Practical guide
D20 checks, attributes, and progression
How d20 checks, difficulty, advantage, consequences, levels, and abilities work in an AI RPG.
Short answer
An uncertain action becomes a server-owned check: d20, an attribute, modifiers, and difficulty produce one of a bounded set of outcomes. Progression and abilities are versioned and have provenance, so narration cannot simply award a level.
What to do
- The engine first classifies an action as automatic, impossible, or uncertain.
- The interface shows the roll, difficulty, and applicable modifiers.
- The result changes state only after validation and atomic persistence.
Practical scenario
A hero leaps across a collapsing bridge. A strong result may be clean success, a middling result success with a cost, and failure a confirmed consequence rather than arbitrary death.
Limitations
- The system does not copy licensed tabletop classes or spells.
- A player declaration alone cannot grant a level, ability, or item.
Common question
Does every action require a roll?
No. Obvious actions resolve automatically, impossible actions are rejected, and d20 is used when the outcome is genuinely uncertain.