point of Determination to give you a choice: comply or challenge.

• If you comply with your drive, then you immediately suffer a complication (which may often make the action harder or prevent you from even attempting the action). The character’s Drives are too strong to allow them to carry out this action freely, causing a problem.
• If you challenge your drive, then you may act freely, but you must cross out that drive statement, and you may not use that drive score again until it has been recovered (see below). The character’s need to act has outweighed their strongly held Drives, and in the process, their worldview has been shaken.

You may refuse to accept the offered Determination to avoid making the choice, but if you do so, you must choose a different drive to use for the skill test. You may also suggest to the gamemaster moments where your Drives may conflict with your actions, though both you and the gamemaster must agree for this to happen.

That’s a Lot of Different Points

Momentum, Threat, and Determination have a variety of different effects, and it might seem like a lot of points to keep track of as you make rolls.

But in the 2d20 system, how you spend these points is often far more important than what dice you roll. They grant both players and gamemaster a lot of control over their dice and represent the Characters marshalling their resources before making their play. This makes knowing what to spend on which test an important skill to master. Do you put everything into the current test or save something for later? How important is it to succeed, and can you afford the cost? All these factors must be decided before you roll anything. This means any roll of the dice is a carefully considered plan of action, never just the whim of fate.